Michael Khonsari
Professor, Mechanical Engineering Louisiana State University
- Baton Rouge LA
Dr. Khonsari’s research focuses on tribology, mechanical fatigue, and rotating machinery
Areas of Expertise
Biography
Research Focus
Tribology, Mechanical Fatigue, and Rotating Machinery
Dr. Khonsari’s research focuses on tribology, mechanical fatigue, and rotating machinery—how lubrication, wear, and surface interactions govern reliability and efficiency. He integrates thermodynamics-based tribology, surface characterization and non-destructive testing, modeling, and diagnostics to predict damage, extend component life, and design energy-efficient mechanical systems.
Education
University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D.
Mechanical Engineering
1983
University of Texas at Austin
M.S.
Mechanical Engineering
1979
University of Texas at Austin
B.S.
Mechanical Engineering
1978
Accomplishments
NLGI Ralph Beard Award
2024
from the National Lubricating Grease Institute
NLGI Clarence E. Earle Memorial Award
2020
ASME Mayo D. Hersey Award
2013
from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Media Appearances
Monitoring System Could Save Lubricant, Food Industries Millions Each Year
LSU Innovation News online
2025-03-20
“LSU’s monitoring system could save the grease industry millions of dollars every year,” said LSU Mechanical Engineering Professor Michael Khonsari, co-inventor of the monitoring system. “It is also a very useful training tool for new workers to optimize their product consistency based on the sensor’s output.”
LSU names six as Boyd Professors to honor national and international work
WBRZ-ABC online
2025-09-05
LSU on Friday elevated six people to its Boyd Professorship to recognize national or international achievements in their fields. Until Friday, only 79 previous faculty members were so honored. The Boyd Professorship is named in honor of Thomas and David Boyd, early presidents and faculty members at LSU.
Advanced Manufacturing Game Changer
LSU Media Center online
2021-05-21
“This game-changing work is at the frontiers of science, engineering and education. We are committed to connecting our research discoveries to industry, so they can have real-world impacts,” said Michael Khonsari, the Dow Chemical Endowed Chair in Rotating Machinery in the LSU Department of Mechanical Engineering, who is the project director for the newly established Louisiana Materials Design Alliance, or LAMDA, in his capacity as Associate Commissioner for Research at the Louisiana Board of Regents.
Articles
Friction in Rolling Element Bearings at Ultra-Low Speeds: A Review
Journal of Tribology2025-09-01
This article concisely reviews the salient features of ultra-low-speed operation covering dry (unlubricated) and lubricated with various types of oil, grease, and solid lubricants primarily based on extensive experimental and computational analyses performed by Lovell.
Thermodynamic framework for characterization of flow-induced corrosion
Tribology International2025-08-26
Corrosion-induced material degradation is a significant challenge across various industry sectors. The synergistic interaction of corrosion with other degradation mechanisms like wear, fluid motion, and erosion tends to increase its detrimental effects substantially.
Effect of hydrogen on dynamic precipitation in additively manufactured aluminum alloys: Evidence for HEENT mechanism
Journal of Alloys and Compounds2025-05-10
The influence of hydrogen on the dynamic precipitation and morphology of Si particles in additively manufactured Al-12Si alloys was experimentally and numerically investigated. For the first time, hydrogen was observed to transform Si precipitates from globular to plate-like morphologies, with an increase in yield strength when the hydrogen content exceeds a critical value.
Entropy-based unified theory of failure threshold of degrading systems
Newton2025-05-05
Nearly all energy-dissipating systems degrade as they are used, affecting performance and functionality. The “aging” process has many intertwined features and attributes that render it formidably complex to characterize. The current methodologies for treating this phenomenon are empirically based, fraught with uncertainties, and prone to unexpected failures, often with catastrophic consequences.
A unified thermomechanically-consistent framework for fatigue failure entropy
Mechanics of Materials2025-04-30
This paper aims to develop a cyclic thermo-elastoplastic constitutive model to assess entropy generated due to uniaxial fatigue loading. The study is based on a finite element discretization for repetitive loading/unloading cycles to determine the internal dissipation and associated entropy generation.
Media
