主要从事高超声速飞行器的气动力/热数值仿真、跨流域（连续流域至稀薄流域）飞行的统一算法开发、微纳尺度流动的建模与机理分析等研究工作。发表学术论文28篇,其中第一/通讯作者论文16篇，包括流体力学顶级期刊Physics of Fluids、Physical Review E、Aerospace Science and Technology等。曾赴巴塞罗那、瓦伦西亚、格拉斯哥、牛津、剑桥等地多次参与国际学术交流会议，其中2次获优秀报告奖。曾参与多项跨流域相关项目的研究，撰写国防科技报告10篇。
(1) Z. Yuan, L. Yang, C. Shu, K. Jiang, L. Zhang, A variant of improved discrete velocity method for efficient simulation of flows in entire Knudsen number regimes, Physics of Fluids, 2024, 36(2): 022018.
(2) Z. Yuan, L. Yang, C. Shu, K. Jiang, Z. Chen, Complete third-order polynomial expansion-based gas kinetic flux solver for flows from continuum regime to rarefied regime, Physics of Fluids, 2023, 35(12): 122011.
(3) Z. Yuan, Z. Chen, C. Shu, Z. Zhang, Construction of non-Equilibrium gas distribution functions through expansions in peculiar velocity space, Advances in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 2023, 15(6): 1456-1472.
(4) Z. Yuan, W. Zhao, Z. Jiang, W. Chen , Numerical simulation of hypersonic reaction flows with nonlinear coupled constitutive relations, Aerospace Science and Technology, 2021, 112(147): 106591.
(5) Z. Yuan, C. Shu, Z. Liu, L. Yang, W. Liu, Variant of gas kinetic flux solver for flows beyond Navier-Stokes level, Physical Review E, 2021, 104(5): 055305.
(6) Z. Yuan, C. Shu, Z. Liu, Grad's distribution functions-based gas kinetic scheme for simulation of flows beyond Navier–Stokes level, Physics of Fluids, 2021, 33(12): 122007.
(7) Z. Yuan, L. Yang, C. Shu, Z. Liu, W. Liu, A novel gas kinetic flux solver for simulation of continuum and slip flows, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids, 2021, 93(9): 2863-2888.
(8) Z. Yuan, W. Zhao, Z. Jiang, W. Chen, R. Agarwal, Modified nonlinear coupled constitutive relations model for hypersonic nonequilibrium flows, Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer, 2020, 34(4): 848-859.