DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Indian Institute Of Technology Madras

| Advanced Materials and Design(AMD)

Chair: Prof. V. Raghu Prakash
Co-Chair: Prof. P. Ramkumar

Research Mission

To develop eco-friendly novel materials and products and to enhance the performance of existing products by understanding the relationship between microstructure of materials and its thermoMechanical behavior

Laboratories Involved

  • MDS – Machine Design Section
  • MES – Manufacturing Engineering Section

Overview

Metals, composites and ceramics are widely used in designing various components of machine tools, aerospace structures and gas turbines. By understanding the relation between the microstructure of these materials and its thermo-Mechanical behavior, one can suitably engineer an appropriate microstructure by controlling the manufacturing process. Such an understanding is used to improve the performance of many commercial products like creep-resistant super alloys, advanced composites for airplanes and ceramics capable of withstanding high temperatures.

This group collaborating with other research groups in the institute, typically focus on the following areas:

  • Sustainable design
  • Engineering materials with appropriate microstructure to improve the life of products
  • Development of novel products with unique performance requirements
  • Development of novel processes to obtain desired microstructure
  • Experimental determination of material properties
  • Design and development of machine elements using composites
  • Reduction of friction and wear

Research Snippets

  • Development of nano-composite plastic gears with improved fatigue life
  • Design and development of nano-composite and fiber reinforced composite tube shafts: Such materials are developed to improve the stiffness of composite shafts for power transmission
  • Improving fatigue life of bearing steels : The relationship between the retained austenite and the life of the roller bearing is studied and a suitable microstructure is suggested
  • Design of gearbox for military tanks
  • Design and testing of polycentric prosthetic knee : Principles of mechanism design is used to design prosthetic knee more suited for walking on uneven terrain
  • Design and fabrication of a semi-automatic Coir Ratt : It produces Vykom rope as per IS 14596:1998 with an average twist of 50 per meter, runnage of about 230m/kg, and mean diameter 4.5mm. The machine is capable of producing the rope uninterruptedly with uniform good quality. It replaces the old manually operated coir machines
  • Determination of material properties using flash thermography and ultrasound