Dr. Tingfa Liu is a Senior Lecturer in Geotechnical Testing in the Earthquake and Geotechnical Engineering Research Group (EGERG), School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering. Tingfa specialises in the development and application of state-of-the-art sensing and testing techniques to investigate multi-scaled soil-foundation-structure interaction mechanisms for critical infrastructure in reacting to operational and extreme static, cyclic and dynamic loading.

Before joining the University of Bristol, Tingfa worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at Imperial College London on the EPSRC funded ALPACA joint industry project (JIP). He received his PhD from Imperial College on advanced laboratory testing and offshore pile foundations, contributing partly to the PISA JIP. He holds a (UK equivalent) MPhil degree with distinction from Tsinghua University (China). Tingfa has actively taken roles of visiting researcher and industrial consultant.

Tingfa's research is largely based in the newly established UKCRIC SoFSI Laboratory, as well as the Earthquake and Large Structures (EQUALS) Laboratory and the Geomechanics Laboratory, supplemented by in-situ testing, constitutive and numerical modelling, and data-driven approaches. His main areas of research include geotechnical instrumentation, laboratory and field soil characterisation, mechanical behaviour of geomaterials, cyclic loading effects, reduced and full scale pile installation and testing, large-structure cyclic and dynamic testing, and offshore foundation design. His publications are listed on the Research Outputs tab and Google Scholar. 

Tingfa serves the Géotechnique journal as a member on its Editorial Panel (2024-2026). Tingfa received the 2023 ASCE Outstanding Reviewer Award in recognition of his outstanding service as a reviewer for the prestigious ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. 

Recent updates

Recent updates and activities are listed below. Futher details can be found on LinkedIn and Researchgate webpages. 

• Tingfa was recently selected by the editor of the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering as an ASCE 2023 Outstanding Reviewer in recognition of his dedicated contributions and time to high-quality peer review services for the Journal. 

Research projects

Tingfa is seeking highly motivated PhD candidates to join the research group. Both home and international applicants are welcome to get in touch to discuss research interest and fund sources. His PhD/PDRA research project supervision includes:

• Mr. Ahmad Foroutan Kalourazi (PhD, 2023-, University of Bristol): Foundation systems for floating wind turbines (Co-supervise with Professors Andrea Diambra, Yinghui Tian and George Mylonakis)
• Dr. Borui Ge (PDRA, 2023-, University of Bristol):  Improved foundation design for floating wind turbines (Collaborate with Professors Andrea Diambra and David Igoe).
• Mr. Zhixin Zhou (PhD, 2022-, University of Bristol):  Lifetime performance of offshore high-voltage cables (Co-supervise with Professor Andrea Diambra).
• Dr. Kai Wen (PhD, 2019-2023, Imperial College London; now Research Fellow in the University of Southampton):  Axial response of piles for offshore wind turbines (Co-supervised with Professors Stavroula Kontoe and Richard J. Jardine).

Teaching activities

Tingfa is the unit director for Year 3 CENG30016 - Geotechnical Design (TB-1).