Prior to joining Brown in January 1995, Professor Kumar was a senior staff scientist at Martin Marietta Laboratories in Baltimore, MD. While there, he co-invented a new generation of aluminum-copper-lithium alloys for aerospace cryogenic fuel tank applications. The fuel tank for the Space Shuttle launched on June 2, 1998 was built out of this family of alloys. He received the Outstanding Technical Paper Award at the First and Third International Symposia on Structural Intermetallics in 1993 and 2002, the Maryland Distinguished Young Scientist Award in 1994, participated as a member of National Academies Committee for "Alternative Technologies to Anti-Personnel Landmines" from 1999 to 2001 and was made a Fellow of ASM International in 2003. In 2015, he received the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award.
Professor Kumar's research interests include experimental characterization and analysis of defects, deformation and fracture in structural metals and alloys, and intermetallic and metal-matrix composites. Current research activities focus primarily on various intermetallics, novel high-strength, high-toughness steels, nanocrystalline metals and alloys, and refractory alloys for aerospace and defense applications.
Professor Kumar's research interests include structure-property relationships in structural metals and alloys, intermetallics, metal-matrix composites, physical metallurgy, phase transformations in metallic materials, and deformation behavior. Current research activities focus primarily on intermetallic materials, nanocrystalline metals and alloys, refractory alloys of Molybdenum, and high-strength steels. Professor Kumar has researched the structure of Laves phases in Cr-based alloys and their stability as a function of temperature and composition. In this, he has collaborated with scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory to understand the atomic structure in the core of dislocations and how the local structure may facilitate the motion of dislocations. In the projects on nanocrystalline metals and alloys, he collaborated with faculty members at MIT to understand the deformation mechanisms in these materials by employing in-situ straining techniques in the transmission electron microscope. In the project related to Molybdenum alloys (alloys for the next generation aircraft engine components), strength and crack growth resistance in monotonic and cyclic loading over the temperature range from room temperature to 1400C have been measured and the role of the underlying microstructure on the properties were understood. In addition, dominant deformation mechanisms are being elucidated using a combination of experiments and computations. In yet another project, the basllistic penetration responses of novel high strength steels are being assessed and the evolution of microstructure in the dynamic deformation regime is being characterized using a range of state-of-the-art experimental techniques that include Focussed Ion Beam and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. These techniques enable detailed characterization of microstructure within the narrow adaibatic shear bands and provide evidence for features that were until now hypothesized. More recently he has been using new micro-mechanical testing techniques to characterize the mechanical properties of individual phases in multiphase alloys and has worked with researchers in computational mechanics to model the behavior of complex sheet steels for automotive applications; he is also examining the deformation behavior of metallic materials (shape memory alloys and MP35N) used in medical devices.
Current
Office of Naval Research, 4-year program $375K June 2016 June 2019
NSF (DMR), 3-year program $267K Sept 2017-August 2020
Past Record
At Brown University
Office of Naval Research 3-year program $380K June 2004 June 2007.
Brown Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) member- National Science Foundation - $ 9.3M over 2005 --2011 (total of 19 faculty members; my part: 1 post doc + 1 summer month.
Second Office of Naval Research Program $360K September 2004 - September 2007.
Naval Surface Warfare Center Program $50K September 2005 - September 2006.
Office of Naval Research 3-year program $290K September 2001 May 2004
Defence Advance Research Project Agency $ 180K over 2 years July 2001- July 2003
Office of Naval Research 4 year program $330K total -- 1995-1999.
Office of Naval Research 1996-1999 (with Prof. Clyde Briant) $450K/3 years
Ford Grant 1998 75K "research gift"
At Martin Marietta Laboratories
From Comalco Aluminum, Thomastown, Australia -- $150K/year for 3 years 1985-1988.
From Pratt & Whitney, Florida $150K/1 year, 1989
Three (3) contracts from National Aeronautics and Space Agency- Lewis Research Center (1986-1989) adding up to ~$750K.
From National Aeronautics and Space Agency-Langley Research Center 75K/year for 2 years
Office of Naval Research effort on XD-NiAl for three years for $1.1M (1989-1992)
H. Ghassemi-Armaki, A.C. Leff, M.L. Taheri, J. Dahal, M. Kamarajugadda and K.S. Kumar, “Cyclic Compression Response of Micropillars Extracted from Textured Nanocrystalline NiTi Thin-walled Tubes”, Acta Mater., 136, 134-147 (2017).
A. Schmitt, K.S. Kumar, X. Li, F. Stein, A. Kauffmann and M. Heilmaier, “Creep of binary Fe-Al alloys with ultrafine lamellar microstructures”, Intermetallics, 90, 180-187 (2017).
Y.Y. Yang and K.S. Kumar, “Elastic strain effects on the catalytic response of Pt and Pd thin films deposited on Pd-Zr metallic glass” J. Mater. Res., 32, 2690-2699 (2017).
D. Janda, H. Ghassemi-Armaki, E. Bruder, M. Hockauf, M. Heilmaier and K.S. Kumar, “Effect of Strain Rate on the Deformation Response of D03-Ordered Fe3Al”, Acta Mater., 103, 909-918 (2016).
Yiyi Yang, Tuhina Adit Maark, Andrew Peterson, Sharvan Kumar, "Elastic Strain Effects on Catalysis of a PdCuSi Metallic Glass Thin Film", Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., Royal Society of Chemistry, 17, 1746-1754 (2015).
