Ph.D. Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University
M. S. Civil Engineering(Geotechnical), China Institute of Water Resources & Hydropower Research
B. S. Civil Engineering (Geotechnical), Tongji University, Shanghai, China
ACCREDITATION:
Engineering in Training, Texas, Since 2002
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
August 2006 - present: Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering & Alaska Transportation Research Center, University of Fairbanks.
October 2005 - August 2006: Research Associate, Louisiana Transportation Research Center (LTRC)
August 2004 - October 2005 : Postdoctoral Research Associate, Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University
August 2000 - August 2004: Graduate Research Assistant, Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University
May 1995 - August 2000: Geotechnical Engineer, Department of Geotechnical Engineering, China Institute of Water Resources & Hydropower Research (IWHR), China
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Constitutive Modeling of Elasto-plastic Behavior for Unsaturated Soils
Unsaturated Soil Mechanics
Soil Structure Interaction
Foundation on expansive soils
Frost heave and thaw weakening
Geotechnical application in pavement engineering
CURRENT RESEARCH TOPICS
Foundation on expansive soils
Prediction of freeze and thaw depth
Impact of Fines Content on Resilient Modulus Reduction of Base Courses during Thawing
Performance of Shallow Anchor in Frozen Soils
Use of Mirafi Nylon Wicking Fabric to Help Prevent Frost Heaving in Alaska Pavements
COURSES TAUGHT
CE 628 Unsaturated Soil Mechanics
ES 209 Statics
CE 326 Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering
HONORS/AWARDS
Honorary Faculty/Staff, UAF Department of Athletics (for support and guidance in the academic endeavors of student-athlete, Trevor Hyatt, member of UAF Men’s Hockey Team)
2000 Academic Excellence Scholarship, Texas A&M University
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Editorial Board Member, Geomechanics and Engineering, An International Journal (GAE)
Committee Member, TRB Committee on Engineering Behavior of Unsaturated Soils (AFP60)
Committee Member, TRB Committee on Soils and Rock Instrumentation(AFS20)
Committee Member, ASCE Geo-Institute Shallow Foundation Comittee
Associate Member, American Society of Civil Engineers
Member, American Society of Engineering Education
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Paper reviewer
ASCE Journal Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Geotechnique
Canadian Geotechnical Journal
ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal
Composites Part B: Engineering
International Journal of Physical Sciences
4th International Conference on Unsaturated Soils, April 2006, Carefree, AZ
GeoCongress 2008
2008 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting
GeoHunan 2009
Other
Session Chair, GeoHunan 2009
Session Co-chair, Geocongress 2008
Session Co-chair, 4th International Conference on Unsaturated Soils, April 2006, Carefree,AZ
Session Co-chair, 1st International Conference on Scour of Foundations, Texas A&M University, USA, Nov. 2002
CEM Computer Advisory Board
Judge of undergraduates research competition, Student Research Week, Texas A&M University, 2005
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Journal Publications
Zhang X., Liu, J. and Li, P. “A New Method to Determine the Shapes of Yield Curves for Unsaturated Soils.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE (Accepted).
Zhang, X. and Lytton, R.L.(2009). "A Modified State Surface Approach on Unsaturated Soil Behavior Study (I) Basic Concept." Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Volume 46, Number 5, pp. 536-552.
Zhang, X. and Lytton, R.L.(2009). "A Modified State Surface Approach on Unsaturated Soil Behavior Study (II) General Formulation." Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Volume 46, Number 5, pp. 553-570.
Zhang, X. and Lytton, R.L. (2009). Discussion of “Analysis of Deep Moisture Barriers in Expansive Soils. I: Constitutive Model Formulation” by Rojas et al., ASCE International Journal of Geomechanics, Volume 9, Issue 2, pp 82-83.
Zhang, X. and Lytton, R.L.(2009). Discussion of “Analysis of Deep Moisture Barriers in Expansive Soils. II: Water Flow Formulation and Implementation” by Rojas et al., ASCE International Journal of Geomechanics, Volume 9, Issue 2, pp 84-87.
Zhang X. and Briaud, J. L.(2009). “A Total Stress-Pore Water Pressure Formulation of Coupled Consolidation Analysis for Saturated Soils,” International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering. Volume 3:171-185. DOI 10.3328/IJGE.2009.03.02.171-185
Zhang, X. and Briaud, J. L. (2009) “Coupled Water Content Method for Shrink and Swell Predictions.” International Journal of Pavement Engineering. Published on: 16 October 2008. DOI: 10.1080/10298430802394154
Zhang, X. and Lytton, R.L.(2008). Discussion of A New Modeling Approach for Unsaturated Soils Using Independent Stress Variables. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 45, No.12, pp. 1784-1787
Abu-Farsakh, M., Chen, Q.M., Sharma, R.S., Zhang, X. (2008).“Large-Scale Model Footing Tests on Geogrid-Reinforced Foundation and Marginal Embankment Soils.” Geotechnical Testing Journal, Volume 31, Issue 5.
