National Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Rajalingam A
Multiscale Multiphysics Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras
Rajalingam develops wickless vapor chambers by combining vapor-bubble and condensate-transport strategies. He also studies underwater bubble transport on superhydrophobic surfaces and phase-change phenomena, including condensation frosting and boiling heat transfer.
Education and background
- Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering · IIITDM Kancheepuram, 2024
His doctoral research combined computational fluid dynamics and experiments to design and improve microchannel heat sinks for electronic cooling. He investigated blind holes, micropillars, ribs, secondary inlets, and changes in channel geometry to improve heat transfer, reduce pressure drop, enhance temperature uniformity, and strengthen flow-boiling performance.
Research
Wickless vapor chambers and bubble transport
Rajalingam studies air-bubble transport along submerged superhydrophobic pins and cones. His work combines experiments, analytical force-balance models, and numerical simulations to determine how bubble size, surface geometry, liquid viscosity, and gravity control bubble velocity, deformation, and stable transport. These mechanisms support the development of wickless vapor chambers with directed vapor-bubble and condensate transport.
Condensation frosting
Frost formation begins with condensation and freezing of supercooled droplets, followed by ice propagation across the cold surface. Rajalingam examines how coating chemistry, wettability, and surface texture affect condensation frosting on MOF-based and superhydrophobic surfaces under controlled cooling conditions.
Boiling heat transfer
He investigates pool-boiling enhancement through controlled manipulation of bubble growth and departure from heated surfaces. The work aims to improve nucleate boiling and overall heat-transfer efficiency.
Journal publications
Rajalingam A, Sunghwan Jung, and Pallab Sinha Mahapatra.
Underwater bubble transport on superhydrophobic cylindrical rod
Thomas Jacob, Siddhant Mohapatra, Rajalingam A, Sam Mathew, and Pallab Sinha Mahapatra.
Mixing of a binary passive particle system using smart active particles
Scientific Reports 16, 3174 (2026).
Mrutyunjaya Rath, Krishna Kumari Swain, Atanu Ghosh, Snigdhadev Chakraborty, Agniva Das, Anwesha Freshia, Bipeen Kumar, Debarghya Roy, Rajalingam A, Pallab Sinha Mahapatra, and Basudev Roy.
Metal-nanoparticle assisted simultaneous self-assembly and phase change at air-water interface
Rajalingam A and Shubhankar Chakraborty.
Improvement of uniformity in temperature distribution of a microchannel heat sink with secondary inlet
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 159, 108123 (2024).
Rajalingam A and Shubhankar Chakraborty.
Fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of a microstructured microchannel heat sink under flow boiling condition
Applied Thermal Engineering 248, 123265 (2024).
Aditya Manoj, Goddumarri Vaishnavi Upasana, Rajalingam A, and Shubhankar Chakraborty.
Heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics of a microchannel heat sink with microplates: A critical computational study
Applied Thermal Engineering 226, 120309 (2023).
Haiter Lenin Allasi, Rajalingam A, S. P. Jani, and Sudhakar Uppalapati.
Influence of synthesized (green) cerium oxide nanoparticle with neem (Azadirachta indica) oil biofuel
Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Ethiopia 37(2), 477-490 (2023).
Rajalingam A and Shubhankar Chakraborty.
Microchannel heat sink with microstructured wall: A critical study on fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics
Thermal Science and Engineering Progress 38, 101613 (2023).
Rajalingam A and Shubhankar Chakraborty.
Estimation of the thermohydraulic performance of a microchannel heat sink with gradual and sudden variation of the flow passage
International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 190, 122776 (2022).
Rajalingam A and Shubhankar Chakraborty.
Effect of shape and arrangement of micro-structures in a microchannel heat sink on the thermo-hydraulic performance
Applied Thermal Engineering 190, 116755 (2021).
Rajalingam A and Shubhankar Chakraborty.
Effect of micro-structures in a microchannel heat sink: A comprehensive study
International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 154, 119617 (2020).
Book chapter
Rajalingam A and Pallab Sinha Mahapatra.
Wicking in energy applications
In Wicking of Liquids in Porous Media, pp. 311-350, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis (2026).
Conference contributions
Snigdhadev Chakraborty, Rajalingam A, Pallab Sinha Mahapatra, and Basudev Roy.
Face on oriented confinement and rotation of a hexagonal disk shaped upconverting particle induced by localised heating at a liquid-liquid interface
Nanophotonics XI, Proceedings of SPIE, Volume 14076, Article 1407606, April 12-16, 2026, Strasbourg, France.
Rajalingam A and Pallab Sinha Mahapatra.
Bubble transport on superhydrophobic pins under water
28th International Conference on Mechanical Engineering, Paper INCOM26-274, January 8-10, 2026, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India.
Rajalingam A, Anirudh L, and Pallab Sinha Mahapatra.
Interfacial influence on single and sequential underwater bubble transport
28th National and 6th International ISHMT-ASTFE Heat and Mass Transfer Conference, December 9-12, 2025, IIT Jodhpur.
Rajalingam A and Shubhankar Chakraborty.
Effect of the transverse channel on the performance of microchannel heat sink
27th National and 5th International ISHMT-ASTFE Heat and Mass Transfer Conference, December 14-17, 2023, IIT Patna.
Rajalingam A and Shubhankar Chakraborty.
Securing temperature uniformity in a parallel microchannel heat sink
International Conference on Recent Advances in Fluid Mechanics and Nanoelectronics (ICRAFMN-2023), Manipal Institute of Technology, Bengaluru.
Rajalingam A and Shubhankar Chakraborty.
Effect of microstructures in the flow passage on the flow dynamics of microchannel
9th International and 49th National Conference on Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power, December 14-16, 2022, IIT Roorkee, India.
Rajalingam A and Shubhankar Chakraborty.
Estimation of hydrodynamic performance of microchannel heat sink with microstructures of various size and shapes: A comprehensive study
26th National and 4th International ISHMT-ASTFE Heat and Mass Transfer Conference, December 17-20, 2021, IIT Madras.
Gadi Udaybhanu, Rajalingam A, and Shubhankar Chakraborty.
Computational investigation of the thermohydraulic performance of a flexible heat pipe for various bending angle, filling ratios and materials
26th National and 4th International ISHMT-ASTFE Heat and Mass Transfer Conference, December 17-20, 2021, IIT Madras.
Rajalingam A and Shubhankar Chakraborty.
Effect of various heights of micro-structures in the microchannel heat sink: A comprehensive study
15th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics (HEFAT 2021).