Cheryl Xu
Bio
Dr. Chengying “Cheryl” Xu’s research interests are advanced manufacturing of multifunctional materials, sensor design and manufacturing in harsh environments, process optimization, and sensor-based health monitoring and control through artificial intelligence (AI). Dr. Xu is actively researching materials processing and advanced manufacturing and has attracted high research funding. She co-authored a textbook (Intelligent Systems: Modeling, Optimization and Control, CRC Press, 2008) and has published five book chapters. Dr. Xu chaired the 1st NSF National Wireless Research Collaboration Workshop in 2015. Currently she is serving as the Editor-in-Chief at Nature Portfolio: npj Advanced Manufacturing. She has served as an Associate Editor of ASME Transactions since 2015.
Dr. Xu’s research focuses on manufacturing multifunctional ceramic materials, especially on their electrical/dielectric, mechanical, and thermal properties, and how to manufacture such materials for high-temperature applications. Such studies provide great flexibility in design and manufacturing and meet a wide range of application requirements, such as high-temperature sensor design for extreme conditions, etc. The ability to effectively integrate these technologies and materials into applicable devices is critical for industry and federal government laboratories. Her research interests have been in the field of advanced manufacturing and applying the knowledge and experience to help bring engineering components and devices for next-generation energy, environmental, aerospace, and defense applications, with specific focuses on the following aspects:
- Research and development of novel multifunctional materials with desirable structures/functionalities;
- Developing practical/robust manufacturing processes to transform new materials into engineering components and devices;
- Understanding the fundamental physics and chemistry of advanced manufacturing processes;
- Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) into manufacturing processes.
Publications
- Synthesis of hafnium carbide (HfC) via one‐step selective laser reaction pyrolysis from liquid polymer precursor , Journal of the American Ceramic Society (2025)
- An ultrathin polymer-derived UHTCs coating on CFRP substrate: Effective electromagnetic wave absorber , Composites Communications (2023)
- Impact and wetting of polysilazane droplets on a metal surface , Colloids and Surfaces A Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects (2023)
- Polymer-derived SiOC reinforced with core–shell nanophase structure of ZrB2/ZrO2 for excellent and stable high-temperature microwave absorption (up to 900 °C) , Scientific Reports (2023)
- Structural Electromagnetic Absorber Based on MoS2/PyC‐Al2O3 Ceramic Metamaterials , Small (2023)
- Synthesis and characterization of functionally graded SiC-mullite thermal material , Journal of Solid State Chemistry (2023)
- The Role of Carbon Content: A Comparison of the Nickel Particle Size and Magnetic Property of Nickel/Polysiloxane‐Derived Silicon Oxycarbide , Advanced Engineering Materials (2023)
- Vibration-based hidden damage imaging using stereo cameras with digital image correlation , Structural Health Monitoring (2023)
- Highly electromagnetic transparent ceramic composite made of boron nitride nanotubes and silicon oxynitride via perhydropolysilazane infiltration method , Scientific Reports (2022)
- Super‐Wideband Electromagnetic Absorbing TiC/SiOC Ceramic/Glass Composites Derived from Polysiloxane and Titanium Isopropoxide with Low Thickness (<1 mm) , Advanced Engineering Materials (2022)
Grants
In this project we will develop a resonant, microwave frequency electromagnetic wireless sensor array that is manufactured to be embedded to in-situ measure the local instantaneous temperature.
In this project scope, NCSU will perform measurements to characterize the electromagnetic properties of materials at elevated temperatures
Radar absorbing materials (RAM) in high-temperature harsh environments are highly desirable for aerospace and defense applications, such as aircraft engine nozzles and their aerodynamically heated parts. We have developed a new radar absorbing stealth coating technology to fill this major need.
It is proposed to acquire and install a Diffusion Bonding Hot Press Furnace for processing advanced materials such as ceramics, composites, refractory metals and composite metal foams for research and training on various topics of materials processing, evaluation and treatment. The system will be used to perform processing of panels of various sizes up to 1ft x 1ft. Currently the only system similar to this unit in the entire area is an old (over 50 years old) hot press with a very small chamber size and malfunctioning hydraulic press that is in PI������������������s lab. Due to the lack of capacity of this machine, the PIs are unable to process large parts or advanced materials that require higher temperature or pressure for manufacturing (such as ceramics and refractory metals). This press can be a valuable tool not only to support all PIs������������������ research, but also to support all users of NCSU on-campus Center for Additive Manufacturing and Logistics (CAMAL) and other universities in the area such as Duke university. CAMAL center currently houses five metal additive manufacturing machines that are used for a variety of research projects. However, it is lacking such large chamber press with high temperature capabilities for processing and post processing treatments of advanced ceramics, metallic and composite materials. Since the unit will housed in a shared facility, it will be easy for access both as an educational tool and a research tool for users not only at the college of engineering, but also all other colleges across the campus as well as outside users from both academia and industry. The advantages of this system over all other units are the distinctly larger chamber along with higher service temperatures and clean, efficient, and fast heating and cooling rate with a simultaneous heating and pressing. Additionally, it may be used in vacuum and in partial pressure inert gas atmosphere. Moreover, proper operation of the furnace may be mastered in a few hours which is necessary for such equipment that is going to be used by various users and students both as an educational and a research tool.
This proposal is to develop a one kind of lightweight bullet and wear-resistant transparent armor material to provide long-term protection for vehicles/aircraft windshields. If successful, we will be able to reduce the porosity of current transparent bulletproof materials while simultaneously decreasing the density to achieve light-weight.
In this proposal effort, we will focus on the C/C system, with a coating of ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTC), to provide a high temperature system with a good oxidation resistance, a low density, and a high melting temperature.
This proposal presents a viable solution for noninvasive wireless temperature sensing and wireless communication system. The goal of our research is to develop a noninvasive high-temperature sensor for remote monitoring of the steel production process.
This proposal is to study the effect of pyrolysis temperature and dopant on the frequencydependent and temperature-dependent permittivity for ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs) reinforced ceramic composites, and to investigate the corresponding electromagnetic (EM) wave absorption at a broad application temperature range (e.g., from room temperature to ~1600oC) with the frequency range at the X to Ka band (8-40 GHz).
The increasing operational demands of RF windows and radomes for future hypersonic missile systems require innovative materials with unique capabilities that can operate at temperatures which extend beyond the limit of classical radome materials.
The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate the feasibility of producing light weight and thermally stable electromagnetic (EM) transparency for high temperature radome applications.