Houlin Xu

Postdoctoral Fellow · Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute, Johns Hopkins University

Mechanics-informed computation for predicting material failure under uncertainty.

From constitutive learning and fracture localization to structural risk.

Ph.D. in Mechanics, Materials and Structures from Northwestern University (2025), advised by Prof. Zdeněk P. Bažant. Now working with Prof. KT Ramesh and Prof. Michael Shields on machine learning for constitutive laws of quasibrittle materials.

Machine learning Fracture mechanics Computational mechanics Probabilistic modeling
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Research

Three pillars, one thesis

Learning constitutive behavior

Physics-constrained machine learning for quasibrittle constitutive relations.

Modeling fracture and localization

Smooth crack band and sprain-energy formulations for damage localization.

Quantifying failure risk

Probabilistic modeling and scale effects to predict structural failure.

1
Material behavior
2
Constitutive learning
3
Damage localization & fracture
4
Structural-scale failure
5
Probability and risk

Current work

What I'm working on now

  • Mechanics-informed constitutive learning for quasibrittle materials
  • Machine learning surrogates for material failure models
  • Open to collaboration on fracture mechanics, risk assessment and ML for materials science

Talks

Selected presentations

Sprain Energy Consequences for Damage Localization and Fracture Mechanics
Video thumbnail: Sprain Energy Consequences for Damage Localization and Fracture Mechanics
September 26, 2025 · USNC/TAM 5MT Competition
Poromechanical Modeling of Growth of Hydraulic Fracture Networks in Rocks with Pre-existing Weak Layers
Title slide: Poromechanical Modeling of Growth of Hydraulic Fracture Networks in Rocks with Pre-existing Weak Layers
May 28, 2025 · EMI 2025, Anaheim
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Asymptotically Matched Extrapolation of Fishnet Failure Probability to Continuum Scale
Title slide: Asymptotically Matched Extrapolation of Fishnet Failure Probability to Continuum Scale
May 29, 2024 · EMI/PMC 2024, Chicago
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Upgrade of Fracture Mechanics by Spress-Sprain Relations: Limiting Damage Field Curvature
Title slide: Upgrade of Fracture Mechanics by Spress-Sprain Relations: Limiting Damage Field Curvature
May 29, 2024 · EMI/PMC 2024, Chicago

Publications

Featured Publications

Recent publications

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Teaching

I love teaching

Teaching assistant for Mechanics of Materials (Prof. John Rudnicki) and Structural Stability and Fracture Mechanics (Prof. Zdeněk Bažant) at Northwestern. My teaching rests on three pillars: interactive concept integration, hands-on computational skills, and diverse assessment.

Mechanics of Materials Fracture Mechanics Finite Element Methods Structural Stability
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Education

Ph.D., Mechanics, Materials & Structures
Northwestern University · advised by Prof. Zdeněk P. Bažant
Sep 2020 – Jun 2025

GPA 3.98/4.0. Specialized in computational mechanics and structural engineering, focusing on fracture mechanics, risk assessment and material optimization for modern fracture analysis.

B.Eng, Engineering Mechanics
Dalian University of Technology
Sep 2016 – Jun 2020

GPA 3.96/4.0. Thesis: On the Vibration of Irregularly Shaped Plates Based on the Symplectic Superposition Method. Coursework included Mechanics of Materials, Elasticity, Plasticity and Fracture Mechanics.

Honors & awards

  • Third Prize & People's Choice Award2025 USNC/TAM 5MT Competition, 2025
  • Walter P. Murphy Fellowship for 5 YearsNorthwestern University, 2020–2025
  • Graduation with Honor: College Graduate Excellence AwardLiaoning Province, China, 2020
  • National ScholarshipMinistry of Education of China, 2018
  • Qu Bochuan Scholarship for Academic ExcellenceDalian University of Technology, 2017

Contact

Get in touch

Open to collaboration on fracture mechanics, risk assessment and ML for materials science.

houlinxu2020@u.northwestern.edu
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