Wire plaster ceilings are rarely noticed, but nevertheless frequently occurring ceiling constructions, which have hardly been investigated in the context of research so far. In 1878, a patent for wire plaster ceilings was registered on Christoph Carl Rabitz, which is why the term Rabitz constructions is often used for this construction method. Little is known about the materials used and the load-bearing properties of the ceilings and vaults that were created over time. However, it is precisely the understanding of the interaction of hangers and thin wire plaster ceilings as an overall system that is necessary for assessing damage and maintaining existing structures. This thesis gives an overview of the different construction methods on the basis of inspections of different buildings and evaluates these in the context of contemporary literature. In order to enable an evaluation of existing systems, tests on material parameters at the intersection of the wire plaster ceiling to the wall and load-bearing capacities of the historically used suspension fastenings were carried out within the scope of the work. Thus it is possible for the first time to consider existing hangers during the load transfer of the complete system and to evaluate the force transfer in the area of the abutments realistically. Since there have been no investigations on load transfer under consideration of existing suspension devices so far, two different calculation methods were applied to representative sample vaults using the newly determined characteristic values. These were a simplified method, which only considers the load absorption area of individual hangers, and a complete simulation of the vault including the hangers with finite elements. In the method based on the load intake surfaces, it was shown that it is possible to perform a proof of stability for certain Rabitz vaults that is strongly on the safe side without great effort. The FEM simulation, on the other hand, is suitable for more heavily loaded structures, where the influence of the considered suspension length on the load-bearing behavior was investigated in particular. Finally, the developed methods were used to evaluate two representative structures. While one vault was successfully verified, the other had to be reinforced. The results of the tests were used to upgrade the vault in a way that is similar to the historical construction method, minimally invasive, reversible and yet recognizable as modern, thus taking into account all the requirements of a modern-day upgrade in line with the requirements of historical monuments.    «

Wire plaster ceilings are rarely noticed, but nevertheless frequently occurring ceiling constructions, which have hardly been investigated in the context of research so far. In 1878, a patent for wire plaster ceilings was registered on Christoph Carl Rabitz, which is why the term Rabitz constructions is often used for this construction method. Little is known about the materials used and the load-bearing properties of the ceilings and vaults that were created over time. However, it is precisely...    »