Dr. Peter K. Liaw
Professor and Ivan Racheff Chair of Excellence
Ph.D., Northwestern: Structural Alloys, including Bulk-Amorphous and Nano Materials, Bulk-Amorphous and Nano Materials Processing, Nondestructive Characterization, including In-situ Neutron and Synchrotron Diffraction and Thermography Detections, and Theoretical Modeling.
Brief Bio
Dr. Liaw graduated from the Chiayi High School, obtained his B.S. in Physics from the National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, and his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University, USA, in 1980.
After working at the Westinghouse Research and Development (R&D) Center for thirteen years, he joins the faculty and becomes an Endowed Ivan Racheff Chair of Excellence in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville, since March 1993. He has been working in the areas of fatigue, fracture, nondestructive evaluation, and life-prediction methodologies of structural alloys and composites. Since joining UT, his research interests include mechanical behavior, nondestructive evaluation, biomaterials, and processing of high-temperature alloys and ceramic-matrix composites and coatings with the most kind and great help of his colleagues at UT and the near-by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He has published over three hundred and fifty papers, edited sixteen books, and presented numerous invited talks at various national and international conferences.
He was awarded the Royal E. Cabell Fellowship at Northwestern University. He is a recipient of numerous "Outstanding Performance" awards from the Westinghouse R&D Center. He was the Chairman of the TMS (The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society) "Mechanical Metallurgy" Committee, and the Chairman of the ASM (American Society for Metals) "Flow and Fracture" Committee. He has been the Chairman and Member of the TMS Award Committee on "Application to Practice, Educator, and Leadership Awards." He is a fellow of ASM. He has been given the Outstanding Teacher Award, the Moses E. and Mayme Brooks Distinguished Professor Award, the Engineering Research Fellow Award, the National Alumni Association Distinguished Service Professor Award, and the John Fisher Professorship at the University of Tennessee, and the TMS Distinguished Service Award. .
He is the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) Program, the Director of the NSF International Materials Institutes (IMI) Program, and the Director of the NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program at UT. Several of his graduate students have been given awards for their research and presentations at various professional societies and conferences. Moreover, his students are teaching and doing research at universities, industries, and government laboratories.
Research Areas
Mechanical behavior, processing, and nondestructive evaluation of advanced materials, including bulk-metallic glasses, nano-structural materials, superalloys, and intermetallics. (Click each area for more information!)
- NSF Advanced Neutron Scattering Network for Education and Research (ANSWER) Program
- NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Program
Selected Awards and Honors
2006 The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) Outstanding Service Award
2004 University of Tennessee National Alumni Association Distinguished Service Professor
2004 University of Tennessee John Fisher Professorship Award
2003 University of Tennessee Moses E. and Mayme Brooks Distinguished Professor Award
2003 University of Tennessee Engineering Research Fellow Award
2002 University of Tennessee Outstanding Teacher Award
Professional Activities
» Key Reader for Metallurgical and Materials Transactions
» Technical Advisor for JOM (Journal of Metals)
» Chairman of the Flow and Fracture Committee, American Society for Metals (ASM) and The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS)
» Chairman and Member of the TMS Committee on Application to Practice, Educator, and Leadership Awards
» Fellow, ASM International
Selected Publications
C. Fan, H. Q. Li, L. J. Kecskes, K. X. Tao, H. Choo, P. K. Liaw, and C. T. Liu (2006), "Mechanical Behavior of Bulk Amorphous Alloys Reinforced by Ductile Particles at Cryogenic Temperatures," Physical Review Letters, 96(14), No. 145506.
G. J. Fan, Y. D. Wang, L. F. Fu, H. Choo, P. K. Liaw, Y. Ren, and N. D. Browning (2006), "Orientation-Dependent Grain Growth in a Bulk Nanocrystalline Alloy during The Uniaxial Compressive Deformation," Applied Physics Letters, 88(17), No. 171914.
Y. D. Wang, H. Tian, A. D. Stoica, X. L. Wang, P. K. Liaw, and J. W. Richardson (2003), "Evidence on the Development of Large Grain-Orientation-Dependent Residual Stresses in a Cyclically-Deformed Alloy," Nature Materials, 2(2), pp. 101-106.
G. Y. Wang, P. K. Liaw, W. H. Peter, B. Yang, Y. Yokoyama, M. L. Benson, B. A. Green, M. J. Kirkham, S. A. White, T. A. Saleh, R. L. McDaniels, R. V. Steward, R. A. Buchanan, C. T. Liu, and C. R. Brooks (2004), "Fatigue Behavior Of Bulk-Metallic Glasses," Intermetallics, 12, pp. 885-892.
B. Yang, M. L. Morrison, P. K. Liaw, R. A. Buchanan, G. Y. Wang, C. T. Liu, and M. Denda (2005), "Dynamic Evolution of Nanoscale Shear Bands in a Bulk-Metallic Glass," Applied Physics Letters, 86(14), 141904.
Contact Dr. Liaw
427-B Dougherty Engineering Bldg.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-2200
Tel: (865) 974-6356
Fax: (865) 974-4115
Email: pliaw@utk.edu