About

Yaning Li is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Northeastern University College of Engineering. Her research focuses on mechanics of materials and structures, architected materials and metamaterials, bio-inspired engineering, additive manufacturing, and AI-aided design. She leads the Mechanics, Biomimetics, and 3D Printing Research Lab, where her work includes studying the mechanics of soft mechanical metamaterials, bio-inspired design, 3D printing and mechanical experiments, instability of materials and structures, fracture and damage mechanics, and generalized continuum mechanics. Her notable contributions include the development of frictional mechanical metamaterials, bio-inspired strategies for energy dissipation, and the design of auxetic meta-laminae through systematic finite element simulations and machine learning approaches. She has been recognized with several awards, including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the AFOSR SFFP Faculty Fellowship Award. Dr. Li has also been awarded a patent for three-dimensional auxetic composite structures and has published influential research in high-impact journals. Her work is distinguished by its interdisciplinary approach, combining mechanics, biomimetics, and advanced manufacturing techniques to innovate in material design and engineering applications.

Research topics

• Materials science
• Composite material
• Structural engineering
• Engineering
• Metallurgy
• Geometry
• Optoelectronics

Selected publications

• Meta-UTR

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-04-24

  datasetOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Meta-UTR

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-04-24

  datasetOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Adaptive Mechanical Metamaterials with On‐Demand Binary Local Modulus for Embodied Intelligence

  Advanced Science · 2025-08-26 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Biological materials in nature are inherently adaptive, evolving through continuous interaction with their environment. Achieving such adaptability and self-optimization in artificial materials remains a major challenge. In this work, a simple yet robust mechanism is introduced that enables instantaneous changes in local stiffness components in response to strain. This is realized by designing binary meta-capsules with two discrete states 0 and 1, each corresponding to a different modulus in one direction. These strain-responsive capsules switch states based on applied deformation, serving as the building blocks for a new class of adaptive mechanical metamaterials (AMMs). Computational tools are developed to guide the design, and selected structures are fabricated via multi-material polymer jetting. Mechanical experiments, including compression and indentation tests, confirm the functionality of the AMMs. Because the stiffness change in each meta-capsule is reversible, the material can reconfigure itself after loading-unloading cycle. This enables AMMs to dynamically adjust their local properties based on external loads and/or constraints, effectively "reprogramming" or redesigning themselves post-fabrication, paving the way for transforming 3D/4D printing into adaptive, "infinity-D" printing.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Programmable Reconfiguration of Hybrid 4D Chiral Metamaterials via Mechanical and Thermal Stimuli

  Advanced Engineering Materials · 2025-09-07

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Mechanical metamaterials with programmable reconfiguration ability are essential for applications such as adaptive sensors, actuators, and smart wearable systems. However, existing strategies often suffer from limited tunability, requiring predefined material properties or boundary conditions to achieve functional deformations. Herein, a class of hybrid chiral mechanical metamaterials composed of rigid square units connected via specially designed soft components, including soft networks, soft hinges, and bilayer joints, is presented. These soft connectors are responsive to external mechanical and thermal stimuli, enabling controlled pattern transformations and tunable reconfiguration. Prototypes of selected designs are fabricated using multimaterial 3D printing, and experimental validations are conducted under equi‐biaxial mechanical compression and thermal activation. The results demonstrate that significant volume changes can be achieved, with optimized deformation pathways identified through controlled biaxial displacement ratios. Furthermore, by tailoring hinge configurations and material interfaces, both positive and negative thermal expansion coefficients are realized. This design framework offers a versatile platform for programmable morphing structures, providing new opportunities for multifunctional devices in sensing, soft robotics, adaptive optics, and wearable technologies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Electrolyte Design for Highly Reversible Zinc Anodes Via Prismatic Plane Growth and Nucleation Kinetics Regulation

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• The influence of corneal biomechanical factors on surgically induced corneal astigmatism

