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Topic · Mechanics of Materials

Rock Mechanics and Modeling

Rock Mechanics and Modeling is a research topic within Mechanics of Materials. Science Explorer counts 42k research works in it since 1950. 9.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers advances in rock mechanics and engineering, including topics such as fracture behavior, acoustic emission monitoring, numerical modelling, brittle failure, damage propagation, dynamic behavior, compressive strength estimation, tunnel design, and geomechanics.

  • Rock Mechanics
  • Fracture
  • Acoustic Emission
  • Numerical Modelling
  • Brittle Failure
  • Damage Propagation
  • Dynamic Behavior
  • Compressive Strength
  • Tunnel Design
  • Geomechanics
Research works
42k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
4.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+37%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
79% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Rock Mechanics and Modeling

Which countries lead Rock Mechanics and Modeling research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (9.8k and 628 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 9.8k works
  2. 2 United States 628 works
  3. 3 India 453 works
  4. 4 Australia 295 works
  5. 5 France 252 works
  6. 6 Canada 235 works
  7. 7 Japan 198 works
  8. 8 Iran 196 works
  9. 9 Germany 186 works
  10. 10 United Kingdom 183 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: 78.9%United States: 5.1%India: 3.6%Australia: 2.4%6 others listed: 10.1%79%largest
China9,814 · 78.9%United States628 · 5.1%India453 · 3.6%Australia295 · 2.4%6 others listed1,250 · 10.1%

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

Which institutions lead Rock Mechanics and Modeling research?

By volume in 2022-now, China University of Mining and Technology publishes the most Rock Mechanics and Modeling research, followed by Central South University and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 1k works
  2. 2 Central South UniversityChina 332 works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 281 works
  4. 4 Shandong University of Science and TechnologyChina 222 works
  5. 5 Anhui University of Science and TechnologyChina 202 works
  6. 6 University of Science and Technology BeijingChina 191 works
  7. 7 Chongqing UniversityChina 191 works
  8. 8 Henan Polytechnic UniversityChina 190 works
  9. 9 Xi'an University of Science and TechnologyChina 182 works
  10. 10 Northeastern UniversityChina 151 works

Who are the leading researchers in Rock Mechanics and Modeling?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Rock Mechanics and Modeling include Wei Huang, Xiaogang Wang and Kai You Wang.

  1. 1 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  2. 2 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  3. 3 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  4. 4 Lei Jiang China 214k citations
  5. 5 Jiaguo Yu China 207k citations
  6. 6 Paul M. Thompson United States 196k citations
  7. 7 Han Zhang China 161k citations
  8. 8 Huan Liu Australia 148k 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 Rock Mechanics and Modeling?

The most cited paper in Rock Mechanics and Modeling is "A discrete numerical model for granular assemblies" (Peter A. Cundall, Otto D. L. Strack, 1979), with 17,351 citations. Next come "The Elastic Behaviour of a Crystalline Aggregate" (11,561) and "Average stress in matrix and average elastic energy of materials with misfitting inclusions" (8,161).

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 The Elastic Behaviour of a Crystalline Aggregate R. Hill · Proceedings of the Physical Society Section A May 1952 11,561
3 Average stress in matrix and average elastic energy of materials with misfitting inclusions T. Mori, Kōichi Tanaka · Acta Metallurgica May 1973 8,161
4 A bonded-particle model for rock D.O. Potyondy, Peter A. Cundall · International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences Dec 2004 5,046
5 Friction of rocks James D. Byerlee · Pure and Applied Geophysics Jul 1978 4,060
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Rock Mechanics and Modeling research done?

The largest centres of Rock Mechanics and Modeling research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Xuzhou (China), Wuhan (China) and Chengdu (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Xuzhou, Huainan and Fuxin.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 1.8k works
  2. 2 XuzhouChina 1k works
  3. 3 WuhanChina 558 works
  4. 4 ChengduChina 510 works
  5. 5 Xi'anChina 467 works
  6. 6 ChangshaChina 418 works
  7. 7 QingdaoChina 363 works
  8. 8 NanjingChina 316 works
  9. 9 ChongqingChina 293 works
  10. 10 ShanghaiChina 261 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. XuzhouCN · 1,037.5 works81×
  2. HuainanCN · 237.9 works58×
  3. FuxinCN · 130.1 works54×
  4. JiaozuoCN · 195.3 works44×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Rock Mechanics and Modeling than the world average.

See Rock Mechanics and Modeling on the map

Where is the best place to study Rock Mechanics and Modeling?

Among universities, judged by research, Central South University, China University of Mining and Technology and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 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 20.3%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Recep Tayyip Erdoğan…Central South Univer…Chongqing UniversityChina University of …
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
1Central South UniversityChina 65.219.1%14.0×332 +70.3%
2China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 64.511.9%106.0×1,019 +33.1%
3Recep Tayyip Erdoğan UniversityTürkiye 60.836.4%5.5×10 +141.7%
4Chongqing UniversityChina 59.216.3%14.4×191 +25.0%
5Northeastern UniversityChina 57.616.3%13.8×151 +42.0%
6Shenzhen UniversityChina 57.220.2%6.8×61 +182.2%
7Shantou UniversityChina 56.133.0%3.6×10 +670.5%
8University of Science and Technology BeijingChina 55.613.9%20.1×191 +67.6%
9Sichuan UniversityChina 54.917.5%4.5×124 +31.7%
10Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChina 54.218.4%3.1×33 +133.0%

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 Rock Mechanics and Modeling, country by country

Is Rock Mechanics and Modeling research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 37% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Rock Mechanics and Modeling.

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 Rock Mechanics and Modeling as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.054% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Rock Mechanics and Modeling0.058% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Rock Mechanics and Modeling 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%Rock Mechanics and Modeling9.6% 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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