2001/09-2006/03, Ph.D. in Applied Mechanics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

1997/09-2000/07, M.S. in Mechanics, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China

1992/09-1997/07, B.S. in Mechanics, Peking University, China

2025/12 – Present, Xinghua University Professor, Tsinghua University, China

2025/09 – 2025/12, Professor, The state key laboratory of nonlinear mechanics (LNM), Institute of Mechanics, CAS, China

2015/11 – 2025/09, Professor & Director, LNM, Institute of Mechanics, CAS, China

2010/02 – 2015/11, Professor & Deputy Director, LNM, Institute of Mechanics, CAS, China

2014/02 – 2014/09, Visiting Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA

2011/09 – 2012/05, Visiting Professor, University of Colorado Boulder, USA

2008/09 – 2010/06, Assistant Professor, University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, USA

2006/03 – 2008/09, Postdoc, Brown University, USA

Associate Editor, Eng. Fract. Mech.

Member of the Advisory Board, Eur. J. Mech. A-Solid

Editor, Acta Mechanica Sinica

Editor, Sci. China Phys. Mech.

Editor, Appl. Math. Mech.

Editor, Theor. Appl. Mech. Lett.

Editor, Model. Simul. Mater. Sc.

Executive Director of the 12th Council of The Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (CSTAM)

- Micro-mechanisms of strength and plastic deformation in metallic materials

- Constitutive of solid materials and artificial intelligence-assisted modeling

- Theoretical solution of stress fields for typical defects and cracks in solids

- Reliability, life prediction and mechanics of lithium-ion batteries

Publications: more than 170 papers in refereed journals, including Nature, Rev. Mod. Phys., Nat. Mater., Nat. Commun., Phys. Rev. Lett., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., J. Mech. Phys. Solids, etc., and other leading journals in the field of physics and mechanics of solids. The journal papers have been cited more than 14,000 times (H index=55) (Google Scholar, January 2026).

Outstanding Mentor Award, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2020/2019/2013)

Award for Distinguished Contribution by Overseas Chinese, All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (2023)

Outstanding Scientific Papers, China Association for Science and Technology (2022/2017)

Youth Science and Technology Award, The Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (2013)

Yujie Wei has made seminal contributions to creative exploration of the deformation and fracture of a variety of solids through development of new theories and advanced computational models. He developed fundamental understanding on the mechanics of basic defects in crystalline materials and supplied analytical solutions to the elasticity of kinked cracks, as detailed below.

I. Revealed the role of twin boundaries for strength in twin-abundant polycrystalline metals and developed physics-rooted deep understanding on the role of interfaces in advanced materials

II. Obtained the elastic field of 5-7 rings in two-dimensional hexagonal crystals and made important contributions to the nanomechanics of two-dimensional materials

III. Derived the close-form criterion for crack deflection based on the maximum energy release rate, and supplied analytical solutions to the stress fields of kinked and branched cracks in both full and half spaces

Representative Research Papers (* as the corresponding authors)

On fracture mechanics

Bonan Wang, Yangjian Si, and Yujie Wei*. Elastic fields of surface steps and notches and associated cracks. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 2025, 328: 111571.

Yangjian Si, Yujie Wei*. Semi-analytical solutions of kinked edge cracks. Engineering Fracture Mechanics 309 (2024) 110392.

Yangjian Si, Yujie Wei*. Elastic fields of double branched and Kalthoff–Winkler cracks in a half-plane. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 184 (2024) 105546 (1-24).

Zhuo-Er Liu, Yujie Wei*. A semi-analytical solution to the stress intensity factors of branched cracks. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 179 (2023), 105351 (1-18).

Zhuo-Er Liu, Yujie Wei*. An analytical solution to the stress fields of kinked cracks. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 156 (2021), 104619 (1-18).

Xiaguang Zeng, Yujie Wei*. Crack deflection in brittle media with heterogeneous interfaces and its application in shale fracking. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 101 (2017), 235-249.

