Thavamani A

Research Scholar

PMRF Candidate - Lateral Entry 2020

Civil Engineering (Transportation Engineering)

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur

Mail: thavam@iitkgp.ac.in/thavamanisalur@gmail.com

Mobile: +91-9629398568

About

I am currently pursuing Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Kranthi Kumar Kuna at Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. I completed Master of Engineering in Transportation Engineering in 2019 at College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University, Chennai. My research interests are sustainable pavement materials, analysis and design of pavements, and pavement management systems.

Research area

The ever-increasing trend in transportation sector results in higher utilization of non-renewable material resources, and it made researchers to seek for sustainable solutions. Consequently, a lot of attention was paid on biomass derived materials. In line with this some researchers investigated the possibility of adding industrial bio-waste products such as lignin from bioethanol plants and Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL) to bitumen.

Lignin is a natural polymer that binds the fibre in lignocellulosic plants. The second-generation bio-ethanol industries produce lot of waste containing lignin and lignin derivatives. Furthermore, recently, the Government of India has announced to increase the production of bio-ethanol to overcome the problems of higher emission and sustainability issues associated with petroleum products. So, this will increase the production of waste containing lignin and lignin derivatives. But, in general, these lignin containing residues are being burnt to power the industrial plant.

On the other hand, Cashew nut shell is a low-value product available in large quantities in the cashew nut processing industries, and it has the honey comb structure which contains CNSL. India is one of the largest producers of cashew nuts in the world. The CNSL is reported to be 15-20% by weight of the unshelled nut in Africa, 25-30% in India and 25% overall. Researchers have reported that the utilization of lignin and CNSL improved the ageing resistance and other performances of bitumen. Thus, the modification of bitumen using industrial byproducts is possible, and it is worth studying the effect of byproducts on bitumen on micro and macro scales. Also, the utilization of industrial byproducts will benefit both bio-ethanol/cashew industries and pavement industry thereby it could create a lot of economic opportunities.


Thesis title - "Performance Evaluation of Bio-Modified Bitumen Using Bio-Ethanol Residues and Cashew Nut Shell Liquid".


The broad objective of the thesis is to evaluate the physical, chemical, thermal, and rheological performance of bio-modified bitumen and to suggest the best one for use.

Courses completed during Ph.D.

  • Pavement Materials (CE69007)

  • Analysis and Design of Pavements (CE60012)

  • Applied Multivariate Statistical Modelling – I (IM60061)

  • Transportation Engineering Lab I (CE69007)

  • Transportation Engineering Lab II (CE69006)

  • English for Technical Writing (HS 63002)