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Zi-Kui Liu
Professor
of Materials Science and Engineering
Director, Center for Computational Materials Design
201 Steidle Building
814-865-1934
Fax: 412-291-3185
liu@matse.psu.edu
Phases
Research Lab: www.phases.psu.edu
Materials Computation and
Simulation Environments: www.matcase.psu.edu
Center for Computational
Materials Design: www.ccmd.psu.edu
Calculation of Phase Diagrams: www.calphad.org
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Biographical Sketch:
Professor Liu obtained his B. S. in Metallurgy from Central
South University in 1982 and M.S. in Materials Engineering
from University of Science and Technology Beijing in 1985.
He moved to Sweden for his graduate study in the Department
of Physical Metallurgy, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
in 1987. After finishing his PhD work in 1992, he spent four
years as a researcher in the department and obtained the Docent
title in 1996. Between 1996 and 1998, he was a research associate
in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University
of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1998, Dr. Liu joined QuestTek
Innovation, LLC at Evanston, Illinois as a Senior Research
Scientist. In 1999 he joined the faculty of the Pennsylvania
State University as an assistant professor and became associate
professor in 2003 and professor in 2006 in the Department of
Materials Science and Engineering. He authored or co-authored
about 160 professional publications plus one book chapter and
2 U.S. patents, and graduated 9 B.S., 3 M.S., and 8 Ph.D. students
to date (Winter 2006).
Dr. Liu created the NSF Industry/University
Cooperative Research Center for Computational Materials Design
(CCMD) in 2005 and serves as the Director of the CCMD.
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Research
Interests:
• First-principles
calculations
• Computational thermodynamics
• System materials design
• Aluminum alloys
• Hydrogen storage materials
• Magnesium alloys
• Nickel alloys
• Perovskites
• Steels |
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Areas
of research:
Professor Liu’s research interests
focus on the design and simulation of a wide range of materials
through integrating first-principles calculations, thermodynamic/kinetic
modeling, and critically designed experiments for structural
and functional applications.
Recent studies in Professor Liu’s
Phases Research Lab (http://www.phases.psu.edu) focus on
aluminum alloys, magnesium alloys, Ni-base superalloys, CVD
coating of cemented carbide, and peroveskites. The
primary emphasize is on fundamentals of phase stability and
their applications in understanding and designing materials
chemistry, processing and properties.
Prof. Liu’s research activities are
supported by both federal funding agencies such as National
Science Foundation, NASA, and Department of Energy, and industrial
companies such as USCAR, Kennametal, Inc., ExxonMobil Research & Engineering
Co., Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.. The partial
list of research projects include:
- Integrated Teaching and Research Activities
on Computational Thermodynamics and System Materials Design
of Magnesium Alloys
- Computational Tools for Multicomponent
Materials Design
- Prevent Solidification Defects for Large
Superalloy Castings Used in Advanced Electric Power Systems
- Stability of Perovskites
- Thermodynamic and Kinetic Investigations
of cemented carbides
- Microstructural Effect in Al-Ni-Y-Co
Alloys on Performance Reliability
Prof. Liu is also working in establishing
a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative
Research Center for Computational Materials Design with support
from national laboratories and manufacture companies in the
United States, jointly with Georgia Institute of Technology
(http://www.ccmd.psu.edu). This center aims to educate
the next generation of scientists and engineers with a broad,
industrially relevant perspective on engineering research
and practice. |
Technologies
impacted by research:
Technologies
impacted by Liu’s
Phases Research Lab include light weight materials for
vehicle applications, solid oxide fuel cells, thermal
and environmental barrier coatings, land based and airborne
gas turbine systems, computational methodology in materials
research and development transferable across inorganic
materials.
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Journal
Articles and Publications:
1. Z.
K. Liu, D. G. Schlom, Q. Li and X. X. Xi,"Thermodynamics of the Mg-B
system: Implications for the deposition of MgB2 thin films," Appl.
Phys. Lett., Vol.78, 2001, 3678-3680.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1376145
2. Z. K. Liu, "Thermodynamic modeling of
organic carbonates for lithium batteries," J. Electrochem.
Soc., Vol.150, 2003, A359-A365.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1149/1.1553786
3. Z.-K. Liu, L.-Q. Chen, P. Raghavan, Q.
Du, J. O. Sofo, S. A. Langer and C. Wolverton, "An integrated
framework for multi-scale materials simulation and design," J.
Comput-Aided Mater. Des., Vol.11, 2004, 183–199.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10820-005-3173-2
4. C. Jiang, L. Q. Chen and Z. K. Liu, "First-principles
study of constitutional point defects in B2NiAl using special
quasirandom structures," Acta Mater., Vol.53, 2005, 2643-2652.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2005.02.026
5. D. Shin, R. Arroyave, Z. K. Liu and A.
Van de Walle, "Thermodynamic properties of binary hcp solution
phases from special quasirandom structures," Phys. Rev. B,
Vol.74, 2006, 024204.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.74.024204
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