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
Our research is featured on Wisconsin Public Radio
January 3, 2023We won the 2022 WARF Innovation Award
The aramid nanofiber-reinforced carbon nanotube mat with the exceptional protective performance we developed has received the 2022 WARF Innovation Award. Congratulations to Dr. Jizhe Cai, a postdoctoral research associate, who co-invented this with Prof. Thevamaran. …
December 16, 2022Our lab was featured on News 3 Now for the protective helmet liner material we are developing
Dr. Komal Chawla, a postdoctoral research associate, and Abhishek Gupta, a graduate student, of our lab along with Professor R. Thevamaran discussed their new carbon nanotube-based material with Arman Rahman for News 3.
November 22, 2022Our invention of aramid nano fiber reinforced carbon nanotube mats have been selected as finalist for the 2022 WARF Innovation Awards
Congratulations to Dr. Jizhe Cai, a postdoctoral research associate, in our lab for his work that has been selected as one of the top six inventions out of over 360 inventions last year, for the …
November 17, 2022Congratulations to Komal and Abhishek for their work on architected carbon nanotube foams published in Extreme Mechanics Letters
Congratulations to our postdoctoral research associate Dr. Komal Chawla and graduate student Abhishek Gupta for their work on architected carbon nanotube foams that exhibit unusual synergistic enhancement of mechanical properties that are desirable for protective …
November 17, 2022- 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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