Naresh N. Thadhani Professor and Associate Chair Georgia Institute of Technology Materials Science and Engineering 771 Ferst Drive, N.W. Atlanta, GA 30332-0245 Office:  Love Bldg., Room 166 Phone: 404.894.2651  |   Fax: 404.894.9140 naresh.thadhani@mse.gatech.edu www.hsrlab.gatech.edu B.E. Metallurgical Engineering, 1980, University of Rajasthan, India M.S. Metallurgical Engineering, 1981, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Ph.D. Physical Metallurgy, 1984, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Dr. Thadhani is Professor and Associate Chair in the School of Materials Science and Engineering. He also holds a joint appointment in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. Research Interests Synthesis, processing, and fabrication of bulk nanocrystalline, metastable, and non-equilibrium alloys, ceramics, and composites with unique structural, energetic, magnetic, and thermoelectric properties through dynamic powder consolidation, and shock-induced phase transformations and chemical reactions High-strain-rate deformation and failure studies through time-resolved impact experiments using gas-gun and laser launching devices, in-situ measurements, and computational simulations in metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites Design, fabrication, and impact studies of energy-releasing and energy-absorbing metallic, ceramic, polymeric, and composite materials After completing two years of postdoctoral research at Caltech, Dr. Thadhani spent 6 years at his alma mater at New Mexico Tech, where he managed the new-materials programs in the Center for Explosives Technology Research. He joined the faculty in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech in September, 1992, where he is involved in research and teaching in high-pressure shock-induced phase transformations, high-strain-rate mechanical properties, deformation and strengthening mechanisms, and processing of nanocrystalline and metastable materials with structural, energetic, and functional properties. He uses impact -generated high-pressure shock-compression, in addition to self-sustaining combustion processes and solid-state mechanical alloying techniques for materials synthesis via chemical reactions and/or phase transformations.  He has developed a state-of-the-art high-strain-rate laboratory which includes an 80-mm diameter single-stage gas-gun to perform impact experiments at velocities of 100 to 1100 m/s with instrumentation to monitor shock-initiated events with nanosecond resolution employing piezoelectric and piezoresistive stress gauges, velocity interferometry, and high-speed digital imaging, combined with the ability to recover impacted materials for post-mortem microstructural characterization and determination of other properties. He has built computational capabilities employing continuum simulations for design of experiments and development and validation of constitutive equations, as well as for discrete particle numerical analysis (using CTH and ALE3D codes) to determine the effects observed during shock compression of heterogeneous materials. He is building a laser facility for accelerating thin foils for impact experiments on nano-particle layers, thin films, coatings, and soft materials. His current research projects include (a) dynamic shock consolidation of powders for fabrication of bulk nanocomposite permanent magnets with high energy products; (b) design, processing, characterization and evaluation of structural energetic materials (based on intermetallics, ceramics, thermites, and polymer-composites) and including determining their pressure-volume compressibility characteristics and constitutive mechanochemical behaviro; (c) shock processing and high strain rate mechanical properties of bulk metallic glasses and their composites; and (d) development and validation of constitutive models for high-strain-rate mechanical property characterization of tantalum and other bcc metals. Dr. Thadhani’s research group includes two post-doctoral fellows, eight graduate students, and six undergraduate students. He has graduated more than 20 Ph.D. and M.S. students, who are working in DoE and DoD national laboratories, universities, and industries. Dr. Thadhani is a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) and ASM International, recipient of a number of awards, and author of more than two hundred publications in journals and proceedings, including several authoritative reviews and book articles. He is the Associate Editor of Shock Waves: An International Journal, Key Reader for Metallurgical and Materials Transactions, past chairman of Joint ASM/TMS commission of this journal, Past Chair of the APS-SCCM Awards committee, and Past President of the Alpha Sigma Mu, Materials Honor Society. He has served as a consultant for various industries and government agencies, and has been on advisory boards and organizing committees for a number of international conferences. Selected Publications N.N. Thadhani, "Shock-induced Chemical Reactions and Synthesis of Materials," Progress in Materials Science, Vol. 27 (2), pp. 117-226, 1993. N.N. Thadhani, "Mechanisms of Shock-Assisted and Shock-Induced Chemical Reactions in Elemental Powder Mixtures," J. of Applied Physics, Vol. 76 (4), pp. 2129 -2138, 1994. N.N. Thadhani, R.A. Graham, T. Royal, E. Dunbar, M.U. Anderson, and G.T. Holman, Shock-induced Chemical Reactions in Ti-Si Powder Mixtures: Time-Resolved Pressure Measurements and Materials Analysis, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 82 (3), (1997) pp. 1113-1128. T. Chen, J. Hampikian, and N.N. Thadhani, Synthesis, Microstructure, and Properties of Shock Compacted Nanocrystalline NiAl alloy, Acta Materilia, Vol. 47, No. 8, pp. 2567-2579, 1999. P.J. Counihan, A. Crawford, and N.N. Thadhani, Influence of Dynamic Densification on Nanostructure Formation in Ti5Si3 Intermetallic and Its Properties, Mater. Science and Engg , A267, pp. 26-35, 1999. K.V. Vandersall and N.N. Thadhani, “Time-Resolved Measurements of the shock-compression response of Mo+2Si Elemental Powder Mixtures,” Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 94, No. 3 (2003) pp. 1575-1583. Xiao Xu and Naresh N. Thadhani, “Investigation of shock-induced reaction behavior of as-blended and ball-milled Ni+Ti powder mixtures using time-resolved stress measurements ,” Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 96(4); 2004, pp. 2000-2009. Z.Q. Jin, K.H. Chen, J. Li, H. Zeng, S-F. Cheng, J.P. Liu, Z.L. Wang, N.N. Thadhani, “Shock compression response of magnetic nanocomposite powders,” ACTA MATER. 52: (8) 2147-2154 2004 R.W. Armstrong, L. Ferranti, and N.N. Thadhani, “Elastic/plastic/cracking indentation of hard Materials, International Journal of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials, Vol. 24, Issue 1-2, 2006, pp. 11-16. D. Eakins, N.N. Thadhani, Instrumented Anvil-On-Rod Impact Tests for Validating Applicability of Standard Strength Models to Transient Deformation States, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 100, No. 7, 2006, pp. 073503-1-8. M. Martin, N.N. Thadhani, L. Kecskes, and R. Dowding, Instrumented anvil-on-rod impact testing of BMG composite for constitutive model validation, Scripta Materilia, Vol. 55 (2006); pp. 1019-1022. D. Eakins and N.N. Thadhani, “Shock-Induced Reaction In A Flake Nickel + Spherical Aluminum Powder Mixture”, Journal of Applied Physics, V. 100, No. 11, 2006, pp. 113521-25. D. Eakins and N.N. Thadhani, “Discrete Particle Simulation of Shock Wave Propagation in a Binary Ni+Al Powder Mixture”, Journal of Applied Physics, 2007, Vol. 101 (200) 043508-18. C. Dai, D. Eakins, and N.N. Thadhani, “Shock compression Hugoniot of nano-particles of iron,” Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 90, No. 7, 2007, pp. 71911-1-3. M. Martin, T. Sekine, T. Kobayashi, L. Kecskes, and N.N. Thadhani, High Pressure Equation of State of a Zirconium-Based Bulk Metallic Glass, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions, Vol. 38A(11), (2007), pp. 2689-2696. L. Ferranti and N.N. Thadhani, “Dynamic Mechanical Behavior Characterization of Epoxy -Cast Al+Fe2O3 Thermite Mixtures,” Metallurgical and Materials Transactions, Vol. 38A(11), (2007), pp. 2697-2715. Return to top