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
Dr. Jizhe Cai joins Thevamaran Lab
Dr. Jizhe Cai joins Thevamaran Lab as a postdoctoral research associate. He has obtained his PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the Texas A&M University and MEng and BEng in Materials Science and Engineering from the …
August 1, 2018Claire Griesbach joins Thevamaran Lab
Claire Griesbach, a Master’s Student in Engineering Mechanics joins Thevamaran Lab. She will be studying the mechanical properties of gradient-nano-grained metals. Welcome, Claire.
February 8, 2018Professor Thevamaran co-organizes a symposium at SES 2018
Professor Thevamaran co-organizes an Engineering and Physical Sciences symposium on ‘Controlling mechanical waves with metamaterials’ at the 55th Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of Engineering Science to be held in Madrid, Spain from October 10-12, 2018. …
January 31, 2018David Murgado joins Thevamaran Lab
Thevamaran Lab welcomes David Murgado, a Master’s student in Engineering Mechanics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. David will be studying the dynamic properties of VACNT foams.
January 2, 2018Thevamaran Lab wins the University of Wisconsin-Madison 2017 Fall Competition
Professor Thevamaran’s research wins a grant through the University of Wisconsin-Madison 2017 Fall Competition. The grant will financially support a graduate student for one year of research.
December 21, 2017- 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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