Dr Mingchao Liu

Dr Mingchao Liu

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Assistant Professor

Contact details

Address
School of Engineering
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Mingchao Liu is an Assistant Professor at the University of Birmingham in the UK. His research mainly focuses on the mechanics of slender structures and its application for the design of shape-morphing structures and modelling of soft robotics.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Engineering (Sept. 2013 – July 2018), Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University
  • Visiting PhD Student (Jan. – July 2015) and Endeavour Research Fellow (June – Dec. 2017), School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney
  • Bachelor of Engineering (Sept. 2009 – July 2013), Department of Engineering Mechanics, Shandong University

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Li, J, Huang, W, Zhu, Y, Yu, L, Sun, X, Liu, M & Wu, H 2026, 'Inverse elastica: A theoretical framework for inverse design of morphing slender structures', Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, vol. 208, 106488, pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106488

Guo, K, Zhang, Y, Paradiso, M, Long, Y, Hsia, KJ & Liu, M 2026, 'Midveins regulate the shape formation of drying leaves', Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106391

Zhang, Y, Huang, W, Liu, M, Yu, J & Gao, H 2025, 'Achieving symmetric snap-through buckling via designed magnetic actuation', Science Advances, vol. 11, no. 20, eadw1259, pp. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adw1259

Huang, W, Hao, Z, Li, J, Tong, D, Guo, K, Zhang, Y, Gao, H, Hsia, KJ & Liu, M 2025, 'A tutorial on simulating nonlinear behaviors of flexible structures with the discrete differential geometry (DDG) method', Applied Mechanics Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4069025

Duffy, D, Biggins, JS, Griniasty, I, Yang, X, Liu, M, Hsia, KJ, White, TJ & Mostajeran, C 2025, 'Nematic Design for Shape Morphing', Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, vol. 9, no. 13. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-control-030624-011240

Liu, M, Mao, W, Zhao, Y, Xu, Q, Gan, Y, Wang, Y & Hsia, KJ 2025, 'Rate dependence in granular matter with application to tunable metamaterials', Matter. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2025.102562

Guo, K, Liu, M, Vella, D, Suresh, S & Hsia, KJ 2024, 'Dehydration-induced corrugated folding in Rhapis excelsa plant leaves', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 121, no. 17, e2320259121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2320259121

Suo, S, O’Kiely, D, Liu, M & Gan, Y 2024, 'Geometry Effects on Interfacial Dynamics of Gas‐Driven Drainage in a Gradient Capillary', Water Resources Research, vol. 60, no. 9, e2023WR036766. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023wr036766

Huang, W, Yu, T, Hsia, KJ, Adriaenssens, S & Liu, M 2024, 'Integration of kinks and creases enables tunable folding in meta-ribbons', Matter. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2024.04.031

Huang, W, Liu, Z, Liu, M & Hsia, KJ 2024, 'Snap-through eversion of axisymmetric shells under contact indentation', Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, vol. 480, no. 2300, 20240303. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2024.0303

Letter

Yang, Y, Wang, Y, Lin, M, Liu, M & Huang, C 2024, 'Bio-inspired facile strategy for programmable osmosis-driven shape-morphing elastomer composite structures†', Materials Horizons. https://doi.org/10.1039/d3mh01731a

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