On low-dimensional mechanics

Xiaokun Gu, Yujie Wei*, Xiaobo Yin, Baowen Li*, Ronggui Yang*. Colloquium: Phononic thermal properties of two-dimensional materials. Reviews of Modern Physics, 90 (4) (2018), 041002 (1-30).

Zhenqian Pang, Xiaokun Gu, Yujie Wei*, Ronggui Yang*, Mildred S. Dresselhaus*. Bottom-up design of three-dimensional carbon-honeycomb with superb specific strength and high thermal conductivity. Nano Letters, 17 (1) (2017), 179-185.

Wenhui Xie, Yujie Wei*. Roughening for strengthening and toughening in monolayer carbon based composites. Nano Letters, 21 (11) (2021), 4823-4829.

Yujie Wei*, Ronggui Yang*. Nanomechanics of graphene. National Science Review, 6 (2) (2019), 324-348.

Hanqing Yin, H. Jerry Qi, Feifei Fan, Ting Zhu, Baolin Wang, Yujie Wei*. Griffith Criterion for Brittle Fracture in Graphene. Nano Letters, 15 (3) (2015), 1918-1924.

Jiangtao Wu, Yujie Wei*. Grain misorientation and grain-boundary rotation dependent mechanical properties in polycrystalline graphene. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 61 (6) (2013), 1421-1432.

Yujie Wei*, Baolin Wang, Jiangtao Wu, Ronggui Yang*, Martin L. Dunn*. Bending rigidity and Gaussian bending stiffness of single-layered graphene. Nano Letters, 13 (1) (2013), 26-30.

Yujie Wei*, Jiangtao Wu, Hanqing Yin, Xinghua Shi, Ronggui Yang*, Mildred Dresselhaus. The nature of strength enhancement and weakening by pentagon-heptagon defects in graphene. Nature Materials, 11 (9) (2012), 759-763.

On plasticity

Shenyou Peng, Zhili Wang, Jia Lia, Qihong Fang*, Yujie Wei*. Beyond Orowan hardening: Mapping the four distinct mechanisms associated with dislocation-precipitate interaction, Int. J. Plasticity, 169 (2023), 103710 (1-11).

Shenyou Peng, Yujie Wei*, Huajian Gao*. Nanoscale precipitates as sustainable dislocation sources for enhanced ductility and high strength. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117 (10) (2020), 5204-5209.

Chuangchuang Duan, Yujie Wei*. Scaling of internal dissipation of polycrystalline solids on grain-size and frequency. Acta Materialia, 201 (2020), 350-363.

Shenyou Peng, Yujie Wei*, Zhaohui Jin, Wei Yang. Supersonic screw dislocations gliding at the shear wave speed. Physical Review Letters, 122 (4) (2019), 045501 (1-5).

Xianqi Lei, Yujie Wei*, Bingchen Wei, Wei-Hua Wang. Spiral fracture in metallic glasses and its correlation with failure criterion. Acta Materialia, 99 (2015), 206-212.

Yujie Wei*, Yongqiang Li, Lianchun Zhu, Yao Liu, Xianqi Lei, Gang Wang, Yanxin Wu, Zhenli Mi, Jiabin Liu, Hongtao Wang, Huajian Gao*. Evading the strength-ductility trade-off dilemma in steel through gradient hierarchical nanotwins. Nature Communications, 5 (2014), 3580 (1-8).

Yujie Wei*. A stochastic description on the traction-separation law of an interface with non-covalent bonding. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 70 (2014), 227-241.

Yujie Wei*. Scaling of maximum strength with grain size in nanotwinned fcc metals. Physical Review B, 83 (2011), 132104 (1-4).

Xiaoyan Li, Yujie Wei*, Lei Lu, Ke Lu, Huajian Gao*. Dislocation nucleation governed softening and maximum strength in nano-twinned metals. Nature, 464 (7290) (2010), 877-880.

Yujie Wei, Allan F. Bower, Huajian Gao*. Enhanced strain-rate sensitivity in fcc nanocrystals due to grain-boundary diffusion and sliding. Acta Materialia, 56 (8) (2008), 1741-1752.

