Liu, Chang

Chang Liu

Assistant Professor, School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Manufacturing Engineering

Email chang_liu@uconn.edu
Mailing Address School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Connecticut, 191 Auditorium Rd. U-3139, Storrs, CT 06269
Campus Storrs
Link Lab Website
Google Scholar Link

Brief Bio

Dr. Chang Liu joined the University of Connecticut, Department of Mechanical Engineering in August 2023 as an Assistant Professor. Prior to that, he conducted postdoctoral research in the Department of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley from 2021 to 2023. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering (2021) from Johns Hopkins University, where he also obtained M.S.E. degrees in both Applied Mathematics and Statistics (2021) and Mechanical Engineering (2020). He obtained his bachelor’s degrees in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering as well as Computer Technology and its Applications from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2017.

Dr. Liu’s research interest is the intersection among fluid dynamics, nonlinear dynamical system, control theory, state estimation and optimization with a special focus on turbulence. He is interested in developing novel interdisciplinary approaches to obtain reduced-order models and better understandings of fluid dynamics. His research topics include wall-bounded shear flows, hydrodynamic stability, flow control, double-diffusive convection, convection and buoyancy-driven flows, porous medium flows, stratified and/or rotating flows, shallow water waves and fluid-structure interactions. He was a receipt of the Corrsin-Kovasznay Outstanding Paper Award.

  • Structured input-output analysis of wall-bounded shear flows
  • Bifurcation analysis and reduced-order modeling of double-diffusive convections
  • Spatial input-output analysis of turbulent boundary layers
  • Convex optimization based nonlinear stability analysis in shear flow
  • Input-output based analysis of convective velocity of turbulent channel flow
  • Semi-analytical solutions of shallow water waves
  • Time-varying hydrodynamics identification in vortex-induced vibrations

Dr. Chang Liu is teaching ME 5507 Engineering Analysis I in Fall 2025. Check the syllabus here: Syllabus

Dr. Chang Liu taught ME 3253 Linear Systems Theory in Spring 2025. Check the syllabus here: Syllabus.pdf

Dr. Chang Liu taught ME 5895-001/ME 3295-001/ECE 6095-004 Nonlinear Systems (Dynamics and Control concentration of ME Undergraduates) in Fall 2024. Check the syllabus here: Syllabus

Course example code is hosted on: GitHub - cliu124/Nonlinear_Systems

Course description: Nonlinear systems appear in a wide range of applications including robotics, fluid dynamics, solid mechanics, manufacturing, electrical engineering, chemistry, and biology. This class will introduce a suite of general analysis tools for nonlinear systems where the linear approximation breaks down. The nonlinear stability analysis based on the Lyapunov method will be introduced. Characterizing the system property based on feedback interconnection will also be introduced, which has a close relation to feedback control. We will also discuss frequency domain analysis of nonlinear systems based on transfer functions that are closely related to linear systems theory. This class will also introduce several numerical software for nonlinear system analysis that can be applied in practical applications and useful for designing a course project. We will use fluid dynamics to demonstrate the practical application of nonlinear system analysis tools introduced in this class. If time permits, this course will also introduce the data-driven modeling of nonlinear systems. This course will use the textbook “Nonlinear Systems” authored by Prof. Hassan K. Khalil. The grade is based on homework (50%) and a course project (50%). There is no pre-requisite for this class, and ME 3253 Linear Systems Theory is not a pre-requisite.

Dr. Chang Liu taught CE2120 Applied Mechanics II in Spring 2024. Check the syllabus here: Syllabus Applied Mechanics II Spring 2024 CE 2120.

