Johnson Zhang
Johnson Zhang

Prof Johnson Zhang

Professor

 0131 455 2482

  j.zhang@napier.ac.uk

  

Biography

Professor Zhang is a Professor in Structural Engineering and Head of International for the School of Engineering and the Built Environment at Edinburgh Napier University. Before joining Edinburgh Napier University in 2004, he worked on his PhD project at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology investigating structural performance and developing novel finite elements for transfer plate structures in tall buildings. Prior to his PhD study, he also practised as a structural engineer in China and became a chartered engineer in China in 1999.

Professor Zhang's research focuses on engineered bamboo-timber composite in construction, laminate glass structures, pre-stressed concrete and steel-reinforced concrete structures in complex loading conditions. Currently, he is devoting himself to developing bamboo-timber composite materials for long span and tall building structures with a patent filed in 2020. and his research is featured as a case study by the Royal Academy of Engineering. He has extensive experiences in photogrammetry technology, software development and multiple sensor systems in civil engineering studies. In one of his research projects with the advantages of tailored photogrammetry system, he has been able to give several convincing recommendations on the torsion test method for timber beams which have been adopted by the European standard: EN 408. (EN 408:2010 currently under review and revision). He is also an experienced computer programmer who developed several analyse and design software packages for trusses and scaffolding structures.

Professor Zhang has led several research and knowledge transfer projects funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering, Scottish Founding Council, Innovation UK, British Council, etc. His research has been published widely in both highly ranked civil engineering journals and conference proceedings. He is a member of CEN/TC 124/WG-1 committee for European Standard: EN408 review and revision. He also frequently organised and chaired special sessions, gave keynote speeches and guest lectures in international conferences and other universities.

School

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Member of CEN/TC 124/WG 1-Test methods committee for European Standard: EN 408 review and revision

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Invited International Conference Special Session Organiser: "Analysis, Design and Modelling of Structures Using Unconventional Construction Materials", 2020
  • Invited International Conference Special Session Organiser: "Analysis, Modelling and Design of Timber Structures", 2019
  • Invited International Conference Special Session Organiser: "Analysis, Modelling and Design of Timber Structures", 2015
  • Co-organised International Telford-UKIERI Workshop with The University of Edinburgh, 2013
  • Invited International Conference Special Session Organiser: "Analysis, Modelling and Design of Timber Structures", 2013

 

Editorial Activity

  • International Journal of Structural Glass and Advanced Materials Research - Member of Editorial Board (2021-present)
  • Member of Editorial Board - The Fourteenth International Conference on Computational Structures Technology, Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 2020
  • Member of Editorial Board - The Sixteenth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing, Riva del Garda, Italy, 2019
  • American Journal of Civil Engineering - Editorial Panel (2018-2020)
  • Journal of Architectural Research and Development - Member of Editorial Board (2018-2022)
  • Member of Editorial Board - The Fifteenth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing, Prague, Czech Republic, 2015
  • Member of Editorial Board - The Fourteenth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing, Cagliari, Italy, 2013

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External Panel Member for MSc Programme Re-Validation: The University of West London, 2019
  • External Panel Member for MSc Programme Validation: The University of West London, 2014
  • External Examiner for BSc Civil Engineering Programme in University of Abertay Dundee, 2013 - 2017

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Academic Champion for Royal Academy of Engineering - Visiting Professor in Integrated Civil Engineering Design 2020-2023
  • Royal Academy of Engineering - Industrial Fellowship 2019 - 2020
  • Best Paper award 2017 - 19th International Conference on Wood Science and Engineering, Japan, 2017
  • Queen's Anniversary Prize 2015, Innovation in Timber Engineering and Wood Science.
  • Project shortlisted for Scottish KTP Award 2012 - KTP Action Scaffolding (KTP007069)
  • Project shortlisted for Scottish KTP Award 2012 - KTP Diageo Plc (KTP006209)

 

Invited Speaker

  • Keynote speaker at Civil and Infrastructure World Forum (CivilEnggInfra-2022)
  • Invited Speaker: The Natural Materials Association(NMA) Lunchtime Seminars: Focus on Natural Materials: Bamboo, organised by the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (2021)
  • Keynote Talk at Global Summit on Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (GSCAEE-2021)
  • Invited Speaker at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 2019

 

Media Activity

  • Research project featured on the website of the Royal Academy of Engineering - Bamboo-Timber composites for construction 2021

 

Research Degree External Examining

  • PhD External Examining 2021 - University of West London, UK
  • PhD External Examining 2019 - Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India
  • PhD External Examining 2019 - The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong
  • PhD External Examining 2017 - The University of West London

 

