About me

I am looking for a job related to CFD simulations, bridge engineering, or general civil engineering, in the industry or academy.

Here is a link to download my latest CV.

Brief Introduction

My name is Yuxiang Zhang. I was a PhD candidate until recently. On June 11th 2022, I defended my thesis and passed my PhD Viva voce at the School of Civil Engineering in University College Dublin. The internal examiner of my thesis is Prof Eugene O’Brien. The external examiner is Dr Andrew Quinn from University of Birmingham.

The title of my thesis is “Applying Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations for Aerodynamic Studies of Long-Span Bridges”. My PhD project was funded by China Scholarship Council, and was jointly supervised by Dr Jennifer Keenahan and Dr Philip Cardiff.

Education

2018 - 2022

PhD in Civil Engineering, University College Dublin

Thesis title: Applying Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations for Aerodynamic Studies of Long-Span Bridges

Funding: China Scholarship Council

In CFD simulations, my research has investigated the application of CFD modelling for the analysis of wind on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge. The outcome of my research will help validate the use of CFD for the analysis of wind for bridge design.

Research included:
• Securing access to the Key cluster computer operated by ICHEC (Irish Centre for High-End Computing)
• Project management and self-directed learning
• Collaboration with stakeholders: Arup CFD team, TII, NSAI
• Publication of Journal Papers
• Presentations at international conferences

2017 - 2018

Masters of Engineering Science in Structural Engineering, University College Dublin

Grade: 2:1（GPA: 3.46 / 4.0)

Research thesis: CFD simulations examining sheltering traffic from wind.

2013 - 2017

Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering, Chang’an University, China

1st Class honours (GPA: 3.59 / 4.0)

Work experience

2018 - 2022

Postgraduate tutor

I helped lecturers to correct students’ assignments and answers questions during tutorial sessions.

Modules I taught:

1. Structural analysis

2. Structural dynamics

3. Geotech

4. Water resources

Exam invigilator

I worked as an exam invigilator in UCD exam centre for Alternative Exam Arrangements & Disability Support (AEADS). My role included invigilating exam sessions and also providing help and assistance to students in need. It was a challenging role but I started to realise that I enjoy helping those need more help.

P.S. Would you be suprised if I told you I used to work in a butcher’s store in Dublin? But that was a short period of time (2 weeks during Christmas in 2020).

Publication

A literature review

Zhang, Y., Cardiff, P., and Keenahan, J., (2021). ‘Wind-induced phenomena in long-span cable-supported bridges: a comparative review of wind tunnel tests and computational fluid dynamics modelling’, Applied Sciences, 11(4), 1642. link of the paper

Honestly, I still cannot understand why I would even try to write such a paper. But anyway, with the help of my advisors, I managed to publish this as the first journal paper during my PhD. Well, you got to start somewhere. If you really spend time reading this paper, you probably will not learn much but some basics about wind problems on bridges and CFD application in bridge engineering. After so long, I think the content can be summarised into three sentences:

1. CFD is cool but complex;

2. Wind tunnel is the common practice but obviously not perfect for bridge aerodyanmic study;

3. There is SO MUCH ROOM for improvement in using CFD in bridge engineering.

A comparison between CFD and wind tunnel tests (WTTs)

Zhang, Y., Cardiff, P., Cahill, F., and Keenahan, J., (2021). ‘Assessing the capability of computational fluid dynamics models in replicating wind tunnel test results for the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge’, CivilEng 2, no. 4: 1065-1090. link of the paper.

So after I finished the literature review (well this might not be true, I probably planned everything long ago), I was thinking maybe I should compare CFD and WTTs since I have written so much against WTTs in bridge engineering. And BINGO! My supervisor got me a WTT report from a famous construction company that I don’t think I should mention here though you will probably find out which one it is if you read the paper (OMG, such a long sentence for me). Anyway, I replicated the WTTs mentioned in the report and did a comparison on the results. It turned out to be okay but not quite satisfying because some non-negligible discrepancies were found within the comparison between WTTs and CFD and we cannot say which one got the better results.

A methodology paper

Zhang, Y., MacReamoinn, R., Cardiff, P., and Keenahan, J., (2021). ‘A workflow for analysing wind effects on long-span bridges using open-source software’, under review with the OpenFOAM Journal.

This paper talks about the methodology that can be adopted by bridge engineers when performing CFD simulations. It is still under review. I am not optimistic about it. I don’t think anyone will like it. I can only imagine that the reviewers be like: Emmm, this is probably new but boring.

A comparison between CFD and field measurement

Zhang, Y., Cardiff, P., Sweeney, C., and Keenahan, J., (2021). ‘Comparison of field data from the Rose Fitzgerald Bridge with full-scale CFD models’, under review with the Journal of Bridge Engineering.

Did I spend months standing on a bridge? Nope. I amd privileged to be granted the access to some fancy real-time data recorded by four anemometers on the bridge. Why would I need to do this? Because I still want to be the bad guy to tell everyone else that CFD is better than your over-priced WTTs. I need a third-party to help me prove that. And this third-party will be this non-biased field measurement data.

A conference paper

Zhang, Y., Cardiff, P., and Keenahan, J., (2020). ‘A numerical study of the effect of wind barriers on traffic and the bridge deck’, in Proceedings of the Civil Engineering Research in Ireland Conference, Cork, Ireland, 27-28 August 2020. link of the paper

Yes, I know. It is funny to mention a conference paper. But the content of this paper is basically what I did in my Masters.
My advice: Don’t do a masters but find a PhD position or a decent job.

Scholarships and Awards

China Scholarship Council (CSC) Individual Fellowship Award (2018)

This scholarship sponsors Chinese citizens to pursue study abroad and for international students to study in China. Awardees are selected through a rigorous academic evaluation process organised by the Chinese Scholarship Council. This individual fellowship, awarded to me, funds my PhD studies at UCD.

Nvidia GPU Grant (2019)

This grant provided by NVidia offers a GTX Titan V GPU to support my PhD studies. The GPU is used for post-processing, rendering and computational modelling.

Hobbies

Photography
Violin

Thank you for visiting this site. I wish you a fast convergence!