Journal Articles

___: research mentees

  1. Junle Liu, Chang Liu, Yanyu Ke, Wenliang Chen, Kihing Shum, K.T. Tse, Gang Hu* “Spatiotemporal wall pressure forecast of a rectangular cylinder with physics-aware DeepUFNet” (Under Review) https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.03183 Data and Code: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16739155
  2. Xuepeng Fu, Shixiao Fu, Chang Liu, Jiawei Shen, Zhibo Niu "Vortex-induced vibration hydrodynamic of a flexible pipe in bidirectionally sheared flows" (Under Review)
  3. Adrian E. Fraser, Adrian van Kan, Edgar Knobloch, Keith Julien, Chang Liu "Helical flows spontaneously generated by salt fingers" (Under Review) https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.22581
  4. Jingzhou Song, Ting Wu, Chutian Wu, Chang Liu, Guowei He "Structured input–output analysis of compliant wall turbulence" (Under Review)
  5. Zhengyang Wei, Chang Liu "Nonlinear input-output analysis of transitional shear flows using small-signal finite-gain \(\mathcal{L}_p\) stability" (Under Review) https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.08129 Data and Code: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15742363
  6. Zhiwei Dave Li, Chang Liu, Adrian van Kan, Edgar Knobloch (2025) "Traveling spatially localized convective structures in an inclined porous medium" Physical Review Fluids, 10, 034402 (Featured by NSF ACCESS) https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.10.034402
  7. Chang Liu, Manjul Sharma, Keith Julien, Edgar Knobloch (2024) "Fixed-flux Rayleigh-Benard convection in doubly periodic domains: generation of large-scale shear." Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 979, A19.  https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2023.1057
  8. Junle Liu, K. T. Tse, Gang Hu, Chang Liu, Bingchao Zhang, Kenny C. S. Kwok (2024) "Exploring aerodynamics of a rectangular cylinder using flow field and surface pressure synchronized testing technique." Physics of Fluids. 36(8), 085174 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0216830
  9. Lichuan Xu, Adrian van Kan, Chang Liu, Edgar Knobloch (2024) "Fluctuation-induced transitions in anisotropic two-dimensional turbulence." Physical Review Fluids. 9, 064605.  (Editor's Suggestion) https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.9.064605
  10. Troy Tsubota, Chang Liu, Benjamin Foster, Edgar Knobloch (2024) "Bifurcation delay and front propagation in the real Ginzburg-Landau equation on a time-dependent domain." Physical Review E. 109, 044210. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.109.044210
  11. Xuepeng Fu, Shixiao Fu, Chang Liu, Mengmeng Zhang, Qihan Hu (2024) "Data-driven approach for modelling Reynolds stress tensor with invariance preservation." Computers & Fluids. 274, 106215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compfluid.2024.106215
  12. Yu Shuai, Chang Liu, Dennice F. Gayme (2023) "Structured input-output analysis of oblique laminar-turbulent patterns in plane Couette-Poiseuille flow." International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow. 103, 109207. (Invited) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2023.109207
  13. Chang Liu, Antwan D. Clark (2023) "Semi-analytical solutions of shallow water waves with idealised bottom topographies." Geophysical & Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics. 117, 35--58. https://doi.org/10.1080/03091929.2023.2169283
  14. Chang Liu, Antwan D. Clark (2023) "Analysing the impact of bottom friction on shallow water waves over idealised bottom topographies." Geophysical & Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics. 117, 107--129. https://doi.org/10.1080/03091929.2023.2204430
  15. Chang Liu, Colm-cille P. Caulfield, Dennice F. Gayme (2022) "Structured input-output analysis of stably stratified plane Couette flow." Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 948, A10. https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2022.648
  16. Chang Liu, Keith Julien, Edgar Knobloch (2022) "Staircase solutions and stability in vertically confined salt-finger convection." Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 952, A4. https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2022.865
