People – Yixiang Gan's Research Website

Current Members

	2019- PhD	Mr Qingchen Liu, corrosion in offshore concrete structure. Qingchen finished his Bachelor of Engineering (Civil, 2017) and subsequently Master of Engineering (Civil, 2018) from The University of Sydney. He jointed Dr Gan’s Group in 2019 and now is a PhD student at The University of Sydney. His research focuses on chemical corrosion in meso-scale concrete by considering the chloride diffusion, moisture transport, heat transfer, and chemical reaction.
	2019- PhD	Mr Yu Chen, Mono-pile foundation for offshore wind turbines considering wave-structure-soil interactions Co-supervisor: Prof. Chengwang Lei “I obtained my Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering from Southwest Jiaotong University, China, in 2016 and Master Degree in Civil Engineering from University of New South Wales, Australia, in 2018. I joined Dr. Gan’s group in July of 2019 as a PhD student and focus on the foundation of offshore structure considering the dynamic soil-structural interaction(SSI) and fluid-structure interaction(FSI). “Much efforts have been made to increase the production of electricity from renewable energy over past decades, such as the raising number of projects regarding offshore wind farms. The monopile is one typical foundation for offshore wind energy converters. I am interested in developing a coupled FSSI model to investigate the wave-induced liquefaction and scour development of the porous seabed around a large diameter monopile and the response of porous seabed to other dynamic loadings.”
	2019- PhD	Mr Xu Wang, Experimental and numerical studies regard effective electrical conductivity of compacted granular system. Xu Wang was awarded the degree of bachelor of Engineering Honours (Civil Engineering, Geotechnical) from the University of Sydney (2017). He joined Dr. Gan’s group in 2018 as a research assistant, and he is now a PhD student in the University of Sydney. He is currently focusing on the electric conductivity on fractal rough surface both experimentally and numerically, and also has interest in contact mechanics between randomly rough surfaces.
	2018- PhD	Mr Mingrui Dong, Dynamics responses of unsaturated granular media. “I graduated from China University of Geosciences (Beijing) in 2014 with a BA in Geophysics and achieved Master of Professional Engineering (Civil) at The University of Sydney in 2018. I would like to say the transformation of my study field is analogous to that an X-ray physician finally becomes a surgeon in the hospital, the difference is that my target is the earth rather than the human body. Kids seems eager to and good at playing with the mixture of soil and water, and we can always easily help them build a castle, but the complexity of the property of such mixture is beyond our imagination. My passion is to investigate properties of the unsaturated granular materials which constitute most part of our life, the related example can range from civil engineering materials (concrete and foundation), environment (landfill), agriculture (liquid retention of soil), food (knead dough and cook porridge) and pharmacy production (small particle assemblies in capsules). I am aiming at developing a liquid-solid numerical model using DEM to investigate the dynamic behaviour (Rheology and Liquefaction) of the partially saturated assemblies and comparing the results with the physical model. “

Group photo in front of The Quadrangle at The University of Sydney, 31/03/2017. From left: Linkin Wu, Weijing Dai, Chongpu Zhai, Mojtaba Nazemi, Simon Shi, Simone Pupeschi, Marigrazia Moscardini, Yixiang Gan, Sharon Li, Yongmei Zhang, Yanyao Bao, Mingrui Dong, Noor Mohammad, and Guanzhe Cui.

