Address:
Department of Mechanical
and Materials Engineering
University of Denver
2390 S. York St.
Denver, CO 80208

Office: CMK 104
E-mail: yyi2@du.edu
Phone: (303)871-2228
Fax: (303)871-4450

I earned my Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in early 2001. After working as a postdoc and later as a research scientist in the same institution for four more years, I joined the faculty at the University of Denver in Fall 2005. I received my M.S. degree from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1997 and my Bachelor's degree in Automotive Engineering from Tsinghua University, China in 1994. Before I came to the U.S., I worked at Shanghai Automotive Research Institute for nearly one year. Click here to learn more.

Teaching

Autumn 2005 - Engineering Mechanics I: Statics
Winter 2006 - Fluid Mechanics/Heat Transfer I
Spring 2006 - Fluid Mechanics/Heat Transfer II
Summer 2006 - High School Summer Camp: Making of an Engineer
Aurumn 2006 - Engineering Mechanics I: Statics
Winter 2007 - Computational Methods in Adv. Matls.
Spring 2007 - Fluid Mechanics/Heat Transfer II
Summer 2007 - High School Summer Camp: Extreme Sports
Autumn 2007 - Engineering Mechanics I: Statics
Winter 2008 - Advanced Elasticity

Research

My research interests span several different areas in mechanical engineering. While my earlier work concentrated on thermoelastic instabilities in automotive brakes, my current research activities are mainly in the emerging areas of micro/nanoscale material systems and mechanics. Of particular interest to me are 1) thermoelastic damping-related energy dissipation in MEMS/NEMS systems, and 2) transport properties of multiscale particulate or fibrous materials. I am also interested in numerical modeling of biosystems, such as probabilistic simulation of the dynamics of macromolecules and intracellular ions. Please click the following links to learn more about my research.

• Thermoelastic Damping in MEMS/NEMS
• Frictionally Excited Thermoelastic Instability
• Molecular Motion in Confined Channels
• Percolation Phenomena and Applications
• Packing of Particulate Materials
• Image Analysis and 3-D Reconstruction of Biomaterials

Education

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2001
M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Missouri-Rolla,1997
B.S. in Automotive Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 1994

Experience

2005-now, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Denver
2003-2005,Assistant Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan
2001-2003,Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan
1999-2000,Summer Intern, Ford Motor Company Scientific Research Lab, Michigan
1994-1995,Design Engineer, Shanghai Automotive Research Institute, China