  17. Chang Liu, Edgar Knobloch (2022) "Single-mode solutions for convection and double-diffusive convection in porous media." Fluids. 7, 373. (Invited, Issue cover) https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids7120373
  18. Chang Liu, Igal Gluzman, Mitchell Lozier, Samaresh Midya, Stanislav Gordeyev, Flint O Thomas, Dennice F Gayme (2022) "Spatial input-output analysis of actuated turbulent boundary layers." AIAA Journal. 60, 6313--6327. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.J061706
  19. Chang Liu, Dennice F. Gayme (2021) "Structured input-output analysis of transitional wall-bounded flows." Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 927, A25. https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2021.762 (Corrsin-Kovasznay Outstanding Paper Award)
  20. Mengmeng Zhang, Shixiao Fu, Chang Liu, Haojie Ren, Yuwang Xu (2021) "Experimental investigation on vortex-induced force of a steel catenary riser under in-plane vessel motion." Marine Structures. 78, 102882. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marstruc.2020.102882
  21. Chang Liu, Dennice F. Gayme (2020) "An input-output based analysis of convective velocity in turbulent channels." Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 888, A32. https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2020.48
  22. Chang Liu, Dennice F Gayme (2020) "Input-output inspired method for permissible perturbation amplitude of transitional wall-bounded shear flows." Physical Review E. 102, 063108. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.102.063108
  23. Chang Liu, Shixiao Fu, Mengmeng Zhang, Haojie Ren, Yuwang Xu (2020) "Hydrodynamics of a flexible cylinder under modulated vortex-induced vibrations." Journal of Fluids and Structures. 94, 102913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfluidstructs.2020.102913
  24. Haojie Ren, Mengmeng Zhang, Jingyun Cheng, Peimin Cao, Yuwang Xu, Shixiao Fu, Chang Liu, Yifan Wang (2020) "Magnification of hydrodynamic coefficients on a flexible pipe fitted with helical strakes in oscillatory flows." Ocean Engineering. 210, 107543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2020.107543
  25. Haojie Ren, Shixiao Fu, Chang Liu, Mengmeng Zhang, Yuwang Xu, Shi Deng (2020) "Hydrodynamic forces of a semi-submerged cylinder in an oscillatory flow." Applied Sciences. 10, 6404. https://doi.org/10.3390/app10186404
  26. Haojie Ren, Mengmeng Zhang, Jingyun Cheng, Peimin Cao, Yuwang Xu, Shixiao Fu, Chang Liu (2020) "Experimental Investigation on Vortex-Induced Vibration of a Flexible Pipe under Higher Mode in an Oscillatory Flow." Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 8, 408. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse8060408
  27. Chang Liu, Lu Dong (2019) "Stabilization of Lagrange points in circular restricted three-body problem: a port-Hamiltonian approach." Physics Letters A. 383, 1907--1914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physleta.2019.03.033
  28. Chang Liu, Lu Dong (2019) "Physics-based control education: energy, dissipation, and structure assignments." European Journal of Physics. 40, 035006 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6404/ab03e8
  29. Jungao Wang, Shixiao Fu, Rolf Baarholm, Mengmeng Zhang, Chang Liu (2019) "Global motion reconstruction of a steel catenary riser under vessel motion." Ships and Offshore Structures. 14, 442--456. https://doi.org/10.1080/17445302.2018.1500785
  30. Chang Liu, Shixiao. Fu, Xiaoying Tang, Mengmeng Zhang, Haojie Ren (2019) "Time Varying Hydrodynamic Characteristics Identification of a Flexible Riser under Multi-frequency VIVs." Journal of Vibration and Shock 38(1), 149-158 (In Chinese) http://jvs.sjtu.edu.cn/CN/Y2019/V38/I1/149
  31. Chang Liu (2019) "Teaching control theory in physics: the port Hamiltonian framework." College Physics 38(10), 1 (In Chinese) http://dxwl.bnu.edu.cn/CN/10.16854%20/j.cnki.1000-0712.180691 (Outstanding paper award in 2019)
  32. Chang Liu, Shixiao Fu, Mengmeng Zhang, Haojie Ren (2018) "Time-varying hydrodynamics of a flexible riser under multi-frequency vortex-induced vibrations." Journal of Fluids and Structures. 80, 217--244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfluidstructs.2018.03.004

