Sumanth Govindarajan
Designation:
Bio:
I completed my B.E. at NITK Surathkal and joined IISc for my Master's, where I worked on the contact deformation of multilayer hard coatings, which exhibited enhanced toughness. I continued for my Ph.D. at IISc, where I worked on high-temperature wear testing of thin hard TiAlN coatings on IN718. The strong influence of humidity on its wear behaviour was studied and found to be driven by capillary condensation of water. After my PhD, I had a small stint at IIMT Bhuvaneshwar as a research associate, where I worked on Mo-dilicide-doped nano-YSZ self-healing and other TBCs. In 2017, I worked at Cosmic Industrial Laboratories, Bangalore, as the technical lead. I joined NITK in May 2018. I was promoted to a regular grade in 2023. I have been working here on problems related to material degradation, involving wear, tribology, hot corrosion, corrosion and bio-corrosion. In parallel, I work on developing thermal spray coatings to improve the material's resistance to degradation. One of the interesting things I have been able to do is work on failure analysis of real engineering components in close collaboration with local industries.
Professional Experience:
10 years with 8 years at NITK
Contact Details
E-mail:
Academic Background
Academic Backround:
• Ph.D.Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 2017
• M.E. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 2008
• B.E. National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal 2006
Areas of Interest
Areas of Interest:
Material Degradation; Failure Analysis; Thermal Spray; PVD; Material characterization; Hot Corrosion and Erosion
Journals:
Book Chapters:
Supervision of Ph.D
Supervision of Ph.D:
1 Completed
1 Submitted
3 Ongoing
Patents:
Significant Publications
Significant Publications:
Journals
1. Micro-mechanisms of damage nucleation during contact deformation of columnar multilayer nitride coatings. Authors: N. Verma*, S. Cadambi, V. Jayaram and S.K. Biswas Acta Materialia, V-60 2012, 3063 to 3073, DOI:10.1016/j.actamat.2012.02.011
2. Effect of humidity on wear of TiN coatings: Role of capillary condensation. Authors: S. Govindarajan* and V. Jayaram Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, V-49 2018, 6084 to 6092, DOI:10.1007/s11661-018-4935-2
3. Tribological Behaviour of Graphite-Reinforced FeNiCrCuMo High-Entropy Alloy Self-Lubricating Composites for Aircraft Braking Energy Applications. Authors: T.R. Prabhu*, M. Arivarasu, Y. Chodancar, N. Arivazhagan, G. Sumanth and R.K. Mishra Tribology Letters, V-67 2019, 78, DOI: [not found]
4. Failure analysis of cooling tower fan-arm. Authors: B. Padasale*, J.K.R. Kumar, P.R. Sondar, S. Govindarajan and S.R. Hegde Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention, V-20 2020, 1417 to 1425, DOI:10.1007/s11668-020-00947-1
5. Failures Investigation of Marine Propellers in Corrosive Environments. Authors: V.U. Mirashi*, S. Johnson, S.R. Hegde, V. Vijayan and S. Govindarajan Processing and Characterization of Materials: Select Proceedings of CPCM 2020, 2021, 37 to 46, DOI:10.1007/978-981-16-3937-1_4
6. Synergistic effects of iron and hexagonal-Boron Nitride additions in copper-based composites for braking application. Authors: S. Govindarajan*, K. Syamkumar, N. Lamture, S.S. Kale and T. Ram Prabhu Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J: Journal of Engineering Tribology, V-236 2022, 1647 to 1660, DOI: [not found]
7. Determining the solidification characteristics of Manganese bronze (MAB) alloy using computer-aided cooling curve analysis. Authors: S.M. Anas*, S. Johnson, R. Jose, B. Sachin, S. Govindarajan, V. Vijayan and S. Karinka Materials Today: Proceedings, V-52 2022, 2095 to 2101, DOI:10.1016/j.matpr.2021.11.652
