Academic Staff

Brief Biosketch

Dr. X.S. Yang is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He received his B. Eng. degree in Mechanical Engineering and Automation, as well as his M. Eng. degree in Materials Processing Engineering from South China University of Technology, China. In 2014, he received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and then continued his academic career at HKUST and PolyU, respectively.

Dr. Yang’s research interests focus on the development of high-performance hetero-nanostructured metals and alloys, such as steels, copper, high-entropy alloys, and Mg alloys. He aims to dissect their processing-microstructure-properties relationships at the atomic scale. It includes surface treatment techniques, laser processing and additive manufacturing, ultra-precision machining, phase transformation, mechanical behaviors and deformation mechanisms, resistance to fatigue, creep, wear and corrosion, hydrogen storage and embrittlement, in-situ SEM and HRTEM observations, computational simulations, and theoretical modeling, etc.

Dr. Yang’s research works have been published in top specialized peer-reviewed journals, such as Acta Materialia, International Journal of Plasticity, Scripta Materialia, and Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, garnering critical acclaim and recognition in the field of metallurgy and metallurgical engineering. He currently serves as an Associate Editor of Frontiers in Materials, an Editorial Board Member of several journals, including Journal of Materials Science & Technology, Materials Research Letters, Rare Metals, and International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials. He is also a Special Topic/Guest Editor of MDPI and Crystals and served as the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of APCOM2019. Dr. Yang has worked on external competitive grants as PI funded by Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province (GDSTC), and Shenzhen Municipal Science and Technology Innovation Commission (STIC).

Teaching and Research Specialties

Teaching

• Fundamentals of Materials Science and Engineering
• Product Safety and Reliability

Research Specialties

• Hetero-nanostructured metals and alloys
• Mechanical behaviors and deformation mechanisms
• Fatigue, creep, wear and corrosion
• Martensitic phase transformation
• In-situ SEM/HRTEM techniques
• Surface treatment techniques
• Laser processing and additive manufacturing
• Ultra-precision machining technologies

Selected Journal Publications

(10 representative journal papers as the first author or corresponding author*)

1. J. Luo, W. Sun, D. Liang, K.C. Chan, X.-S. Yang*, F. Ren*, Superior wear resistance in a TaMoNb compositionally complex alloy film via in-situ formation of the amorphous-crystalline nanocomposite layer and gradient nanostructure, Acta Materialia, 243 (2023) 118503.

2. J. Luo, W. Sun, L. Qian, D. Liang, K. C. Chan, F. Ren*, X.-S. Yang*, An ultra-strong and ductile crystalline-amorphous nanostructured surface layer on TiZrHfTaNb_0.2 high-entropy alloy by laser surface processing, Materials & Desgin, 227 (2023) 111710.

3. R. Shi, H. Fu, K. Chen, W. Sun, Z. Wang, L. Qiao, X.-S. Yang*, X. Pang*, Combining synergetic effects of gradient nanotwins and nanoprecipitates in heterogeneous bronze alloy, Acta Materialia, 229 (2022) 117831

4. S Yuan, B Gan, L Qian, B Wu, H Fu, H.-H. Wu*, C. F. Cheung, X-S Yang*, Gradient nanotwinned CrCoNi medium-entropy alloy with strength-ductility synergy, Scripta Materialia, 203 (2021) 114117.

5. X.-S. Yang*, S Yuan; H Fu; Y.-J. Wang, Grain boundary-mediated plasticity accommodating the cracking process in nanograined gold: In situ observations and simulations, Scripta Materialia, 194 (2021) 113693.

6. X.-S. Yang, H-R Zhai, H-H Ruan, S-Q Shi, T-Y Zhang, Multi-temperature indentation creep tests on nanotwinned copper, International Journal of Plasticity 104 (2018) 68-79.

7. X.-S. Yang, S Sun, H-H Ruan, S-Q Shi, T-Y Zhang. Shear and Shuffling Accomplishing Polymorphic fcc γ→hcp e →bct α Martensitic Phase Transformation, Acta Materialia 136 (2017), 347-354

8. X.-S. Yang, Y.-J. Wang, H-R Zhai, G.-Y. Wang, Y-J Su, L. H. Dai, S Ogata, T.-Y. Zhang, Time-, stress-, and temperature -dependent deformation in nanostructured copper: Creep tests and simulations, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 94 (2016) 191-206

9. X.-S. Yang, Y.-J. Wang, G.-Y. Wang, H.-R. Zhai, L. H. Dai, T.-Y. Zhang, Time, stress, and temperature-dependent deformation in nanostructured copper: Stress relaxation tests and simulations, Acta Materialia 108 (2016) 252-263

10. X.-S. Yang, S Sun, T.-Y. Zhang, The mechanism of bcc α¢ nucleation in single hcp e laths in the fcc γ→hcp e →bcc α¢ martensitic phase transformation, Acta Materialia 9 (2015) 264-273