Yanbei Zhang

PHD, PE, M. ASCE

Staff Geotechnical Engineer

Stay hungry, stay foolish.

Hired

  • 2015

Location

  • Redmond, WA

Yanbei splits his time between field work and putting his expertise on numerical modeling to good use in the office. While in the field, Yanbei does field exploration and construction observation for the Puget Sound Geotechnical Group.

When the team needs advanced numerical models to help predict the behavior of structures under seismic or other complex loading conditions, Yanbei uses advanced numerical modeling software such as FLAC (Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua) and FLAC3D to create realistic soil models in both two and three dimensions. The more complicated the project, the more he enjoys modeling it. Modeling can involve a number of areas of geotechnical engineering including site exploration, soil layer delineation, soil parameter selection and calibration, seismic modeling and soil-pile interaction.

“The work in my specialties makes me feel fulfilled and satisfied with my contributions,” Yanbei says. “But I also really enjoy learning in new technical areas.”

When he’s not working, Yanbei likes reading books on history, listening to all kinds of music, traveling, playing video games and spending time with his family.

Awards
  • Pai Tao Yeh Fellowship, 2013, Purdue University
  • Gerald and Beryl Leonards Fellowship, 2010, Purdue University
Articles
  • Salgado, R., Loukidis, D., Abou-Jaoude, G. and Zhang, Y. (2015). “The Role of Soil Stiffness Non-Linearity in 1-D Pile Driving Simulations.” Géotechnique, 65(3), 169-187.
  • Salgado, R., Zhang, Y., Dai, G. and Gong, W. (2013). “Reply to the Discussion by Fellenius on ‘Load Tests on Full-Scale Bored Pile Groups’.” Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 50(4), 454 – 455.
  • Zhang, Y., Salgado, R., Dai, G. and Gong, W. (2013). “Load Tests on Full-Scale Bored Pile Groups.” Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris, France.
  • Dai, G., Salgado, R. Gong, W. and Zhang, Y. (2012). “Full-Scale Load Tests on Bored Pile Groups.” Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 49(11), 1293-1308.
  • Zhang, Y., Medina-Cetina, Z. and Khoa, H.D.V. (2011). “Probabilistic Calibration of a Discrete Particle Model for Geomaterials.” Proceedings of the Geo-Frontiers Conference, March 13-16, Dallas, TX, USA.
  • Salgado, R., Zhang, Y., Abou-Jaoude, G., Loukidis, D. and Bisht, V. (2017). “Pile Driving Formulas Based on Pile Wave Equation Analyses.” Computers and Geotechnics, Vol. 81, 307-321.
  • Zhu, M.-X., Zhang, Y., Gong, W.-M., Wang, L. and Dai, G.-L. (2017). “Generalized Solutions for Axially and Laterally Loaded Piles in Multilayered Soil Deposits with Transfer Matrix Method.” International Journal of Geomechanics, Vol. 17, Issue 4.
  • Zhu, M.-X., Zhang, Y., Gong, W.-M. and Dai, G.-L. (2016). “Discussion on “Evaluating the Effect of Slope Angle on the Distribution of the Soil-Pile Pressure acting on Stabilizing Piles in Sandy Slopes”.” Computers and Geotechnics, Vol. 79, 176-181.

Selected Project Experience

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