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I am Sachin P George (2013-2017 batch), I have completed my Mechanical Engineering in KITS. As our chancellor says "We are Chosen by god to study in KITS", and it proves to be very true in my life. I completed my 12th std with a very descent marks and applied to a lot of college but could not clear any of their entrance examination and Karunya Entrance Exam was my final hope....

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The most paramount safety aspect of an automobile is its brake system, which must stop the vehicle and also do so reliably under varying conditions. During a cessation, the kinetic energy of a moving conveyance is converted to heat at the sliding interface of the friction pair. Emission of dust from asbestos during braking causes lung diseases. The raised levels of awareness in health hazards due to asbestos led to non-asbestos friction composites automotive brake disc pads, shoes, linings, blocks, clutch facings, etc.

Micro and Nano fabrication techniques have revolutionized the cooling industries as the micro and nano structures enhances boiling heat transfer of cooling devices in many folds. Also micro structures used as a wick structures which are critical for the smooth operation of passive heat transfer devices such as heat pipes and thermosyphons. Development of such micro and nanostructure with good capillarity lead to the possibilities of miniaturization by improving the performance. The Micro and nano heat transfer Lab of the Department of Mechanical Engineering is a flat form to develop such micro and nano structures, characterize and test the same by applying in to the cooling devices such as heat pipes. This laboratory consists modern facilities to test various kinds of heat pipes, Anodizing, Electro plating and many others. Highly accurate measurement devices such as Drop Shape Analyzer (Surface Energy Measurement), SITA dyno Tester (Surface tension Measurements), HP Agilent data loggers and DC supply from Key sight technologies are available which are actively used by the research students.
Currently two research scholars, two masters and eight under graduates are working in this laboratory. One DST sponsored research project and various consultancy projects are ongoing and through these activities more than 50 referred research papers are published.

Soldiers globally are committed to their duty of protecting the country and therefore superior technologies are essential to protect them. One such essential technology is in the development of Composite Materials. The increasing use of composites and innovations in fabrication has enabled composite components to satisfy the need for military vehicle components. Armoured vehicles have traditionally used steel armour. However, this gives rise to heavy structures that provide logistical problems in transporting the vehicles to a battle site. This major hindrance has led to a major increase in the development of composite armoured vehicles.
The advantages of using composites are enabling weight savings, high payload and fuel efficiency, high performance and speed capability. Since military vehicles are constructed with the protection factor in mind, they are bulky, however composites render them lighter. Composites have an infinite fatigue life and good corrosion resistance in challenging environments. Apart from being used in land combat vehicles, composites are also finding applications in air combat vehicles. Constant pressure for greater fuel efficiency is forcing aircraft manufacturers to find ways to incorporate new materials. Forty years ago, aluminium dominated the aircraft industry. As much as 70% of an aircraft was once made of aluminium. Other new materials such as composites and alloys were also used, including titanium, graphite, and fiberglass, but only in very small quantities – 3% to 7%.
Times have changed. A typical jet built today has, as little as, 20% pure aluminium. Most of the non-critical structural material – panelling and aesthetic interiors – now consist of even lighter-weight carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRPs) and honeycomb materials. Meanwhile, for engine parts and critical components, there is a simultaneous push for lower weight and higher temperature resistance for better fuel efficiency, bringing new materials into the aero material mix. Composite materials represent a growing piece of the aircraft material pie. They reduce weight and increase fuel efficiency while being easy to handle, design, shape, and repair. Once only considered for light structural pieces or cabin components, composites’ aerospace application range now reaches into true functional components – wing and fuselage skins, engines, and landing gear. The mix of materials in aero industry will continue to change in coming years with composites increasingly occupying the space of traditional materials. And it’s all done in the name of reducing the cost; improving fuel economy and making air travel a more cost-effective means of transportation. Being said so much about the advancement in materials technology; it becomes essential for someone to work towards developing new composite materials for the future. In this aspect, the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences have gone leaps and bounds to master this technology. The institution also provides consultancy and testing services for Aluminium based Composite Materials through the Centre for Research in Metallurgy.

Machining operation plays a very important role in the manufacture of products. Huge quantity of cutting fluids are used in metal cutting industries for a variety of reasons such as improving tool life, reducing thermal distortion, lubricating the contact zones, preventing tool galling and seizure, improving surface finish and flushing away chips from the cutting zone etc. Despite the wide recognition of the aforementioned benefits, the negative aspects of cutting fluids become a serious issue for consideration in the recent years.
Cutting fluids are normally petroleum based products and particularly complex due to the wide variety of chemicals that are added to the fluids to improve their physical characteristics and to prolong their usable life. Common additives include biocides, surfactants, and corrosion inhibitors. The types of additives as well as the amount of each additive are generally determined at the plant level. The elevated temperature at the cutting zone during machining process, vaporizes a portion of cutting fluid and produces harmful fumes which cause adverse effects to the workers in the shop floor and causes environmental pollution. Sometimes, the cutting fluid may be applied in the cutting zone in the form of mist. People exposed to large quantities of cutting fluids may have skin contact and they may inhale or swallow the mist particles of cutting fluid. The additives present in the petroleum based cutting fluids may cause the following diseases.
Water-based fluids are subject to high levels of microbial contamination, including endotoxin-producing gram-negative bacteria, and the inhalation of endotoxin has been hypothesized to exert a protective effect against lung cancer. Skin disorders are common acute health effects from exposure to cutting fluids. Cutting fluids cause both allergic and irritant contact dermatitis. They often cause a cumulative insult type of irritant contact dermatitis. The problems associated with cutting fluids can be completely avoided by using dry machining. But it is very difficult to implement on the existing shop floor as it needs extremely rigid machine tools and ultra hard cutting tools. In order to alleviate the above-mentioned negative effects of cutting fluids, machining with minimal Cutting Fluid Application (MCFA) has been evolved. In minimal cutting fluid application, extremely small quantities (2 – 10 ml / min) of cutting fluid is injected in the form of ultra fine droplets at very high velocity (about 100 m/s) into the cutting zone which is also called as pseudo dry turning. For all practical purposes it resembles dry turning in achieving improved surface finish, lower tool wear by maintaining cutting forces and power at reasonable levels. In this aspect, the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences provides excellent infrastructure and efficient faculty expertise through consultancy and testing in the areas of design and manufacturing namely, green manufacturing, damping of vibration through smart materials, optimization of machining parameters, analysis on tribological properties, fabrication and machining of composites. It also offers post graduate degree programme in collaboration with Central Manufacturing Technology Institute, Bangalore.