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AC
Editorial Board
Board Member

Dr. B. Sivasubramonian

Professor and Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Formerly Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (ISRO) and Mohandas College of Engineering & Technology

Thiruvananthapuram, India

Also publishes as: B Sivasubramonian · B. Sivasubramonian · Sivasubramonian B

6
Journal papers
44
Publications listed
1995–2016
Publishing span

About

Dr. B. Sivasubramonian spent 37 years at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (ISRO) from 1977, retiring in 2014 as Scientist/Engineer H and Group Director of the Structural Analysis and Testing Group. He worked on the SLV and PSLV programmes and later served as Deputy and Associate Project Director on PSLV, GSLV Mk-III and the Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator, and was Division Head for finite element software development, including the FEAST structural analysis software. He holds a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kerala, an M.Tech in Thermal Science and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering (structures) from IIT Madras, and an MBA from the University of Kerala. After a year as Dr. Brahma Prakash Professor at VSSC he was Professor and Head of Mechanical Engineering at Mohandas College of Engineering & Technology from 2015 to 2023. He has served on DRDO's Armament Research Board, chaired its Armament Design Mechanisms and Ballistics Panel, and is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India).

Research

Areas of interest

  • Structural design, analysis and testing of launch vehicles
  • Finite element analysis and software development for structures (FEAST)
  • Free vibration of curved and stiffened panels with cutouts
  • Dynamic characterisation and load analysis of launch vehicles
  • Fluid–structure interaction and propellant sloshing
  • Structural integrity of solid propellant rocket motor grains
  • Composite structures: overwrapped pressure vessels and woven-composite homogenisation
  • Thermal protection systems and thermal testing of launch-vehicle structures

Education

  1. MBA

    University of Kerala

    2008

  2. Ph.D. — Aerospace Engineering (specialisation in structures)

    IIT Madras

    1998

  3. M.Tech — Mechanical Engineering (Thermal Science)

    IIT Madras

    1982

  4. B.Tech — Mechanical Engineering

    University of Kerala

    1976

Career

  1. Professor and Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering

    Mohandas College of Engineering & Technology, Anad, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

    2015 – 2023

    Led a department of 28 faculty, 6 laboratory staff and 10 technicians, with laboratories for the B.Tech programme including production, thermal, mechanical engineering, metrology, fluid mechanics, IC engines and CAD. Taught thermal engineering, thermodynamics, structural mechanics, manufacturing technology, industrial engineering, marketing management, industrial psychology and organisational behaviour, and life skills. Also served as Academic Dean.

  2. Dr. Brahma Prakash Professor

    Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

    2014 – 2015

  3. Scientist/Engineer H and Group Director, Structural Analysis and Testing Group

    Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

    1977 – 2014

    Career at VSSC/ISRO from Scientist/Engineer on the SLV and PSLV projects through Section Head (Launch Vehicle Design and Engineering), Division Head (Launch Vehicle Design and Analysis; Finite Element software development), Deputy and Associate Project Director on the PSLV, GSLV Mk-III and RLV-TD projects, to Group Director of the Structural Analysis and Testing Group. Superannuated from ISRO on 31 March 2014.

Key achievements

  • 47 years of experience: 39 years in research organisations and industry and 8 years in academia
  • Technology management of high-budget projects and leadership of large teams of scientists and engineers at VSSC/ISRO
  • Structural design and analysis of PSLV systems; design of the GSLV Mk-III vehicle and the Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD)
  • Development of the structural analysis software FEAST; finite element analysis of launch-vehicle structures
  • Structural testing and dynamic characterisation of aerospace hardware; load analysis of launch vehicles across flight regimes; thermal testing of SLV payload structures and thermal protection systems
  • Patent no. 304378: A method of estimating frequency response in vibration testing (with A H Shanavaz and P Balachandran)

Academic leadership & service

  • Member, Armament Research Board, DRDO, New Delhi; Chairman, Armament Design Mechanisms and Ballistics Panel (ADMAB)
  • Member, Lab Research Council, ARDE (DRDO), Pune
  • External guide for Ph.D. scholars at NIT Tiruchirappalli and IIT Bombay; external examiner and expert for Ph.D. at NIT Tiruchirappalli and Kerala Technical University
  • Resource person, Indian National Society for Aerospace and Related Mechanisms, for lectures on the design and development of aerospace systems
  • Convener of the panel generating fastener standards for VSSC/ISRO
  • Chairman or vice-chairman and member of several technical committees on design, analysis, manufacturing and testing, and of purchase, stores, administrative and recruitment committees at VSSC/ISRO
  • Chairman of technical review committees; Professor, Head of Department and Academic Dean

Publications

As listed in the editor's CV, newest first.