J. Geng, M.F. Chisholm, R.K. Mishra and K.S. Kumar, “An Electron Microscopy Study of Dislocation Structures in Mg Single Crystals Compressed Along [0001] at Room Temperature”, Philos. Mag., 95, 3910-3932 (2015).
Ankit Srivastava, Hassan Ghassemi-Armaki, Hyokyung Sung, Peng Chen, Sharvan Kumar, Allan F. Bower, “Micromechanics of plastic deformation and phase transformation in a three-phase TRIP-assisted advanced high strength steel: Experiments and Modeling”, J. Mech. Phys. Solids, 78, 46-69 (2015).
M.J.N.V. Prasad, M.W. Reiterer, K.S. Kumar, “Microstructure and Mechanical Behavior of an as-drawn MP35N Alloy Wire”, Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 610 326-337 (2014).
Peng Chen, Hassan Ghassemi-Armaki, Sharvan Kumar, Allan Bower, Shrikant Bhat, Sriram Sadagopan, “Microscale-calibrated modeling of the deformation response of dual-phase steels” Acta Mater., 65, 133-149 (2014).
H. Ghassemi-Armaki, P. Chen, S. Bhat, S. Sadagopan, K.S. Kumar, A.F. Bower “Microscale-Calibrated Modeling of the Deformation Response of Low-Carbon Martensite", Acta Mater., 61, 3640-3652 (2013).
S.-W. Kim, X. Li, H. Gao and K.S. Kumar, “In-situ Observations of Crack Arrest and Bridging by Nanoscale Twins in Copper Thin Films”, Acta Mater., 60, 2959-2972 (2012).
B. Syed, D. Catoor, R. Mishra, and K.S. Kumar, “Coupled Motion of [10-10] Tilt Boundaries in Magnesium Bicrystals”, Philos. Mag., 92, 1499-1522 (2012).
D. Catoor and K.S. Kumar, “Crack-Grain Boundary Interactions in Zinc Bicrystals”, Philos. Mag., 91, 2154-2185 (2011).
P. Jain and K.S. Kumar, “Tensile Creep of Mo-Si-B Alloys”, Acta Mater., 58, 2124-2142 (2010).
D. Catoor and K.S. Kumar, “Crack Growth on the Basal Plane in Single Crystal Zinc: Experiments and Computations”– Philos. Mag., 88, p. 1437-1460 (2008).
K.S. Kumar, L. Reinbold, A.F. Bower and E. Chason, “Plastic Deformation Processes in Cu/Sn Bimetallic Films”, Jour. Mater. Res., 23, p. 2918-2934 (2008).
A.P. Alur and K.S. Kumar, "Monotonic and Cyclic Crack Growth Response of a Mo-Si-B Alloy", Acta Materialia, 54, 385 (2006).
Matthew F. Chisholm, Sharvan Kumar, Peter Hazzledine, "Dislocations in Complex Materials", Science, volume 307, pp. 701-703, 2005. Abstract, full text.
A.P. Alur, N. Chollacoop and K.S. Kumar, "High-temperature Compression Behavior of Mo-Si-B Alloys", Acta Materialia, 52, 5571 (2004)
K.S. Kumar, S. Suresh, M.F. Chisholm, J.A. Horton and P. Wang, "Deformation of Electrodeposited Nanocrystalline Nickel", Acta Mater., 51, 387 (2003).
P. Wang, N. Bhate, K.S. Chan and K.S. Kumar, "Colony Boundary Resistance to Crack Propagation in Lamellar Ti-46Al", Acta Mater. 51, 1573 (2003).
K.S. Kumar, H.S. van Swygenhoven and S. Suresh, "Mechanical Behavior of Nanostructured Metals and Alloys", Acta Materialia, 51, 5743 (2003) - an invited review for the Golden Jubilee Issue.
Year | Degree | Institution |
---|---|---|
1984 | PhD | Drexel University |
1981 | MS | Drexel University |
1. Outstanding Achievement Award, Martin Marietta Laboratories, 1990.
2. Runner-up, Robert Lye Best Technical Paper Award, Martin Marietta Laboratories, 1992.
3. Best Technical Paper, First International Symposium on Structural Intermetallics, Seven Springs, PA, 1993.
4. Maryland Distinguished Young Scientist Award, 1994.
5. Served on the National Academies Committee on "Alternative Technologies to Anti-Personnel Landmine", October 1999 - March 2001.
6. Best Technical Paper, Third International Symposium on Structural Intermetallics, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, April 2002.
7. Fellow of American Society of Materials, Class of 2003.
8. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship Award, 2009.
9. Alexander von Humboldt Research Award, 2015
Name | Title |
---|---|
Bower, Allan | Professor Emeritus of Engineering |
Gao, Huajian | Walter H. Annenberg Professor Emeritus of Engineering |
Kim, Kyung-Suk | Professor of Engineering |
Teaching responsibilities at the undergraduate level includes core courses (example --EN0410) at the sophomore level and upper undergraduate courses in Materials Science and Engineering (EN01440 and EN1480). EN1480 includes physical metallurgy and processing of metals and alloys whereas EN0144 deals with the elastic and plastic response of materials.
At the graduate level, EN2430 deals in detail with defromation behavior, the emphasis in this course being more on underlying theory. A substantial portion of this course is devoted to dislocation theory and a description of dislocations in specific crystal structures. This course is often taken by first and second year graduate students pursuing degrees in Materials Science and Solid Mechanics.
ENGN 0410 - Materials Science |
ENGN 1440 - Mechanical Properties of Materials |
ENGN 1480 - Metallic Materials |
ENGN 2430 - Deformation Behavior of Materials |