The Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (MME) is one of the oldest departments of IIT Madras, established in 1959 as Department of Metallurgy at the very inception of the Institute. The Department is actively engaged in research, education and industrial consultancy. It offers B.Tech, M.Tech, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. The Departments teaching, research and consultancy activities cover a broad spectrum of materials science & engineering and industrial metallurgy (metal casting, metal joining, metal forming and materials technology). During the initial stages, the Department received generous support from Germany(erstwhile FRG). The Department developed a unique character at the outset owing to its strong linkages with the industry and the expertise of the faculty in industrial metallurgy. Over the years, the research interests of the faculty have diversified into many areas of materials science & engineering.
The Department has excellent research infrastructure in the broad areas of materials processing (forming, joining, casting, particulate processing, nanostructured materials), characterisation (X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, thermal analysis, scanning probe microscopy), mechanical testing, environmental degradation, surface engineering, and computational materials science.
Education
In the past three academic years (2005 to 2007), the Department has awarded 25 Ph.D., 17 M.S., 58 M.Tech. and 95 B.Tech. degrees, including Dual Degree B.Tech & M.Tech. Continuing education programmes for the industry and academia are conducted on a regular basis, mostly in collaboration with various professional organisations.
Publications
The Departments faculty have the highest annual rate of publication in the Institute. Apart from journal and conference papers, the faculty members have made major contributions by authoring books and monographs, and serving as editors of prestigious national & international publications.
Patents
Three patents have been awarded/filed based on the research by faculty members of the Department in the last three years. A total of 10 patents have been awarded since the Department was started.
Areas of Current Sponsored Projects
Nanostructured and ultrafine materials
Nanostructured oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloys
ultra fine grained high strength aluminium alloys through cryo-rolling and severe plastic deformation
lead-free nanostructured ferroelectric materials
Production of bulk nanostructured materials
Synthesis of nanoparticles
Composite materials
Carbon nanotube based composites
Aluminium matrix composites
Creep, fatigue and fracture
High cycle fatigue of repair welds of AISI 410 stainless steels
Notch creep-rupture life of 718 superalloy
Forming
Superplastic forming with diffusion bonding
Tribology and surface engineering
Wear of Al-TiB2 and Al-TiC in-situ reinforced composites
Boron carbide based coatings on 304L stainless steel
Friction surfaced coatings for wear and corrosion resistance
Sol-gel coating on metals
Biomaterials
Ceramic nano-fibres for biomedical applications
Super-elastic Ni-Ti shape memory alloys for biomedical and dental applications
Porous injectable ceramic bone cements
Biocompatible ferro-fluids
Adhesion mechanisms of barnacles
Nanostructure based multi drug delivery system for hard tissue applications
Modelling
Modelling of microstructural stability and phase transformation in high chromium ferritic steels Intelligent mill set-up model for adaptive and dynamic control of plate mill
Phase field modelling of solidification microstructures
Welding
Microstructure and mechanical properties of beta titanium alloy (15-3) weldments
Solidification processing
National Electromagnetic Levitation Facility
Solidification in aluminium alloys: effect of grain refiners, modifiers, and other alloy addition
Ceramics
Rare-earth stabilised zirconia for thermal barrier coatings
Professional Activities
The faculty and students are active members and, in many cases, office bearers of prominent professional societies such as Indian Institute of Metals, Indian Institute of Welding, Indian Society for Non-destructive Testing, Indian Welding Society, Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs (India), and A Society for Materials International. The Department hosts the local chapters of many of the above organisations.
The Department organises the International Symposium for Research Scholars every two years. This unique series of symposia started as the National Symposium for Research Scholars in 1996, and has become an international series since 2004.
Awards & Honours
The MME faculty members have won many awards and honours. Some of them are listed here. The number of awardees is shown in brackets.