  1. 2016

    C K Krishnadasan, T Suthakar & B Sivasubramonian, Finite element analysis of layered composite panel joint with shear pins, National Conference on Recent Developments in Mechanical Engineering (MECHON 2016), Mohandas College of Engineering and Technology, Anad, Thiruvananthapuram, 20 February 2016.

    Nat'l conf.
  2. 2014

    Binny Kuriakose, G Vinod, R Suresh, C K Krishnadasan, B Sivasubramonian & S Somanath, Analysis and design improvement for vibration isolator for launch vehicles, paper 5A2, National Seminar on Aerospace Structures Technologies – Progress and Outlook, Aeronautical Society of India, Thiruvananthapuram Chapter, 13–14 June 2014.

    Nat'l conf.
  3. 2014

    Deepak P, Anil Kumar P V, Sundararajan T & Sivasubramonian B, Development aspects of general purpose, high performance finite element software for structural analysis, paper 4B2, National Seminar on Aerospace Structures Technologies – Progress and Outlook, Aeronautical Society of India, Thiruvananthapuram Chapter, 13–14 June 2014.

    Nat'l conf.
  4. 2014

    Girish Babu P, S Subash, S Rajendran, T Sundararajan, B Sivasubramonian & S Somanath, Structural load analysis and divergence analysis of unguided spinning asymmetric rocket, paper 4B5, National Seminar on Aerospace Structures Technologies – Progress and Outlook, Aeronautical Society of India, Thiruvananthapuram Chapter, 13–14 June 2014.

    Nat'l conf.
  5. 2014

    Rajeev G Nair, B Sivasubramonian & P J Guruprasad, Micromechanical analysis of woven composites using variational asymptotic method, ECCM-16, 16th European Conference on Composite Materials, Seville, Spain, 22–26 June 2014 (communicated).

    Int'l conf.
  6. 2014

    Rajeev G Nair, P J Guruprasad & B Sivasubramonian, Determination of effective thermo-elastic properties using voxel based variational asymptotic method, submitted to ACMFMS 2014, Japan.

    Int'l conf.
  7. 2014

    Rajeev G Nair, P J Guruprasad & B Sivasubramonian, Determination of effective thermal and thermo-elastic properties of woven composites using voxel based variational asymptotic unit cell homogenization method, abstract submitted to ICCM (150701-2784), Copenhagen.

    Int'l conf.
  8. 2013

    R Marimuthu, P V Anil Kumar, T Sundararajan, B Sivasubramonian & S Somanath, Adapting fluid structure interaction (FSI) capability into a subdomain based computational frame, Topical Problems in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Indo-Russian Workshop, 11–15 November 2013, IIT Madras, pp. 410–417.

    Int'l conf.
  9. 2013

    R Mothilal, S Rajendran, T Sundararajan & B Sivasubramonian, A study on slosh due to variants of ring baffles, Proceedings of INCAM-2013, IIT Madras, 4–6 July 2013.

    Conference
  10. 2013

    R Mothilal, S Rajendran, T Sundararajan & B Sivasubramonian, Slosh effect due to helical baffle configuration, International meet, University of Kolkata, 18–21 December 2013 (ISTAM, IIT Kharagpur).

    Int'l conf.
  11. 2013

    T J Raj Thilak, P V Anil Kumar, T Sundararajan & B Sivasubramonian, Issues and solutions in developing a general shell element for structural analysis, Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Aided Engineering, IIT Madras, 19–21 December 2013.

    Int'l conf.
  12. 2013

    Jancy Rose K, Neetha R, Raji R, Sivasubramonian B & Somanath S, Dynamic response of a launch vehicle to strap-on thrust oscillations, Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Aided Engineering, IIT Madras, 19–21 December 2013.

    Int'l conf.

Professional memberships

  • Fellow, Institution of Engineers (India)
  • Life member, Indian National Society for Aerospace and Related Mechanisms
  • Member, Aeronautical Society of India
  • Life member, Astronautical Society of India
  • Life member, Systems Society of India
  • Life member, Indian Society of Systems for Science and Engineering (ISSE)
  • Life member, Society of Aerospace Manufacturing Engineers
  • Senior life member, Indian Institution of Industrial Engineering
  • Life member, Indian Society for Non-Destructive Testing

Talks, events & training

Lectures & expert talks

  • Design, analysis and testing of launch vehicles, for Advanced Systems Laboratory (Hyderabad), ARDE (Pune), DRDO scientists at Thiruvananthapuram and Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology, Kochi
  • Activities of the funding panel of the Armament Research Board, DRDO, at SCT College of Engineering, NIT Tiruchirappalli, Sarabhai Institute of Technology and Mohandas College of Engineering and Technology
  • World Space Week lectures on ISRO at many schools and engineering colleges in and around Thiruvananthapuram
  • Invited lecture on the design and development of airship technology, Institution of Engineers (India) Thiruvananthapuram Chapter and Mohandas College of Engineering and Technology