Peer-reviewed Conference Proceedings

___: research mentees

  1. Junle Liu, Chang Liu, Yanyu Ke, Qiuxiang Huang, Jiachen Zhao, Wenliang Chen, K.T. Tse, Gang Hu "LatentFlow: Cross-Frequency Experimental Flow Reconstruction from Sparse Pressure via Latent Mapping" (Under Review) https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.16648
  2. Zhengyang Wei, Weichen Zhao, Chang Liu "Upper bound of transient growth in accelerating and decelerating wall-driven flows using the Lyapunov method" (Under Review) https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.01410 Data and Code: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16876758
  3. Aishwarya Rath, Chang Liu, Dennice F. Gayme (2024) "A structured input-output approach to evaluating the effects of uniform wall-suction on optimal perturbations in transitional boundary layers." 2024 Conference on Decision and Control, Milan, Italy, pp. 7714-7719 https://doi.org/10.1109/CDC56724.2024.10886180
  4. Chang Liu, Antwan D. Clark (2024) "Error bounds of constant gain least-mean-squares algorithms." 58th Annual Conference on Information Sciences and Systems, Princeton, NJ, USA https://doi.org/10.1109/ciss59072.2024.10480203
  5. Chang Liu, Yu Shuai, Aishwarya Rath, Dennice F. Gayme (2023) "A structured input-output approach to characterizing optimal perturbations in wall-bounded shear flows." 2023 American Control Conference, San Diego, CA, USA (ACC) pp. 2319-2325. http://dx.doi.org/10.23919/acc55779.2023.10156058
  6. Yu Shuai, Chang Liu, Dennice F. Gayme (2022) "Structured Input-Output Analysis of Oblique Turbulent Bands in Transitional Plane Couette-Poiseuille Flow." Proceedings of the Twelfth International Symposium on Turbulence and Shear Flow Phenomenon, Osaka, Japan (Online). http://www.tsfp-conference.org/proceedings/2022/254.pdf
  7. Chang Liu, Igal Gluzman, Mitchell Lozier, Samaresh Midya, Stanislav Gordeyev, Flint O Thomas, Dennice F Gayme (2021) "Spatial input--output analysis of large-scale structures in actuated turbulent boundary layers." AIAA Aviation 2021-2873 (Virtual Event). https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2021-2873
  8. Chang Liu, Dennice F Gayme (2019) "Convective velocities of vorticity fluctuations in turbulent channel flows: an input-output approach." Proceedings of the Eleventh International Symposium on Turbulence and Shear Flow Phenomenon, Southampton, UK. http://www.tsfp-conference.org/proceedings/2019/307.pdf
  9. Chang Liu, Shixiao Fu, Mengmeng Zhang, Haojie Ren (2017) "Time Varying Hydrodynamics Identification of a Flexible Riser Under Multi-Frequency Vortex-Induced Vibrations." International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering. 57649, V002T08A029. https://doi.org/10.1115/OMAE2017-61261

Invited Talks

  1. Chang Liu (2025) "Thermohaline convection from a dynamical systems perspective", Physical Oceanography Seminar, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, July 29, 2025
  2. Chang Liu (2025) "Reduced-order modeling and analysis of fluid flows: from wall-bounded shear flows to convection" Department of Mathematical Sciences, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, March 6, 2025
  3. Chang Liu (2024) "Single-mode equations based reduced-order modeling of (double-diffusive) convection." Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Program, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, July 12, 2024
  4. Chang Liu (2024) "Reduced-order modeling and analysis of fluid flows: from wall-bounded shear flows to convection." Department of Mechanical Science & Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, January 25, 2024 (Virtual)
  5. Chang Liu (2023) "Structured input-output analysis of wall-bounded shear flows." Pre-APSDFD23 Workshop: The intersection of experiments, machine learning, and dynamical systems approaches to turbulent/complex fluid flows in energy systems and the environment, November 16-17, 2023, Durham, New Hampshire
  6. Chang Liu (2023) "Reduced-order modeling and analysis of fluid flows." Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Connecticut, September 8, 2023, Storrs, Connecticut
  7. Chang Liu (2023) "Reduced-order modeling and analysis of fluid flows: from wall-bounded shear flows to convection." Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Connecticut, February 22, 2023, Storrs, Connecticut
  8. Chang Liu (2022) "Structured input-output analysis of transitional wall-bounded shear flows." Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, August 3, 2022 (Online)
  9. Chang Liu (2022) "Structured input-output analysis of transitional wall-bounded flows." Corrsin-Kovasznay Award talk in Center for Environmental & Applied Fluid Mechanics at Johns Hopkins University, April 22, 2022, Baltimore, Maryland (Corrsin-Kovasznay Outstanding Paper Award)
  10. Chang Liu, Dennice F. Gayme (2021) Structured input-output analysis of wall-parallel length scales in transitional plane Couette flow." AIAA Aviation 2021 Forum, August 2-6, 2021, Virtual Event

Theses

  1. Chang Liu (2021) "Feedback interconnection based input-output analysis of spatio-temporal response in wall-bounded shear flows." Ph.D. thesis at Johns Hopkins University. https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/64379
  2. Chang Liu (2017) "Hydrodynamics of Flexible Riser under Vortex-induced Vibration." Bachelor thesis at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. http://sjcg.jwc.sjtu.edu.cn/254/3/3/Dissertation.html (Top 1% Bachelor Thesis of Shanghai Jiao Tong University)