Reviewing

  • Book review - Elsevier: Engineered Bamboo: Glubam Structures
  • Computers and Concrete, An International Journal
  • Materials
  • International Journal of Wood Products
  • Structures
  • International Journal of Numerical Methods in Engineering
  • Advances in Concrete Construction
  • Materials
  • International Journal of Wind and Structures
  • International Journal of Structural Engineering and Mechanics
  • Computers and Structures
  • Engineering Structures
  • International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids
  • Ocean Engineering
  • Structures
  • Structures
  • Materials and Structures
  • Proceedings Of The Institution Of Civil Engineers - Structures And Buildings
  • International Journal of Structural Engineering and Mechanics
  • Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Management, Procurement and Law
  • Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Structures and Buildings
  • Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Management, Procurement and Law

 

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Date


78 results

A finite-difference formulation of elastic rod for the design of actively bent structures

Journal Article
D’Amico, B., Zhang, H., & Kermani, A. (2016)
A finite-difference formulation of elastic rod for the design of actively bent structures. Engineering Structures, 117, 518-527. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2016.03.034
A discrete formulation of elastic rod has been tailored for the particular design task of geometric modelling, form finding and analysis of actively bent structural systems. T...

A Low Cost Non-Contact and Non-Destructive Method for Evaluating the Variation of the Shear Modulus for Glued Laminated Timber Beams using a Photogrammetric Approach

Conference Proceeding
Mohamed, A., Zhang, H., Smith, I., & Xiao, Z. (2015)
A Low Cost Non-Contact and Non-Destructive Method for Evaluating the Variation of the Shear Modulus for Glued Laminated Timber Beams using a Photogrammetric Approach. In Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computingdoi:10.4203/ccp.108.260
This paper presents the experimental studies performed to investigate the feasibility of the proposed photogrammetric system for torsion tests. In this study, two binocular st...

Timber gridshells: Numerical simulation, design and construction of a full scale structure

Journal Article
D'Amico, B., Kermani, A., Zhang, H., Pugnale, A., Colabella, S., & Pone, S. (2015)
Timber gridshells: Numerical simulation, design and construction of a full scale structure. Structures, 3, 227-235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2015.05.002
Timber gridshell structures, such as the Multihalle for the federal garden festival in Mannheim or the Downland Museum, have been the result of a creative–generative process t...

Optimization of cross-section of actively bent grid shells with strength and geometric compatibility constraints

Journal Article
D’Amico, B., Kermani, A., Zhang, H., Shepherd, P., & Williams, C. (2015)
Optimization of cross-section of actively bent grid shells with strength and geometric compatibility constraints. Computers and Structures, 154, 163-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruc.2015.04.006
The use of bending as self forming process allows the realization of shape-resistant systems, such as grid shell structures. Here, a numerical method for optimisation of the c...

Form finding and structural analysis of actively bent timber grid shells

Journal Article
D’Amico, B., Kermani, A., & Zhang, H. (2014)
Form finding and structural analysis of actively bent timber grid shells. Engineering Structures, 81, 195-207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2014.09.043
Grid shells are efficient structural systems covering large open spaces with relatively small amount of materials. Also, post forming techniques allow realization of geometric...

Shear failure modes of wood under torsional loading

Conference Proceeding
Khokhar, A., & Zhang, J. (2014)
Shear failure modes of wood under torsional loading. In World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE 2014). , (428-435
This paper presents details of the experimental investigation that was undertaken to examine the fracture mechanism of wood in shear. Torsion test method was employed to test...

The Use of Torsion Test Method to Evaluate the Shear Properties of Timber Joists

Conference Proceeding
Khokhar, A., & Zhang, J. (2012)
The Use of Torsion Test Method to Evaluate the Shear Properties of Timber Joists. In P. Quenneville (Ed.), Proceedings of the World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE 2012)
This paper presents details of the experimental method and test results from a series of torsion tests undertaken to evaluate the shear modulus and shear strength of solid tim...

Digital image processing of weathered stone for determining the optimum cleaning level of stonework

Conference Proceeding
Humanyun, R., Zhang, H., & Zhang, B. (2012)
Digital image processing of weathered stone for determining the optimum cleaning level of stonework. In 14th International Conference and Exhibition on Structural Faults and Repair
In this study, the authors introduced a new image component sampling technique that can be used to evaluate level of cleaning of weathered masonry stone for historic buildings...

Evaluation of shear constant of timber glulam composite with photogrammetric approach

Conference Proceeding
Zhang, H., Mohamed, A., & Smith, I. (2017)
Evaluation of shear constant of timber glulam composite with photogrammetric approach. In Proceeding of the Fourteenth International Conference on Computing in Civil and Building Engineering
Shear constant of timber glulam materials plays an important role in structural modelling, such as lateral torsional buckling of the glulam beam, floor vibration and stabiliti...

An Industrial Knowledge Collaborative CAD System for Scaffolding Structures

Conference Proceeding
O'Neill, S., Zhang, H., & Pawelak, M. (2011)
An Industrial Knowledge Collaborative CAD System for Scaffolding Structures. In Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computingdoi:10.4203/ccp.96.111
Scaffolds are a form of temporary structure widely used throughout the construction industry for various purposes. Some common uses are to provide access, for storage of mater...

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