Yujie Wei, Allan F. Bower*, Huajian Gao*. Recoverable creep deformation and transient local stress concentration due to heterogeneous grain-boundary diffusion and sliding in polycrystalline solids. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 56 (4) (2008), 1460-1483.

Yujie Wei, Lallit Anand*. Grain-boundary sliding and separation in polycrystalline metals: application to nanocrystalline fcc metals. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids. 52 (2004), 2587-2616.

On interdisciplinary subjects and engineering systems

Jici Wen, Qingrong Zou, Yujie Wei*. Physics-driven machine learning model on temperature and time-dependent deformation in lithium metal and its finite element implementation. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 153 (2021), 104481 (1-12).

Chunguang Chen*, Ming Jiang, Tao Zhou, Luc Raijmakers, Egor Vezhlev, Baolin Wu, Tobias U. Schülli, Dmitri L. Danilov, Yujie Wei*, Rüdiger-A. Eichel, Peter H. L. Notten*. Interface aspects in all-solid-state Li-based batteries reviewed. Advanced Energy Materials, 11 (13) (2021), 2003939 (1-55).

Jici Wen, Yujie Wei*, Yang-Tse Cheng. Stress evolution in elastic-plastic electrode during the electrical chemical process: A numerical methods and its applications. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 116 (2018), 403-415.

Yuewu Liu, Dapeng Gao, Qi Li, Yizhao Wan, Wenjie Duan, Xiaguang Zeng, Mingyao Li, Yewang Su, Yongbo Fan, Shihai Li, Xiaobing Lu, Dong Zhou, Weimin Chen, Yiqin Fu, Chunhui Jiang, Shaoji Hou, Lisheng Pan, Xiaolin Wei, Zhiming Hu, Xianggang Duan, Shusheng Gao, Rui Shen, Jin Chang, Xiaoyan Li, Zhanli Liu, Yujie Wei*, Zhemin Zheng*. Mechanical frontiers in shale-gas development (in Chinese). Advances in Mechanics, 49 (1) (2019), 201901 (1-236).

Guowei Yang, Yujie Wei*, Guilin Zhao, Yubiao Liu, Xiaohui Zeng, Yunlin Xing, Lai Jiang, Yingying Zhang, Han Wu, Qisheng Chen, Qiusheng Liu, Jiachun Li, Kaixin Hu, Zhongping Yang, Wenzheng Liu, Wenjing Wang, Shouguang Sun, Weihua Zhang, Ning Zhou, Ruiping Li, Qingsong Lv, Xuesong Jin, Zefeng Wen, Xinbiao Xiao, Xin Zhao, Dabin Cui, Bing Wu, Shuoqiao Zhong, Xin Zhou. Current research progress in the mechanics of high speed rails (in Chinese). Advances in Mechanics, 45 (1) (2015), 217-460.

Yujie Wei*, Mengfen Xia, Fujiu Ke, Xiangchu Yin and Yilong Bai, Evolution-induced catastrophe and its predictability. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 157 (11-12) (2000), 1945-1957.

Y.L. Bai*, Y.J. Wei, M.F. Xia, F.J. Ke. Weibull modulus of diverse strength due to sample-specificity. Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics, 34 (3) (2000), 211-216.

Books and Book Chapters

Yujie Wei. Engineering Science of Solids: Applied Mechanical Theories and Applications to Engineering Materials (In Chinese). Higher Education Press, 2021.

Yujie Wei (Editor-in-Chief & Lead Translator). Toward New Horizon (In Chinese). World Affairs Press, 2025. Original English edition: “Toward New Horizon: Science, the Key to Air Supremacy”, a report of the ‘A.A.F. Scientific Advisory Group’ by von Karman, H. S. Tsien, W.R. Sears, et al.

Gao Y , Chang Z , Wei Y .Interfacial Mechanics: From Advanced 2D to 3D Crystalline Materials[J].Comprehensive Structural Integrity, 2023:217-240.DOI:10.1016/b978-0-12-822944-6.00071-2.