Journal Publications

1. Tang, H. W., Yi, Y. B., and Matin, M. A., Predictive modeling of thermoelastic energy dissipation in tunable MEMS mirrors, submitted to Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS. (2007)
2. Zhang, T. and Yi, Y. B., A Monte Carlo Simulation of Effective Electrical Conductivity in Coated Fibers, submitted to Journal of Applied Physics. (2007)
3. Yi, Y. B., Numerical Analysis of Molecular Motion through a Post Array, submitted to Journal of Applied Physics. (2007)
4. Yi, Y. B., Geometric Effects on Thermoelastic Damping in MEMS Resonators, Journal of Sound and Vibration, in press. (2007)
5. Matin, M. A., Yi, Y. B. and Gogte, V., 2007, Modeling and Analysis of a Low Actuation Voltage MEM-mirror with Spring Structure for Tunable Optical Filter, Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS, Vol. 6, No.023011, pp. 1-8. [PDF]
6. Yi, Y. B. and Matin, M. A., 2007, Eigenvalue Solution of Thermoelastic Damping in Beam Resonators Using a Finite Element Analysis, ASME Journal of Vibration and Acoustics, Vol 129, pp. 478-483. [PDF]
7. Yi, Y. B., 2006, Void Percolation and Conduction of Overlapping Ellipsoids, Physical Review E, Vol. 74, art. No. 031112, pp.1-6. [PDF]
8. Yi, Y. B., 2006, Finite Element Analysis of Thermoelastodynamic Instability Involving Frictional Heating, ASME Journal of Tribology, Vol. 128, pp. 718-724. [PDF]
9. Yi, Y. B. and Lengsfeld, C. S., 2006, Mechanical Modeling of Carbonic Anhydrase Motion in Simple Channels, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 100, No.014701, pp.1-7. [PDF]
10. Leinninger, G. M., Backus, C., Sastry, A. M., Yi, Y. B., Wang, C. W., and Feldman, E. L., 2006, Mitochondria in DRG Neurons Undergo Hyperglycemic Mediated Injury Through Bim, Bax and the Fission Protein Drp1, Neurobiology of Disease, Vol. 23, pp. 11-22. [PDF]
11. Yi, Y. B., Wang, C. W. and Sastry, A. M., 2006, Compression of Packed Particulate Systems: Simulations and Experiments in Graphitic Li-ion Anodes, ASME Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology, Vol. 128(1), pp.73-80. [PDF]
12. Paso, K., Senra, M., Yi, Y. B., Sastry, A. M., and Fogler, H. S., 2005, Paraffin Polydispersity Facilitates Mechanical Gelation, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research , Vol. 44(18), pp. 7242-7254. [PDF]
13. Venkatesan, R., Nagarajan, N. R., Paso, K., Yi, Y.B., Sastry, A.M., and Fogler, H.S., 2004, The Strength of Paraffin Gels Formed under Static and Flow Conditions, Chemical Engineering Science, Vol. 60, pp. 3587-3598. [PDF]
14. Yi, Y. B., Wang, H., and Sastry, A. M., and Lastoskie, C. M., 2005, Multilevel Direct Stochastic Simulation of Ca2+ Motion in Cells, Physical Review E, Vol. 72, art. No. 021913, pp. 1-12. [PDF]
15. Wang, C. W., Yi, Y. B., and Sastry, A. M., 2004, Particle Compression and Conductivity in Li-Ion Anodes with Graphite Additives, Journal of Electrochemical Society, Vol. 151(9), pp. A1489-A1498. [PDF]
16. Yi, Y. B., Wang, C. W., and Sastry, A. M., 2004, Two-dimensional versus Three-dimensional Clustering and Percolation in Fields of Overlapping Elllipsoids, Journal of Electrochemical Society, Vol. 151(8), pp. A1292-A1300. [PDF]
17. Yi, Y. B., Berhan, L. M., and Sastry, A. M., 2004, Statistical Geometry of Random Fibrous Networks, Revisited: Waviness, Dimensionality and Percolation, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 96(3), pp. 1318-1327. [PDF]
18. Yi, Y. B. and Sastry, A. M., 2004, Analytical approximation of percolation threshold for overlapping ellipsoids, Proc. Royal Society of London Series A, Vol. 460, pp. 2353-2380. [PDF]
19. Berhan, L., Yi, Y. B., Sastry, A. M., Munoz, E, Selvidge, M., and Baughman, R., 2004, Mechanical Properties of Nanotube Sheets: Alterations in Joint Morphology, and Achievable Moduli in Manufacturable Materials, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 95(8), pp. 4335-4345. [PDF]
20. Berhan, L., Yi, Y. B., and Sastry, A. M., 2004, Effect of Nanorope Waviness on the Effective Moduli of Nanotube Sheets, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 95(9),pp.5027-5034. [PDF]
21. Yi, Y. B. and Sastry, A. M., 2002, Analytical approximation of the two-dimensional percolation threshold for fields of overlapping ellipses, Physical Review E, Vol. 66, No.066130, pp.1-8. [PDF]
22. Yi, Y. B., Barber, J. R., and Zagrodzki, P., 2000, Eigenvalue solution of thermoelastic instability problems using Fourier reduction, Proc. Royal Society of London Series A, Vol. 456, pp. 2799-2821. [PDF]
23. Yi, Y. B., Du, S., Barber, J. R., and Fash, J. W., 1999, Effect of geometry on thermoelastic instability in disk brakes and clutches, ASME Journal of Tribology, Vol. 121, pp. 661-666. [PDF]

Book Chapter

• Yi, Y. B., Barber, J. R., and Hartsock, D. L., 2002, Thermoelastic instabilities in automotive disc Brakes - Finite element analysis and experimental verification, in J.A.C.Martins and Manuel D.P.Monteiro Marques eds., Contact Mechanics, Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp. 187-202. [PDF]

Licensed Software

• Yi, Y. B. and Barber, J. R., HotSpotter -A Method and Apparatus for Predicting the Critical Rotational Speed at Which a Clutch or a Multi-disk Brake Will Exhibit Hot Spots as a Result of Thermoelastic Instability, Copyright(C), the University of Michigan, 2001.

Conference Publications

Omitted. (around twenty)