Biography

- 2010 School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering,
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. PhD:
“Fracture and fatigue of adhesively-bonded fiber-reinforced polymer structural joints” 

- 2004 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chalmers Tekniska Högskola (Chalmers University of Technology), Göteborg, Sweden. Master of Civil Engineering:
“Evaluation of Stress Reduction Methods for FRP Adhesively Bonded Joints”

- 2002 Department of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Bachelor of Architecture.

Research Interests

- FRP composites, pultruded composites, polymer adhesive;
- Adhesively-bonded joints;
- Fatigue life prediction methodologies, fatigue design;
- Fracture mechanics, crack detection techniques, crack initiation and propagation;
- Environmental effects, thermomechanical properties, long-term performance;
- Numerical modeling and analysis (finite element method);
- Structural design and construction with composite materials.

Publications

- Zhang Y, Vassilopoulos AP and Keller T. Fracture of adhesively-bonded pultruded GFRP joints under constant amplitude fatigue loading. International Journal of Fatigue, in press.
- Zhang Y, Vassilopoulos AP and Keller T. Effects of low and high temperatures on tensile behavior of adhesively-bonded GFRP joints. Composite Structures, 2010;92(7):1631-1639.
- Zhang Y, Vassilopoulos AP and Keller T. Mode I and II fracture behavior of adhesively-bonded pultruded composite joints. Engineering Fracture Mechanics 2010; 77(1):128-143.
- Zhang Y, Vassilopoulos AP and Keller T. Environmental effects on fatigue behavior of adhesively-bonded pultruded structural joints. Composite Science and Technology 2009; 69(7-8):1022-1028.
- Zhang Y, Vassilopoulos AP and Keller T. Stiffness degradation and fatigue life prediction of adhesively-bonded joints for fiber-reinforced polymer composites. International Journal of Fatigue 2008;30:1813-1820.
- Zhang Y, Keller T. Progressive failure process of adhesively bonded joints composed of pultruded GFRP. Composite Science and Technology 2008; 68(2):461-470.
- Zhang Y, Keller T. Mixed-mode fracture of adhesively-bonded pultruded composite lap joints. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, submitted.

Current Research

Composite Patch Repair for Marine and Civil Engineering Infrastructure Applications (CO-PATCH)