Looking for motivated PhD students to explore in the following research directions:

• Micromechanics of pitting corrosion and stress-corrosion-cracking: Pitting corrosion is one of the most critical forms of corrosion because highly localised material loss can trigger premature failure despite limited overall corrosion damage. Yet, the micromechanics governing passive-film evolution, breakdown, and pit growth remain poorly understood, particularly under coupled electrochemical and mechanical conditions. We aim to develop a physics-based continuum framework to understand and predict pitting corrosion by resolving the coupled evolution of electrochemical reactions, mass transport, passive films, and mechanical stresses, from passivation and pit initiation to pit growth and re-passivation. The research will specifically investigate how electrochemical environment and mechanical stress drive passive-film breakdown and control pit evolution, ultimately establishing a predictive framework for long-term corrosion behaviour. This is based on our ongoing study and in collaboration with experimental groups from Materials Science, IIT Bombay.

• Fracture and healing in hydrogels and composites: Fatigue fracture is a major challenge in soft and composite materials, where repeated loading can progressively accumulate damage and lead to failure. Inspired by the remarkable ability of biological materials such as bone to tolerate, repair, and adapt to damage, our research aims to develop a micromechanical understanding of fracture and autonomous healing in hydrogels and composite materials. The research will investigate how microstructure, interfaces, and healing mechanisms interact with crack initiation, propagation, and fatigue damage, and develop physics-based computational models to predict damage accumulation, crack growth, and recovery of mechanical performance. The work will be conducted in collaboration with experimental groups at Université de Lorraine, France, providing opportunities to directly connect modelling with experiments and develop materials with enhanced fatigue resistance through intrinsic and extrinsic healing mechanisms.

• Fracture of composites in extreme thermo-chemical conditions: Extreme environments can induce rapid degradation and fracture through the interaction of thermal gradients, chemical transformations, mechanical stresses, and evolving microstructure. Our research aims to develop a first-principles, thermodynamically consistent framework for fracture of composites under extreme thermo-chemo-mechanical loading, linking material degradation and microstructural evolution to crack initiation, propagation and failure. The research will investigate how heat transfer, thermal expansion, chemical decomposition, phase transformation, and mass loss interact with fracture across multiple length and time scales. Thermal protection systems and ablative composites will be an important application, while the framework will address a broader class of materials subjected to extreme thermal and chemical environments. The work will be carried out in collaboration with Dr Abhinav Gupta, Vanderbilt University, USA.

Many MHRD/DST-funded and IITB-Monash PhD positions are usually available.  Please contact tushar.mandal@iitb.ac.in for funding opportunities.