Professor Thevamaran’s laboratory focuses on advancing the fundamental knowledge of process-structure-property-function relations in structured materials and creating innovative structured materials with extreme mechanical properties. Recent advancements in material fabrication technologies allow us to control the physical properties and the geometry of constituent structural features, and their organization across different lengthscales to develop structured materials with superior bulk properties for desired applications. This new approach blurs the boundary between a material and a structure, and enables the creation of structured materials with remarkable properties that are not readily found in common materials. Successful development of such materials with superior bulk properties requires a thorough fundamental understanding of material behavior over multiple lengthscales—from nanometers to several millimeters—across different response timescales—from nanoseconds to several minutes.
We use various synthesis techniques to fabricate structured materials with optimally tailored constituent features in multiple lengthscales, and use a variety of mechanical characterization techniques to investigate their responses under different external loading conditions—from quasistatic to highly dynamic. We also use in-situ high-speed microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray scattering techniques to characterize the samples’ structure and morphology as well as the different modes of deformation that occur during external loading. The key fundamental understanding developed in these studies will enable us to develop structured materials with superior specific properties for extreme applications such as protecting humans and engineering systems from impact, shock, and vibrations, and developing ultra-strong and -tough microelectromechanical systems, robots, biomedical implants, and surface coatings.
News
Welcome Annabella, Daniyar, and Paranjoy
We welcome Annabella Orsini, Daniyar Syrlybayev, and Paranjoy Basak, who have joined our lab as PhD candidates. We look forward to exciting research with you all.
September 1, 2023Congratulations Jizhe and Claire
Congratulations to Dr. Jizhe Cai for starting as an Assistant Professor at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Florida State University. Congratulations to Dr. Claire Griesbach for starting as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Swiss …
August 31, 2023Discovery opens door to ultra-lightweight protective materials
Our research paper recently published in ACS Nano is highlighted in a UW-Madison news article. Congratulations to Komal and Abhishek.
July 13, 2023Claire Griesbach wins the first place in the Department of Energy’s Innovations in Nuclear Energy R&D Student Competition
Congratulations to Claire Griesbach for winning the first place in the Department of Energy’s 2023 Innovations in Nuclear Energy R&D Student Competition. Her research paper on microstructural heterogeneity of the buffer layer of TRISO nuclear …
June 16, 2023Abhishek wins 1st place in the International Student Paper Competition at SEM
Congratulations to Abhishek Gupta for winning the first place in the Michael Sutton International Student Paper Competition at the Annual Conference of the Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM). Keep up your excellent work, Abhishek.
June 9, 2023- More News posts
Open Positions
We are always looking for talented and highly motivated students interested in the research focus of the Thevamaran Lab. If you are interested in joining our laboratory, please send a brief email explaining your research experience and interests along with your CV to Professor Thevamaran. To join Thevamaran Laboratory, students may apply to the PhD programs in any of the three departments: Engineering Physics, Mechanical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering.
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