Dr. Zhou joined the University of Dundee as a Lecturer in January 2023. He obatined his PhD degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London. Prior to this, he held a BEng degree in Engineering Mechanics, and MSc degree in Solid Mechanics from Peking University. His PhD study was funded by the President’s PhD Scholarship of Imperial College London, and his PhD thesis was awarded the 'Unwin Postgraduate Prize' by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, in recognition of the best thesis submitted in the academic year 2019. 

Currently, I am teaching the modules:

DI12011, Mechanical Engineering Project II

DI12008, Thermodynamics

My research activities cover the broad area of mechanics of materials, manufacturing, with a focus on the deformation behaviours of various materials including metals, metal-ceramic composites and energy materials under multi-field (thermal, mechanical, electrochemical, etc) coupling conditions. 

1. Flexible metal forming technique

I have proposed and led the development of a novel flexible extrusion technique, differential velocity sideways extrusion (DVSE), for lightweight streamlined extrusion profiles with superior mechanical properties, which minimises the manufacturing defects, cost, and energy consumption compared with the traditional manufacturing methods requiring multiple steps of extrusion and subsequent bending. This technology is also known as Flextrude^®, which has been patented worldwide and will be commercialised by a spin-out company, CurvEx Technology Ltd.

2. Porous functionally graded materials and structures

To solve the problems of heat short and low strength at high temperature for traditional fasteners used in aerospace thermal protection systems, I designed and fabricated porous ZrO₂/(ZrO₂+Ni) functionally graded materials (FGMs) and joints with low thermal conductivity and high strength, whose microstructure, thermal-mechanical performance and failure behaviour were systematically analysed. 

3. Li-ion battery electrode materials and electric vehicles

Diffusion-induced stress in electrode materials of Li-ion batteries during internal static cycling (charging/discharging) and external dynamic loading (e.g. vibration load cases in electric vehicles) is a major factor causing the deformation, fracture and capacity fade of the electrodes. I developed electrochemical-mechanical coupled analytical models to study the diffusion-induced stress field considering concentration-dependent modulus and external unified mechanical loading conditions (tension, compression, and bending). 

I am interested in using mechanics approaches to do research in lightweight materials (light alloys, composites, etc.) and structures, especially for applications (weight and CO₂ emissions reduction) in aerospace and automotive, with a focus on developing novel manufacturing methods and assessment models, and analysing the material deformation behaviour, microstructure evolution and mechanical properties:

• Developing novel flexible metal forming and manufacturing methods for lightweight materials and structures
• Developing/Designing novel high-performance composites and structures
• New tool design for reducing manufacturing cost, energy consumption, material waste and improving efficiency
• Process mechanics - (micro)structure - performance relationships
• Microstructure modelling of metal forming processes
• Life cycle assessment of lightweighting in electric vehicles