  Scientific Reports · 2025-07-22 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  To investigate the correlation between the corneal biomechanical properties of cataract patients measured by Corvis-ST and surgically induced corneal astigmatism (CSIA) derived from anterior segment swept-source OCT (CASIA2). A total of 149 eyes from 149 patients received phacoemulsification with a 2.2-mm clear corneal incision at the 135° were involved. Before surgery, all patients were examined by Corvis-ST for dynamic corneal response parameters (DCRs). The total corneal astigmatism was measured using CASIA2 before the operation and at 1 month follow-up. CSIA was obtained using Alpins vector analysis. After adjustment for age, central corneal thickness, and biomechanically corrected intraocular pressure, partial correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between the CSIA and DCRs. The centroid of CSIA was 0.48 D @ 43°, with a magnitude of 0.75 ± 0.44 D. The age of the patient was positively correlated with the magnitude of CSIA (r = .22, P = .009). The partial correlation analysis revealed that deformation amplitude ratio (DA ratio, r = -.17, P = .045) and integrated radius (IR, r = - .20, P = .014) were both negatively correlated with the magnitude of CSIA. The magnitude of CSIA can be expressed as: [Formula: see text]. DA ratio and IR were negatively correlated with the magnitude of CSIA in 2.2-mm cataract surgery indicating an association of increased corneal stiffness with increased magnitude of CSIA.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Nonlinear resonance characteristics of planetary gear transmission system and experimental verification

  Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology · 2025-10-01 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Numerical analysis of sutural tessellations under dynamic indentation

  Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials/Journal of mechanical behavior of biomedical materials · 2025-11-15

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Interphase effects of polymer laminae 3D-printed via multi-material jetting

  Results in Engineering · 2025-11-20 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Multi-material 3D printing poses challenges affecting printed component quality and mechanical properties. A key issue stems from resolution limitations, hindering seamless transitions between materials. Consequently, a material mixing zone (interphase) forms at dissimilar material boundaries, causing mechanical inconsistencies, significantly impacting overall mechanical performance of 3D printed products. For multi-material polymer jetting, printing direction and layer thickness significantly influence mechanical properties of 3D printed products. This study aims to assess these effects using a two-phase lamina as a representative material system. Printing direction, layer thickness, and material mixing's impact on laminae's in-plane mechanical properties will be investigated via macro- and micro-scale mechanical experiments and finite element simulations. Specimens will be fabricated using a Stratasys Objet260 Connex3 multi-material 3D printer. Mechanical experiments, including macro-scale uni-axial tension tests, nano-indentation, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) characterization, will be conducted to characterize properties. An anisotropic material model is introduced to the FE model of the material system to predict the effects of printing direction and material mixing in the interphases of 3D printed laminae.

  PublisherDOI

• Targeting interstitial atoms in n-type Mg ₃ (Bi, Sb) ₂ single crystals for robust ambient energy conversion

  Journal of Materials Chemistry A · 2025-12-18 · 1 citations

  article

  Strategic interstitial Mn doping in Mg 3 (Bi, Sb) 2 single crystal simultaneously achieves high thermoelectric performance and intrinsic chemical stability, enabling robust module operation for over 300 hours in ambient air.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER: Mechanics of a New Family of Auxetic Chiral Composites

  NSF · $599k · 2016–2020

• Collaborative Research: Bio-Inspired Impact-Resistant Phononic Sutural Gabions

  NSF · $357k · 2022–2026

• Frictional Mechanical Metamaterial

  NSF · $531k · 2024–2027

• A Bio-Inspired Strategy for In-Plane Energy Dissipation through Suture Interfaces

  NSF · $346k · 2014–2018

• CAREER: Mechanics of a New Family of Auxetic Chiral Composites

  NSF · $391k · 2020–2022

Frequent coauthors

• Yunyao Jiang

  15 shared

• Mary C. Boyce

  Columbia University

  14 shared

• Tiantian Li

  12 shared

• Tomasz Wierzbicki

  12 shared

• Chao Gao

  Norwegian University of Science and Technology

  12 shared

• Christine Ortiz

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  10 shared

• Jongmin Shim

  University at Buffalo, State University of New York

  10 shared

• Bodhi Rudra

  University at Buffalo, State University of New York

  10 shared

Labs

• Mechanics, Biomimetics, and 3D Printing Research LabPI

Awards & honors

• National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2016)
• AFOSR SFFP Faculty Fellowship Award (2013)
• IUTAM Young Investigator Travel Award (2013)
• Stanford University Top Scientist List (2024)
• Stanford University Top Scientist List (2023)