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Yaning Li

Associate Professor,  Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

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Office

  • 245 SN
  • 617.373.3027

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Research Focus

Mechanics of materials, bio-inspired engineering, and additive manufacturing; mechanics of innovative architectured materials; mechanical metamaterials; biological materials

Education

  • PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2007
  • Dual MS, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2006

Honors & Awards

  • National Science Foundation CAREER Award 2016
  • AFOSR SFFP Faculty Fellowship Award 2013
  • IUTAM Young Investigator Travel Award

Professional Affiliations

  • American Physical Society (APS)
  • American Society of Composite (ASC)
  • American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
  • Society of Engineering Science (SES)
  • Society of Experimental Mechanics (SEM)
  • Society of Material Science (MRS)
  • Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME)

Research Overview

Mechanics of materials, bio-inspired engineering, and additive manufacturing; mechanics of innovative architectured materials; mechanical metamaterials; biological materials

Mechanics, Biomimetics, and 3D Printing Research Lab

Mechanics of soft mechanical metamaterials; Bio-inspired design, mechanics, and biomimetics; 3D printing and mechanical experiments; Instability of materials and structures; Fracture and damage mechanics; Generalized continuum mechanics.

Mechanics, Biomimetics, and 3D Printing Research Lab

Selected Research Projects

  • A Bio-Inspired Strategy for In-Plane Energy Dissipation Through Suture Interfaces
    • – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
  • Mechanics of A New Family of Auxetic Chiral Composites
    • – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
  • Mechanics of Bio-Inspired CNT-Modified Hierarchical/ Fractal Interfaces
    • – Principal Investigator, Department of Defense/Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Department Research Areas

Selected Publications

  • Phillips, Katherine R., Zhang, Cathy T., Yang, Ting, Kay, Theresa, Gao, Chao, Brandt, Soeren, Liu, Lei, Yang, Haizhao, Li, Yaning, Aizenberg, Joanna, Li, Ling (2020). Fabrication of Photonic Microbricks via Crack Engineering of Colloidal Crystals. Advanced Functional Materials, 30(26),1908242. 10.1002/ADFM.201908242
  • Phillips, Katherine R., Zhang, Cathy T., Yang, Ting, Kay, Theresa, Gao, Chao, Brandt, Soeren, Liu, Lei, Yang, Haizhao, Li, Yaning, Aizenberg, Joanna, Li, Ling (2020). Photonic Microbricks: Fabrication of Photonic Microbricks via Crack Engineering of Colloidal Crystals (Adv. Funct. Mater. 26/2020). Advanced Functional Materials, 30(26),2070172. 10.1002/ADFM.202070172
  • B. Hasseldine, C. Gao, Y. Li, Prediction of the Anisotropic Damage Evolution of Dry Common Millet (Panicum miliaceum) Seed Under Quasi-Static Blunt Indentation, Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 214, 2019, 112-122
  • Y. Jiang, Y. Li, 3D Printed Hybrid Auxetic Metamaterial with Chiral Cells and Reentrant Cores, Scientific Reports, 8, 2018, 2397
  • C. Gao, B. Hasseldine, L. Li, J. Weaver, Y. Li Amplifying Strength, Toughness, and Auxeticity via Wavy Sutural Tessellation in Plant Seedcoats, Advanced Materials, (Inside Back Cover), 2018, 1800579
  • L. Liu, Y. Li, Predicting the Mixed-Mode I/II Spatial Damage Propagation along 3D-Printed Soft Interfacial Layer via a Hyperelastic Softening Model, Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 116, 2018, 17-32
  • Y. Jiang, Y. Li, 3D Printed Chiral Cellular Solids with Amplified Auxetic Effects Due to Elevated Internal Rotation, Advanced Engineering Materials, 19(2), 2017, 1-8
  • L. Liu, Y. Jiang, M.C. Boyce, C. Ortiz, J. Baur, J. Song, Y. Li The Effects of Morphological Irregularity on the Mechanical Behavior of Interdigitated Biological Sutures, Journal of Biomechanics, 58, 2017, 71-78

Faculty

May 22, 2023

Using Spark Fund Award to Create 3D-Printed Materials Inspired by Nature

MIE Associate Professor Yaning Li is using the Spark Funds she received earlier this year to design better ways to protect EV batteries by creating a tiled auxetic metamaterial inspired by nature. Revolutionizing Electric Vehicle Battery Protection — with Spark Awardee Professor Yaning Li Nature is a treasure trove of incredible engineering feats, showcasing remarkable […]

Faculty

Jan 17, 2023

Spring 2023 Spark Fund Awardees

ChE/COS Associate Professor Carolyn Lee-Parsons, ECE Professor Edmund Yeh, ChE Assistant Professor Ryan Koppes, and MIE Associate Professor Yaning Li are recipients of the Spring 2023 Spark Fund Awards.

Faculty

Mar 15, 2022

New Sutural Gabions will Resist Impact and Vibrations

MIE Associate Professor Yaning Li, in collaboration with Jongmin Shim from the University at Buffalo, is leading a $667K NSF grant for “Bio-Inspired Impact-Resistant Phononic Sutural Gabions.”

Faculty

Aug 29, 2019

New Faculty Spotlight: Yaning Li

Yaning Li joins the Mechanical & Industrial Engineering department in August 2019 as an Associate Professor.

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