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Topic · Civil and Structural Engineering

Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics

Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics is a research topic within Civil and Structural Engineering. Science Explorer counts 25k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on soil mechanics in geotechnical engineering practice, with a particular emphasis on topics such as liquefaction resistance, particle shape effects on soil behavior, deformation measurement techniques, shear deformation of granular media, cone penetration tests, breakage mechanics, assessment of soil liquefaction potential, numerical simulations of granular media behavior, pile foundation design, and geotechnical centrifuge modelling.

  • Liquefaction Resistance
  • Particle Shape Effects
  • Deformation Measurement
  • Shear Deformation
  • Cone Penetration Tests
  • Breakage Mechanics
  • Soil Liquefaction Potential
  • Granular Media Simulation
  • Pile Foundation Design
  • Geotechnical Centrifuge Modelling
Research works
25k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+20%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
54% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics

Which countries lead Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics research?

By volume, China and India publish the most (3k and 615 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 3k works
  2. 2 India 615 works
  3. 3 United States 556 works
  4. 4 Indonesia 266 works
  5. 5 Japan 220 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 220 works
  7. 7 Iran 198 works
  8. 8 Australia 186 works
  9. 9 Türkiye 169 works
  10. 10 Canada 166 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 53.9%India: 10.9%United States: 9.9%Indonesia: 4.7%6 others listed: 20.6%54%largest
China3,040 · 53.9%India615 · 10.9%United States556 · 9.9%Indonesia266 · 4.7%6 others listed1,160 · 20.6%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics research?

By volume in 2022-now, Tongji University publishes the most Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics research, followed by Hohai University and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Tongji UniversityChina 126 works
  2. 2 Hohai UniversityChina 86 works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 82 works
  4. 4 Zhejiang UniversityChina 79 works
  5. 5 Tianjin UniversityChina 69 works
  6. 6 Southeast UniversityChina 57 works
  7. 7 Central South UniversityChina 54 works
  8. 8 Chongqing UniversityChina 51 works
  9. 9 Dalian University of TechnologyChina 51 works
  10. 10 China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 47 works

Who are the leading researchers in Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics include Kai You Wang, Huan Liu and Rattan Lal.

  1. 1 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  2. 2 Huan Liu Australia 148k citations
  3. 3 Rattan Lal United States 126k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics?

The most cited paper in Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics is "A discrete numerical model for granular assemblies" (Peter A. Cundall, Otto D. L. Strack, 1979), with 17,351 citations. Next come "A bonded-particle model for rock" (5,046) and "Simplified Procedure for Evaluating Soil Liquefaction Potential" (2,940).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 A discrete numerical model for granular assemblies Peter A. Cundall, Otto D. L. Strack · Géotechnique Mar 1979 17,351
2 A bonded-particle model for rock D.O. Potyondy, Peter A. Cundall · International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences Dec 2004 5,046
3 Simplified Procedure for Evaluating Soil Liquefaction Potential H. Bolton Seed, Izzat M. Idriss · Journal of the Soil Mechanics and Foundations Division Sep 1971 2,940
4 The strength and dilatancy of sands Malcolm D. Bolton · Géotechnique Mar 1986 2,738
5 A constitutive model for partially saturated soils Eduardo Alonso Pérez de Ágreda, Antonio Gens, Alejandro Josa · Géotechnique Open access Sep 1990 2,491
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics research done?

The largest centres of Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Nanjing (China) and Wuhan (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Roorkee, Champs-sur-Marne and Patna.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 438 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 236 works
  3. 3 NanjingChina 235 works
  4. 4 WuhanChina 181 works
  5. 5 HangzhouChina 179 works
  6. 6 ChangshaChina 117 works
  7. 7 Xi'anChina 110 works
  8. 8 TianjinChina 105 works
  9. 9 ChengduChina 103 works
  10. 10 TehranIran 97 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. RoorkeeIN · 51.1 works15×
  2. Champs-sur-MarneFR · 21.8 works13×
  3. PatnaIN · 24.9 works8.3×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics than the world average.

See Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics on the map

Where is the best place to study Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics?

Among universities, judged by research, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, University of Hong Kong and Tongji University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 23.31%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of Hong K…Hong Kong Polytechni…China University of …Tongji University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChina 76.426.3%8.5×46 +71.6%
2University of Hong KongChina 67.830.9%3.2×19 +32.4%
3Tongji UniversityChina 65.713.5%13.0×126 +14.2%
4China University of GeosciencesChina 64.625.0%10.5×30 +47.8%
5Chongqing UniversityChina 64.319.8%7.4×51 +11.3%
6Zhejiang UniversityChina 62.817.6%4.7×79 +12.9%
7Wuhan UniversityChina 61.722.9%3.5×31 +75.6%
8Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyChina 61.130.2%6.6×17 -17.7%
9Shenzhen UniversityChina 60.926.3%5.0×23 +238.1%
10Western UniversityCanada 60.720.6%7.7×27 +56.6%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics, country by country

Is Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 20% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.026% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics0.030% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics9.8% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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