Metallurgist
RuthYuan@Berkeley.edu
Areas of Specialization
Dr. Rong Yuan is specialized in fracture mechanics, failure analysis, mechanical testing, designing experiments, metallurgical engineering, and ceramic processing. She investigated a wide range of materials for failure and toughening mechanisms from ceramics, to intermetallic alloys, steel and Ni-based superalloys, to human bone and elephant dentin.
Additional skills and experience include theoretical analysis: experimental stress analysis, fatigue and fracture mechanics analysis, and life assessment. Mechanical Testing: fatigue, fracture, creep tests of metals, ceramics, biomaterials in air/gas/liquid environments with temperature ranging from -45°C to 1300°C. Materials investigated: ceramics (toughened SiC and alumina), steel (hydrogen embrittlement phenomena), Mo-Si-B alloy, Ni-based superalloy, human bone and elephant teeth. Material characterization: metallurgical preparation, mastering techniques of XRD, SEM, EDS, TEM, EBSD, and FIB. Ceramic processing: synthesis of compound powders, casting, cold pressing, and hot pressing.
Work Experience
3/2007- present, BEAR, Failure analysis and life assessment of materials.
Teaching Experience
Best TA of 2005 in the Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, for MSE 104 Materials Characterization
Education
2/07 - Present, Postdoc, Materials Science and Engineeringechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley.
Research: Hydrogen-Induced Material Degradation: Brittle Decohesion vs. Plastic Flow Localization.
Heat-treated, copper-plated, and tested ultra high strength steels and Ni-based super alloys in the presence of hydrogen. Characterized the resulting microstructure using XRD, SEM, EDS, TEM, and EBSD. Experimentally determined compliance functions for four-point bend geometry for CMOD, BFS and LPD.
1/07, Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Dissertation Title: Relationships between Geometric Functions, Weight Functions, and Compliance Functions in LEFM. Experimentally determined compliance functions for four-pointed bend geometry for CMOD, BFS and LPD.gh a major design project.
Master Thesis: Fracture and Fatigue of SiC at High Temperature.
Processed silicon carbide ceramics at 1900°C and 50 MPa using the hotpress furnace. Tested the silicon carbide ceramics at room temperature and elevated temperatures up to 1300°. Proposed theoretical models of the grain bridging mechanism using linear elastic fracture mechanics.
7/99, B.S., Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Research: Preparation of ZTA Powder and Study on Rheological Properties.
Preparation of ZTA Powder and Study on Rheological Properties.
Publications
R. Yuan, J.J. Kruzic, X.F. Zhang, L.C. DeJonghe, and R.O. Ritchie, “Ambient to high-temperature fracture toughness and cyclic fatigue behavior in Al-containing silicon carbide ceramics”, Acta Materialia, v 51, n 20, Dec 8, 2003, p 6477-6491.
J.J. Kruzic, R. Yuan, R.M. Cannon, and R.O. Ritchie, “Determining worst-case fatigue thresholds for grain-bridging ceramics”, TMS Annual Meeting, Science of Engineering, 2003, p 61-68.
Liu Xiao-Lin, Huang Yong, Yuan Rong, "Preparation of Al2O3-ZrO2 (15vol%) Nanometer Composite Powder by Surface-Induced Precipitation", Journal of Inorganic Materials, Vol 15, No 6, 2000.