Alumni

PostDoc
		Dr. Dorian Hanaor (PostDoc, 2013-2015) at The University of Sydney. Currently Faculty at Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Germany.
PhD
	2023	Dr Yanyao Bao (PhD 2019-2023) Thesis: Water Management in Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs): The Role of Porous Layer Roughness
	2023	Dr Yongmei Zhang (PhD, 2017-2023) Thesis: Numerical Simulations of Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment on 316L Stainless Steel. Co-supervisor: Prof. Gwénaëlle Proust.
	2022	Dr. Haobin Liang (PhD, 2018-2022) Thesis: Performance enhancement and optimisation of Thermal Energy Storage Systems using Phase Change Materials. [PDF] Currently PostDoc at Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU).
	2022	Dr Si Suo (PhD, 2018-2022) Thesis: Modelling Multiphase Flow in Heterogeneous Porous Media. [PDF] Currently PostDoc at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.
	2021	Dr. Zhongzheng Wang (PhD, 2018-2021) Thesis: Capillary Effects on Fluid Transport in Granular Media. [PDF] Currently Lecturer at Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
	2021	Dr Deheng Wei (PhD, 2018-2021) Thesis: Granular Mechanics Across Length Scales: Contact, Breakage, Fracture and Permeability. [PDF] Currently Humboldt Research Fellow at RWTH, Germany.
	2020	Dr Zhang (Simon) Shi (PhD, 2016-2020) Thesis: Pore-scale Modelling of Two Phase Flow in Porous Media with Dynamic Wettability and Topological Disorder. [PDF] Currently Postdoc Researcher at The University of Queensland.
	2019	Dr Noor Mohammad (PhD, 2016-2019) Thesis: Desiccation Cracking Behaviour in Thin Bentonite Layers. [PDF] Co-supervisor: Prof. Abbas El Zein. Currently Engineer at Alliance Geotechnical Pty Ltd, Australia.
	2018	Dr Weijing Dai (PhD, 2015-2018) Thesis: Thermal Conduction in Granular Media: From Interface, Topology to Effective Property. [PDF] Co-supervisor: Dr. Dorian Hanaor.
	2017	Dr. Chongpu Zhai (PhD, 2014-2017) Thesis: Stress-dependent Electrical Conduction in Granular Materials. [PDF] Co-supervisors: Dr. Dorian Hanaor and A/Prof Gwénaëlle Proust. Currently Associate Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University, PR China.
MPhil
	2022	Ms Linxiao (Penny) Zhou (MPhil, 2020-2022). Thesis: Numerical Studies on Thermal-hydraulic Behaviour of CO2 Energy Piles. [PDF]
	2020	Mr Peiji Deng (MPhil, 2018-2020). Thesis: Carbon-based Catalyst Design and Application for Nitrogen Fixation and Carbon Dioxide Reduction. [PDF] Co-supervisors: Dr. Haitao Li.
	2018	Mr Nanwangzi (Linkin) Wu (MPhil, 2016-2018) Thesis: Numerical Modelling of Geothermal Energy Piles: Thermo-mechanical Behaviour and Thermal Performance. [PDF]
	2018	Mr. Guanzhe Cui (MPhil 2017-2018) Thesis: Pore-scale Numerical Modelling of Gravity-driven Drainage in Porous Media with Disordered Microstructure. [PDF] Currently at Country Garden.
	2018	Mr. Yanyao Bao (MPhil 2016-2018) Thesis: Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Simulations for Dynamic Capillary Interactions. [PDF] Co-supervisor: A/Prof Luming Shen. Currently PhD student in the group.
	2017	Ms. Shuoqi (Sharon) Li (MPhil, 2015-2017) Thesis: The Distribution of Saturated Clusters in Wetted Granular Materials. [PDF] Co-supervisor: Dr. Dorian Hanaor. Currently Engineer at EI Australia.
	2016	Ms. Yi Zhang (MPhil, 2014-2016) Thesis: Static and Dynamic Behaviour of Inter-granular Liquid Bridges: Hysteresis of Contact Angle and Capillary Forces. [PDF] Co-supervisor: Dr. Dorian Hanaor. Currently Engineer at Pells Sullivan Meynink (PSM), Australia.

All completed theses (PhD and MPhil) can be downloaded here.

Visitors

	2019-2020	Mr Jun Ma (Jan 2019-Apr 2020, PhD student, Beijing University of Science and Technology)
	2019	Ms Verena Becker (May-July 2019, PhD student, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
	2019	Mr Jiarui Li (Mar-Sep 2019, PhD student, Beijing Institute of Technology)
	2017, 2015	Mr Simone Pupeschi (Oct-Dec 2015 and Jan-Apr 2017, PhD student, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) PhD Thesis, 2017, at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Thermomechanical characterization of advanced ceramic breeder beds for fusion blankets. [PDF]
	2017, 2015	Mrs Marigrazia Mascardini (Oct-Dec 2015 and Jan-Apr 2017, PhD student, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) PhD Thesis, 2018, at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Discrete Element Methods for the Thermo-Mechanics of Ceramic Breeder Pebble Beds. [PDF]
	2017, 2015	Mr Mingchao Liu (Jan-Jul 2015 and Jun-Dec 2017, PhD student, Tsinghua University) PhD Thesis, 2018, at Tsinghua University, Liquid Penetration and Effective Properties in Porous Media (in Chinese). [PDF]
	2018, 2016	Mr Oleg Birkholz (Oct-Dec 2016 and Mar-Apr 2018, PhD student, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
	2013	Ms Julia Ott (May-Jul 2013, PhD student, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) PhD Thesis, 2015, at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Modeling the Microstructural and Micromechanical Influence on Effective Properties of Granular Electrode Structures. [PDF]