Dr Zhiwei Gao
- Senior Lecturer (Infrastructure & Environment)
telephone:
0141-330-3927
email:
Zhiwei.Gao@glasgow.ac.uk
Room 735, Rankine Building, Oakfield Avenue, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8LT
Biography
Dr Gao is a Senior Lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering in the James Watt School of Engineering at the University of Glasgow. He is a member of the Soil Mechanics Group led by Prof. Simon Wheeler within the Research Division of Infrastructure and Environment. He is also a member of the Glasgow Computational Engineering Centre (GCEC).
Academic Quantifications
- 2009 - 2012: PhD in Civil Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR, China
- 2006 - 2008: Master (Research) in Civil Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- 2002 - 2006: Bachelor in Civil Engineering with first honours, Beihang University, Beijing, China
Work Experience
- August 2020 - present: Senior Lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering, Infrastructure and Environment Research Division, James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow
- July 2013 - August 2020: Lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering, Infrastructure and Environment Research Division, James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow
- September 2012 - June 2013: Post-doc Research Assistant, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Research interests
Research Interests
Zhiwei's current research interests cover the following areas:
- Micromechanics of granular materials and the discrete element modelling
- Micromechanics-based constitutive modelling of granular materials
- Experimental study and constitutive modelling of fibre-reinforced sand
- Numerical analysis of geotechnical problems with advanced constitutive models
- Flexible barriers for rock-fall and debris flow
- Shallow gas in fine-grained soils and submarine landslides
For more about my research, please visit the websites of myself and GCEC: My Personal Website; GCEC Website.
There are several scholarships for both UK/EU and international students in our university: Scholarships.
Publications
Selected publications
Gao, Z. , Zhao, J., Li, X.-S. and Dafalias, Y. F. (2014) A critical state sand plasticity model accounting for fabric evolution. International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, 38(4), pp. 370-390. (doi: 10.1002/nag.2211)
Gao, Z. and Zhao, J. (2013) Evaluation on failure of fiber-reinforced sand. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 139(1), pp. 95-106. (doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000737)
Gao, Z. , Zhao, J. and Yao, Y. (2010) A generalized anisotropic failure criterion for geomaterials. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 47(22-23), pp. 3166-3185. (doi: 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2010.07.016)
Gao, Z. and Zhao, J. (2015) Constitutive modeling of anisotropic sand behavior in monotonic and cyclic loading. Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 141(8), 04015017. (doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)EM.1943-7889.0000907)
Gao, Z. and Zhao, J. (2013) Strain localization and fabric evolution in sand. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 50(22-23), pp. 3634-3648. (doi: 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2013.07.005)
Hong, Y., Wang, L., Zhang, J. and Gao, Z. (2020) 3D elastoplastic model for fine-grained gassy soil considering the gas-dependent yield surface shape and stress-dilatancy. Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 146(5), 04020037. (doi: 10.1061/(asce)em.1943-7889.0001760)
Gao, Z. and Diambra, A. (2020) A multiaxial constitutive model for fibre-reinforced sand. Geotechnique, (doi: 10.1680/jgeot.19.P.250) (Early Online Publication)
All publications
Grants
- 2021-2022: Multiphysics modelling of gas migration in fine-grained marine soils. The Royal Society International Exchanges with Dr Nabil Sultan at Ifremer France. FEC: £4,842.
- 2015-2017: Development of a more robust and cost-efficient rockfall catch fence design. Funded by Knowledge Transfer Partnership of Innovate UK and QTS Group Ltd (https://www.qtsgroup.com/). FEC: £170,000.
- 2017-2018: Smart fences-Development of a condition monitoring system (CMS) for rockfall catch fences. Funded by Construction Scotland Innovation Centre and QTS Group Ltd (https://www.qtsgroup.com/). FEC: £51,000+£40,000 additional industrial contribution.
Supervision
Current PhD students:
Mr Mian Huang: Constitutive modelling of fibre-reinforced sand;
Mr Hongjian Cai: Mechanics of gassy fine-grained soils;
Mr Abdurrahim Mohsen Essayah: Mechanism of energy dissipation in granular materials
Mr Xin Li: Nonlocal regularization of critical state sand models
I am always looking for opportunities to work with self-motivated students, post-doctoral researchers and visiting scholars.
For more about my research and projects, please visit my personal website: My Personal Website.
There are several scholarships for both UK/EU and international students in our university: Scholarships.
Teaching
- ENG4072: Ground Engineering 4: This is a course for BEng, MEng and MSc students. The main content includes: finite element modelling in ground engineering, time-dependent soil response and basic knowledge of unsaturated soil mechanics.
- ENG4188: Geotechnical Design Project 4: This design project is for MEng students. It is based on a brief for a road embankment and bridge abutments on soft clay, with the embankment height varying across the site, ground conditions based on real site investigation data and various other site constraints. Students work in groups and consider the behaviour of the embankment firstly with no ground improvement and secondly with various forms of ground improvement, with the objective of developing a design for the embankment and the bridge abutments.