Experimental mechanician · PhD candidate

Experimental mechanics and model validation.

I combine solid mechanics, full-field experiments, and finite element simulation to characterize material behavior and validate predictive models—using machine learning where it improves resolution, inference, or speed.

PhD Candidate in Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin · Graduating 2027

Explore my research Download résumé

Open to 2027 research engineering opportunities

Austin, Texas

What I do

Measure. Model. Validate.

I work across the full mechanics loop—from loading a specimen to measuring its response, identifying its properties, and testing the model.

Measure

Observe material response under real loading with quantitative, full-field experiments.

DIC & DVC
High-speed imaging
Instrumented testing

Model

Represent deformation, stress, interfaces, and rate effects with physics-based models.

Solid & continuum mechanics
Finite element analysis
Thermo-mechanical systems

Identify & validate

Use measured fields to recover material properties and quantify whether a simulation predicts reality.

Inverse identification
Simulation–test correlation
Learning-accelerated models

Selected research

Mechanics questions, answered with experiments and computation.

Explore all research

Experimental Material Characterization 2024–present

High-Strain-Rate Material Characterization

Cavitation experiments and full-field imaging reveal material response, instability, and damage under rapid, repeated loading.

Research detail

Material Mechanics & Model Validation 2025–present

Heterogeneous Material Property Identification

An inverse mechanics framework that identifies property fields from a single instrumented test while using measured boundary conditions.

Research detail

Material Mechanics & Model Validation 2025–present

Thermo-Mechanical Package Modeling & Validation

Abaqus modeling and parametric studies linking CTE mismatch, geometry, warpage, interfacial stress, and measured package response.

Research detail

Selected research

Mechanics, measurement, and model validation.

All publications

Preprint

Digital Volume Correlation Challenge 2.0: A Comprehensive Dataset for Digital Volume Correlation Benchmarking

Zixiang Tong, Yujie Zhang, Edward Ando, and 16 more authors

Research Square preprint, 2026

DOI BibTeX Article Supplement

@article{tong2026dvcchallenge,
  title = {Digital Volume Correlation Challenge 2.0: A Comprehensive Dataset for Digital Volume Correlation Benchmarking},
  author = {Tong, Zixiang and Zhang, Yujie and Ando, Edward and Chen, Bin and Croom, Brendan and Dabiri, John and Franck, Christian and Fu, Matthew and Jin, Helena and Kafka, Orion and Kunnoth, Sriram and Nguyen, Thao and Notbohm, Jacob and Patel, Mohak and Sarkar, Mainak and Shaikeea, Angkur and Zhang, Jing and Landauer, Alexander and Yang, Jin},
  journal = {Research Square preprint},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.21203/rs.3.rs-9683321/v1},
}

Strain

ML-Aided Spatial Adaptation

Jeffrey Leu, Zixiang Tong, Andrew Doty, and 2 more authors

Strain, 2026

DOI BibTeX Article Code

@article{leu2026mlaided,
  title = {ML-Aided Spatial Adaptation},
  author = {Leu, Jeffrey and Tong, Zixiang and Doty, Andrew and Tsimpoukis, Solon and Yang, Jin},
  journal = {Strain},
  volume = {62},
  number = {1},
  pages = {e70022},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1111/str.70022},
}

CVLV

Spatiotemporally-resolved Kinematic and Stress Measurements of Interfacial Cavitation in Soft Matter via DIC

Jin Yang, Alexander McGhee, Zixiang Tong, and 5 more authors

In Computer Vision & Laser Vibrometry, 2026

BibTeX

@inproceedings{yang2026cavitation,
  title = {Spatiotemporally-resolved Kinematic and Stress Measurements of Interfacial Cavitation in Soft Matter via DIC},
  author = {Yang, Jin and McGhee, Alexander and Tong, Zixiang and Bu, Lehu and Wang, Sicong and Radtke, Griffin and Rodriguez Jr, Mauro and Franck, Christian},
  booktitle = {Computer Vision \& Laser Vibrometry},
  volume = {6},
  pages = {1--12},
  year = {2026},
}

USNCCM

Unveiling Heterogeneous Moduli Fields Using Digital Image Correlation, Finite Elements and Neural Operators

Joseph Kirchhoff, Dingcheng Luo, Zixiang Tong, and 3 more authors

In 18th U.S. National Congress on Computational Mechanics (USNCCM), 2025

BibTeX

@inproceedings{kirchhoff2025usnccm,
  title = {Unveiling Heterogeneous Moduli Fields Using Digital Image Correlation, Finite Elements and Neural Operators},
  author = {Kirchhoff, Joseph and Luo, Dingcheng and Tong, Zixiang and Yang, Jin and Roseberry, Thomas O'Leary and Ghattas, Omar},
  booktitle = {18th U.S. National Congress on Computational Mechanics (USNCCM)},
  year = {2025},
}

Exp Mech

3D Stereo Adaptive Mesh Augmented Lagrangian Digital Image Correlation

Zixiang Tong, Dan Frolkin, Hongyang Shi, and 5 more authors

Experimental Mechanics, 2025

DOI BibTeX Article Code

@article{tong2025stereoaldic,
  title = {3D Stereo Adaptive Mesh Augmented Lagrangian Digital Image Correlation},
  author = {Tong, Zixiang and Frolkin, Dan and Shi, Hongyang and LaRue, Trace and Rausch, Manuel K. and Zhang, Yujie and Knight, Virginia and Yang, Jin},
  journal = {Experimental Mechanics},
  volume = {65},
  pages = {1387--1411},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1007/s11340-025-01225-7},
}

Measurement

Refraction Error Analysis in Stereo Vision for System Parameters Optimization

Zixiang Tong, Liuning Gu, and Xinxing Shao

Measurement, 2023

DOI BibTeX Article

@article{tong2023refraction,
  title = {Refraction Error Analysis in Stereo Vision for System Parameters Optimization},
  author = {Tong, Zixiang and Gu, Liuning and Shao, Xinxing},
  journal = {Measurement},
  volume = {222},
  pages = {113650},
  year = {2023},
  doi = {10.1016/j.measurement.2023.113650},
}

TAML

Optimization of the Forearm Angle for Arm Wrestling Using Multi-camera Stereo Digital Image Correlation: A Preliminary Study

Zixiang Tong, Xinxing Shao, Zhenning Chen, and 1 more author

Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Letters, 2021

DOI BibTeX Article

@article{tong2021armwrestling,
  title = {Optimization of the Forearm Angle for Arm Wrestling Using Multi-camera Stereo Digital Image Correlation: A Preliminary Study},
  author = {Tong, Zixiang and Shao, Xinxing and Chen, Zhenning and He, Xiaoyuan},
  journal = {Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Letters},
  volume = {11},
  number = {6},
  pages = {100287},
  year = {2021},
  doi = {10.1016/j.taml.2021.100287},
}

Now

Latest updates.

Full timeline

Sep 01 2026

Preprint posted: RAFT-DVC: Resolution-Aware Machine Learning-Based Digital Volume Correlation — arXiv:2609.01876. Reference implementation and the three trained solvers are on GitHub.

Jul 23 2026

Preprint posted: pyALDIC: A Python Implementation of Augmented Lagrangian Digital Image Correlation with a GUI, Adaptive Meshing, and Mask-Aware Subset Splitting — arXiv:2607.22755. The package is on PyPI as al-dic.

Jun 01 2026

Will present RAFTcorr: An Open-Source, Deep Learning DIC Framework for Dense Displacement Measurement at SEM Annual 2026 in Norfolk, VA.

Contact

zachtong@utexas.edu
Engineering Mechanics, The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas