Wilhelm Fränkel (civil engineer)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Memorial for Wilhelm Fränkel on the Old Annenfriedhof in Dresden.

Wilhelm Fränkel (* December 20, 1840 July / January 1,  1841 greg. In Odessa , Russian Empire , † April 13, 1895 in Dresden ) was a German civil engineer and scientist .

Life

Fränkel had been adopted by Oslar Schlöhmilch . After attending grammar school in Odessa, Fränkel began studying civil engineering at the Dresden Polytechnic in 1857 , where he became a member of the Corps Marcomannia. From 1862 he was an engineering assistant at the Saxon State Railway , from 1865 assistant (with Johann Andreas Schubert ) and later a lecturer at the Dresden Polytechnic. In 1867 he received his doctorate at the University of Jena , the subject of the dissertation was " On the impact of rolling loads on non-stiffened suspension bridges ".

The habilitation at the Dresden Polytechnic School took place in 1868. From 1868 to 1894 Fränkel was professor for bridge construction and structural engineering at the Dresden Polytechnic School, which from 1871 initially operated as the Polytechnic and from 1890 as the TH Dresden . Wilhelm Fränkel died at the age of 54 on April 13, 1895 in Dresden and was buried in the old Annenfriedhof . His grave was destroyed in 1945, today he is remembered at the memorial for professors of the TU Dresden.

At the same time as Christian Otto Mohr and Emil Winkler , he dealt with the theory of lines of influence in 1867 . Inspired by Winkler's theory of the support line in masonry arches, he found the Menabrea principle and thus founded Winkler's theorem (1882). For the handbook of engineering by Schäffer and Sonne he wrote the section turntables and transfer platforms (1882).

He invented a strain gauge called him, which he used on iron bridges. He later invented inclinometers and vibration meters. His measuring devices (deflection and rotation drawing) were used a lot in practice in tests for bridge acceptance.

In 1891 he was elected a member of the Leopoldina .

literature

  • Brief portrait of Wilhelm Fränkel. In: Dorit Petschel : 175 years of TU Dresden. Volume 3: The professors of the TU Dresden 1828–2003. Edited on behalf of the Society of Friends and Supporters of the TU Dresden e. V. von Reiner Pommerin , Böhlau, Cologne a. a. 2003, ISBN 3-412-02503-8 , p. 231.
  • Ludwig Julius Fränkel:  Fränkel, Wilhelm . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 48, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1904, p. 702.
  • Karl-Eugen Kurrer : The history of the theory of structures. Searching for Equilibrium Ernst and Son 2018, p. 997f (biography), ISBN 978-3-433-03229-9
  • TM Charlton: A history of the theory of structures in the nineteenth century. Cambridge UP 1982.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ According to contemporary information from the Dresden University of Technology, he died on April 12th.
personal data
SURNAME Frankel, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German civil engineer and scientist
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1841
PLACE OF BIRTH Odessa , Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH April 13, 1895
Place of death Dresden