Lei Zhang
Email
lzhang9@ualberta.ca
Position
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Education
2017-2022 Ph.D. in Structural Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada
2020-2021 Visiting Research Student, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada
2014-2017 M.Sc. in Structural Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, China
2010-2014 B.Eng. in Civil Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, China
Current Research
Timber-concrete composite (TCC) floors create a structural system that utilizes the best material properties of timber and concrete. The efficiency of the TCC system strongly depends on the shear connections between two components. My research focuses on optimizing the discrete connections (notched connections) in the floor systems so that an economic floor system with high stiffness, high strength, and ductile failure mode can be achieved.
Research areas
Mass timber panel-concrete composite floor system
Mechanical interlocking-based connection system
Composite beam theory
Innovative Mass timber products
Research interest
Mass timber building fire performance
Mass timber lateral load resisting system
Mortise-tenon joint
Journal publications
Lei Zhang, Jianhui Zhou, Sigong Zhang, Ying Hei Chui (2022) Bending stiffness prediction to mass timber panel-concrete composite floors with notched connections. Engineering Structures 262: 114354.
Lei Zhang, Jianhui Zhou, Ying Hei Chui (2022) Development of high-performance timber-concrete composite floors with reinforced notched connections. Structures 39: 945-957.
Lei Zhang, Jianhui Zhou, Ying Hei Chui, Douglas Tomlinson (2022) Experimental Investigation on the Structural Performance of Mass Timber Panel-Concrete Composite Floors with Notched Connections. ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering 148(2): 04021249.
Lei Zhang, Sigong Zhang, Ying Hei Chui (2021) Analytical evaluation to the timber-concrete composite beam connected with notched connections. Engineering Structures 227: 111466.
Lei Zhang, Ying Hei Chui, Douglas Tomlinson (2020) Experimental investigation on the shear properties of notched connections in mass timber panel-concrete composite floors. Construction and Building Materials 234: 117375.
Na Yang, Tianhao Li, Lei Zhang (2019) A two-dimensional lattice model for simulating the failure and fracture behavior of wood. Wood Science and Technology 54: 63-87.
Na Yang, Lei Zhang (2018) Investigation of elastic constants and ultimate strengths of Korean pine from compression and tension tests. Journal of wood science 64(2): 85-96.
Lei Zhang, Na Yang (2017) Evaluation of a modified Iosipescu shear test method for determining the shear properties of clear wood. Wood science and technology 51(2): 323-343.
Lu Dai, Na Yang, Lei Zhang, Qingshan Yang, Siu-seong Law (2016) Monitoring crowd load effect on typical ancient Tibetan building. Structural Control and Health Monitoring 23(7): 998-1014.
Conference publications
Lei Zhang, Sigong Zhang, Jianhui Zhou, Ying Hei Chui (2021) Analytical assessment to the timber-concrete composite floors with discrete semi-rigid connection. World Conference on Timber Engineering, August 1-12, Santiago, Chile.
Lei Zhang, Ying Hei Chui (2019) Numerical study of the geometry effect of notched connections in mass timber panel - concrete composite floors. Proceeding of Modular and Offsite Construction, May 21-24, Banff, AB, Canada.
Lei Zhang, Na Yang (2016) The analytical solution of a morphology-based model used to evaluate the influence of damage for wood structures. The 14th International Symposium on Structural Engineering, Oct 12-15, Beijing, China.
Dissertations
Lei Zhang (2022) Structural Performance of Mass Timber Panel-Concrete Composite Floors with Notched Connections, University of Alberta, Canada.
Lei Zhang (2017) Experimental Study on the Mechanical Properties of Wood and the Numerical Modeling Strategies of Wood, Beijing Jiaotong University, China. [Link]
Awards
Alberta Graduate Excellent student scholarship, University of Alberta (2021)
FGSR Graduate Student Online Conference Award (2021)
Alberta Graduate Excellent student scholarship, University of Alberta (2019)
Doctoral recruitment scholarship, University of Alberta (2017)
National Scholarship for Graduate Students, Beijing Jiaotong University (2016)
Grants
GSA Academic Travel Grants, Proceeding of Modular and Offsite Construction, Banff, Canada (2019)
GSA Academic Travel Grants, World Conference on Timber Engineering, Seoul, South Korea (2018)
Teaching Assistantship
CIV E 295 Civil Engineering Analysis II, Winter 2021
CIV E 460 Civil Engineering Design Project I, Fall 2020, Fall 2021
CIV E 461 Civil Engineering Design Project II, Winter 2021, Winter 2022
CIV E 779 Advanced Topics in Structural Engineering (Structural Timber Design), Fall 2019
CIV E 479 Structural Design III, Winter 2019; Winter 2018