Dr. Jia Liu

Casual Academic

UNSW Sydney

My research interests centre on the stability of deep underground excavations under complex conditions in civil and mining engineering. I focus on rock mechanics across scales, from microscopic crack and grain-scale mechanisms, through laboratory rock specimen tests, to tunnel-scale excavation response, under both static and dynamic loading. This multiscale approach, combined with numerical modelling, lets me link microstructural damage processes to macroscopic rock failure. A core aim of my work is translating this micro-to-macro understanding into practical ground support design. My teaching in mining engineering at UNSW and industry experience as a project engineer in a ground support manufacturing company keep this research grounded in real operational challenges.