8. Failure analysis of a fire water jockey pump shaft. Authors: B. Padasale*, G.S. Kulkarni, J.K.R. Kumar, S. Govindarajan and S.R. Hegde Engineering Failure Analysis, V-142 2022, 106766, DOI: [not found]
9. Hot corrosion behaviour of mullite thermal barrier coatings for marine diesel engines. Authors: K. Syamkumar*, N. Babu, S. Govindarajan and S.B. Arya Ceramics International, V-50 2024, 2808 to 2818, DOI:10.1016/j.ceramint.2023.11.001
10. Hot corrosion behaviour of HVAF coatings deposited on Fe25Cr20Ni support hanger material. Authors: P. Ramanathan*, L. Gandimani, S. Govindarajan and S. Hegde Surface and Coatings Technology, V-478 2024, 130436, DOI:10.1016/j.surfcoat.2024.130436
11. An assessment of coating thickness on the microstructure and mechanical behavior of IN625 coating on Ni-based superalloy substrate deposited by high velocity air fuel technique. Authors: M. Prashanth*, N. Babu, S. Kumari, S.S. Maurya, A.K. Keshri, S. Govindarajan, N.N. Gosvami and A. Bhowmik Journal of Thermal Spray Technology, V-33 2024, 2495 to 2510, DOI: [not found]
12. Effect of humidity and temperature on PVD TiAlN-coating wear. Authors: S. Govindarajan*, B.P. Dasari and V. Jayaram Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, V-56 2025, 387 to 399, DOI:10.1007/s11661-024-07639-7
13. Microstructural, mechanical, and tribological evaluation of HVAF-sprayed inconel 718 coatings. Authors: N.N. Babu*, S. Kumar and S. Govindarajan Journal of Thermal Spray Technology, V-34 2025, 1065 to 1081, DOI:10.1007/s11666-025-01974-w
14. Mechanical and Tribological Properties of High Velocity Air Fuel-Sprayed IN625 and IN718 Coatings. Authors: S. Kumari*, S. Raj, N. Babu, M. Prashanth, S. Junaid, S. Govindarajan, C. Mondal, N.N. Gosvami and A. Bhowmik Journal of Thermal Spray Technology, V-34 2025, 2405 to 2413, DOI: [not found]
15. Green Synthesis of MnMoO4 Nanoparticles Using Salvia hispanica Seed Powder for Electrochemical Urea Sensing and Supercapacitor Applications. Authors: S.I. Aiman*, J.R. Naveen Kumar, M. Rohit, D.R. Basavannavar, B.M. Praveen, K.P. Dhananjay, S. Govindarajan, G. Nagaraju and B.K. Devendra Indian Journal of Science and Technology, V-18 2025, 3863 to 3869, DOI: [not found]
16. High Velocity Air Fuel Spraying for Surface Restoration of Worn-out IN718. Authors: M.P. Sreerag*, V. Abhijith Vijay, N. Babu, S.S. Ali, S. Govindarajan and B. Rajasekaran Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, V-35 2026, 17970 to 17978, DOI:10.1007/s11665-025-12902-y
17. High Temperature Tribological Performance of Stellite-6 Coating Deposited on SS304 Substrate by HVAF Process. Authors: N. Babu*, V. Pavithran, S. Barat, P. Ramanathan and S. Govindarajan Next Research, V-4 2025, 101221, DOI:10.1016/j.nexres.2025.101221
18. Green synthesis of nickel molybdate and its various applications in sensing, supercapacitors and photocatalytic activity. Authors: S.I. Aiman*, J.R. Naveen Kumar, M. Rohit, D.R. Basavannavar, B.M. Praveen, K.P. Dhananjay, S. Govindarajan, B.K. Devendra and G. Nagaraju Chemistry of Inorganic Materials, 2026, 100146, DOI: [not found]
19. Effect of gun traverse speed on tribological properties of HVAF sprayed high entropy alloy coatings. Authors: N. Babu*, S. Kizhuveettil and S. Govindarajan Surface Engineering, V-42 2026, 768 to 784, DOI:10.1177/02670844261439685
20. Experimental and analytical investigation of transient thermal behaviour in mullite and YSZ thermal barrier coatings for IC engines. Authors: K. Syamkumar*, N. Babu, S.B. Arya and S. Govindarajan Next Materials, V-13 2026, 103290, DOI:10.1016/j.nxmate.2026.103290
Funded Projects (Completed):
Achievements
Achievements:
• JEE 2002- AIR 3998
• GATE 2005 (Metallurgy) - AIR 6
