应中科院材料力学行为与设计重点实验室和龚兴龙教授的邀请，2012年6月27日，香港中文大学廖维新教授来我院进行交流访问。在对香港中文大学及其博士奖学金新政策（详细见BBS系版）等做了介绍后，廖教授作了题为"Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting and Multifunctional MR Actuators"的精彩报告，并在会后与老师同学们就关心的问题进行了深入的交流讨论。
报告摘要：
Vibration occurs when a train is jolting along a bumpy road, or even when people are taking a walk. We investigated energy harvested from vibration using piezoelectric materials as an alternative to renewable energy. Piezoelectric power generators were used to transform the mechanical energy from vibration into electrical energy, which could replace batteries to supply power to wireless sensor networks and mobile devices. Without using batteries, the self-powered systems will be more environmentally friendly since they are using otherwise wasted mechanical energy from the vibration sources. We have proposed an energy flow to clarify the functions of piezoelectric energy harvesting, dissipation, and their effects on the structural damping of vibrating structures. Impedance modeling and analysis was performed. We have also designed an improved self-powered switching interface for piezoelectric energy harvesting circuits. On the other hand, exoskeletons that can enhance people’s performance or assist disabled people have been investigated in recent years. However, most exoskeletons use DC motors as actuators and batteries as power sources. A DC motor consumes a lot of power and limits the working time of the exoskeleton; it could also cause discomfort and danger to people. Magnetorheological (MR) fluid is a smart fluid that can change its rheological behavior under applied magnetic field. Rotary devices using MR fluids have the benefits of high torque, good controllability, and low power requirement, while having better safety. We have designed a novel multifunctional actuator. With MR fluids, the actuator possesses multiple functions as motor, clutch, and brake while meeting the requirement of normal human motion as well. In this talk, related research projects and key results will be presented.
廖维新教授简介：
Prof. Wei-Hsin Liao received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in May 1997 from The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA. Since August 1997, Dr. Liao has been with The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), where he is now a Professor and Director of MSc Programme in Biomedical Engineering. He was the Program Chair for the International Symposium on Smart Structures and Microsystems in 2000, as well as the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Information Acquisition. He was the Conference Chair for the 20th International Conference on Adaptive Structures and Technologies (ICAST 2009). Dr. Liao currently serves as an Associate Editor for ASME Journal of Vibration and Acoustics, Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, as well as Smart Materials and Structures. His research interests include smart structures, vibration control, energy harvesting, mechatronics, precision machinery, and medical devices. His research has led to publications of over 130 technical papers in international journals and conference proceedings, one China patent, three US patents, and 7 other China/US patent applications. He is a recipient of the T A Stewart-Dyer/F H Trevithick Prize awarded by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (2006), the Best Paper Award in Structures from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2008), and three Best Paper Awards in the IEEE conferences (2009, 2010, 2011). He also received the Research Excellence Award (2010-11) of CUHK. Dr. Liao is the Chair of Joint Chapter of Robotics, Automation and Control Systems Society (RACS), IEEE Hong Kong Section. Dr. Liao is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME, USA) and Institute of Physics (IOP, UK).