Associate Professor
Supervisor of Master's Candidates
Supervisor of Doctorate Candidates
YANG, Shangchuan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor & Ph.D. Advisor
Department of Geotechnical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University
Office: Room 1334, Civil Engineering Hall, Jiuli Campus
Email: shangchuan.yang@swjtu.edu.cn
Dr. Shangchuan Yang is an Associate Professor and Ph.D. Advisor in the Department of Geotechnical Engineering at Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU). He received his Ph.D. from Hohai University in 2016, during which he spent two years (2014–2016) as a visiting student at Oregon State University, working with Dr. Ben Leshchinsky.
Dr. Yang's research lies at the intersection of classical soil mechanics and modern computational methods, focusing on slope stability, geosynthetic-reinforced soil structures, efficient stochastic algorithms, and physics-informed, data-driven reliability design.
He currently serves as an Associate Editor for Geotextiles and Geomembranes (Elsevier) and is a member of the ASCE Geosynthetics Technical Committee. Notably, he was invited as an external reviewer for the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) technical circular Earth Retaining Systems (GEC 002, 2024 Draft). He is also an active reviewer for over 20 premier journals, including Géotechnique, ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (JGGE), Computers and Geotechnics, Acta Geotechnica, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, and Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering.
Outside of academia, Shangchuan is an avid tennis player. If you are visiting SWJTU, you are more than welcome to challenge him to a match!
Research Interests
Stability and design optimization of slopes and MSE walls
Efficient stochastic algorithms for spatially variable soils
Physics-informed data-driven geotechnical reliability and risk assessment
Selected Recent Publications:
Yang, S., Leshchinsky, B., Wu, Y.*, Guo, Y., Cui, K., & Cao, Z. J. (2026). Analytical undrained bearing capacity models for spatially variable soils: mechanisms, uncertainty, and diagnostic maps. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 63, 1-16.
Yang, S., Song, S., Zhang, F.*, & Gao, Y. (2024). Performance Analysis of Shored Mechanically Stabilized Earth Walls with Wrapped Facing Using Numerical Simulations. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (ASCE), 150(6), 04024045.
Yang, S., Leshchinsky, B., Cui, K., Zhang, F., & Gao, Y. (2021). Influence of failure mechanism on seismic bearing capacity factors for shallow foundations near slopes. Géotechnique, 71(7), 594-607.
Yang, S., Leshchinsky, B.*, Cui, K., Zhang, F., & Gao, Y. (2019). Unified approach toward evaluating bearing capacity of shallow foundations near slopes. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (ASCE), 145(12), 04019110.
Current Courses Taught
CIVE002712: Soil Mechanics (Undergraduate, 3 Credits)
CIVE008312: Rock Mechanics (Undergraduate, 3 Credits)
Research Opportunities
Highly motivated graduate students with strong backgrounds in civil engineering or mechanics are welcome to contact Dr. Yang. Please enclose your CV and representative publications in your inquiry.