Zhang, X. and Briaud, J. L. (2008). “Improved Approach to Construct Constitutive Surfaces for Stable-Structured Soils Covering Both Saturated and Unsaturated Conditions” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Volume 134, Issue 6, pp. 876-882.
Zhang, X. and Tao, M. J. (2007). Discussion of “Effect of Gas on Pore Pressure in Wet Landfills” by Merry et al., Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 133, No. 11. Pp 1470-1472.
Liu, J., Zhang, X. and Zollinger, D.G. (2007). “A Two-Step Fracture Mechanics-based Approach for Assessing Early-age Delamination Distress.” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2016, pp. 76-84.
Chen, Q.M., Abu-Farsakh, M., Sharma, R.S., Zhang, X. (2007).“Laboratory Investigation of the Behavior of Foundations on Geosynthetic Reinforced Sands.” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board.
Briaud, J. L. and Zhang, X. and Moon, S. (2003). “The Shrink Test – Water Content Method For Shrink and Swell Predictions”, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE Vol. 129, No.7, pp.590-600, July.
Liu, J. and Zhang, X. (1998). "Study on Filter Design of Broadly-Graded Soils", Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, Vol.18, No.6, 1998 (in Chinese).
Journal Papers Under Review
Zhang, X. and Lytton, R.L. Modeling of Coupled Hydro-Mechanical Behavior Using Modified State Surface Approach. Submitted for possible publication in the Canadian Geotechnical Journal (under second round review).
Zhang, X. and Briaud, J. L. “Three Dimensional Numerical Simulation of Residential Buildings on Expansive Soils : Theory” Submitted for publication in the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE(under second round review).
Zhang, X. and Briaud, J. L. “Three Dimensional Numerical Simulation of Residential Buildings on Expansive Soils: Application.” Submitted for publication in the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE (under second round review).
Zhang, X. and Lytton, R.L. Calculation of excess pore water and pore air pressures of unsaturated soils under undrained compression (I) Elastic or isotropic monotonic loading conditions. Submitted for possible publication in the International Journal of Geomechanics(under review).
ASCE Special Publication
Zhang, X. and Liu, J.(2007) “Numerical Simulation of Influence of Climatic Factors on Concrete Pavements Built on Expansive Soil.” Geocongress 2008, New Orleans, LA
Zhang, X. and Briaud, J. L.(2006) “Coupled Hydro-Mechanical Stress Soil-Structure Interaction of Foundation on Saturated and Unsaturated Soils.” Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Unsaturated Soils, April 2006, Carefree, AZ, Geotechnical Special Publication No.147, pp. 2138-2149.
Zhang, X. and Briaud, J. L. (2006) “Mandel-Cryer Effect for Unsaturated Soils.” Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Unsaturated Soils, April 2006, Carefree, AZ, Geotechnical Special Publication No.147, pp. 2063-2074.
Zhang, X. and Lytton, R. L.(2006) “Stress State Variables for Saturated and Unsaturated Soils.” Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Unsaturated Soils, April 2006, Carefree, AZ, Geotechnical Special Publication No.147, pp. 2380-2391.
Selected Conference Papers
Zhang, X. and Lytton, R. L.(2007) “Use of State Surface Approach to Explain the Barcelona Basic Model.” International Conference 2007 "Mechanics of Unsaturated Soils”, Weimar, Germany, 7th-9th March 2007
Zhang, X. and Lytton, R. L.(2007) “Use of State Surface Approach to Explain Unsaturated Expansive Soil Behavior.” International Conference on Advanced Characterization of Pavement and Soil Engineering Materials, Athens, Greece, June 2007.
Zhang, X. and Briaud, J. L. (2007). “Slab moment distributions of a residential building.” 3rd Asian Conference on Unsaturated Soils, (UNSAT-ASIA 2007) Nanjing, China 21-23 April 2007.
Zhang, X. and Lytton, R. L.(2006) “One Dimensional Consolidation for an Unsaturated Collapsible Soil.” Presented at 85th Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., January 2006
Zhang, X. and Briaud, J. L. (2006) “Coupled Water Content Method for Shrink and Swell Predictions.” Presented at the 85th Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., January 2006
Zhang, X., Lytton, R. L., and Briaud, J. L. (2005) “Coupled Consolidation Theory For Saturated-Unsaturated Soils” Third Biot Conference on Poromechanics (Biot Centennial), University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA, 2005. Abousleiman, Y., Cheng, A.H.-D., and Ulm, F.-J. (eds.) Pp.323-330.
Briaud, J. L. and Zhang, X. and Moon, S.(2003) “Water Content Method for Movements Prediction of Shrink-Swell Soils”, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Shallow Foundations, November 5 to 7, 2003, Paris, France.
