ISSUE 114 AUTUMN 2024 EARLY CAREERS GROUP EARLY CAREERS GROUP


NEW MEMBER: RAGAVENDRAN


MEENAKSHISUNDARAM (AMRC NORTHWEST)


PROMOTION NEWS: IOANNIS BITHARAS, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR (HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY)


Congratulations to Ioannis Bitharas who has recently been promoted to Assistant Professor at Heriot- Watt University.


Raga is a Technical Lead in laser welding at AMRC Northwest, University of Sheffield. He works on joining technologies for EV batteries and surface engineering.


Raga's laser interests include high- power laser welding, laser surface engineering and materials processing.


Contact: r.meenakshisundaram@ sheffield.ac.uk


Ioannis tells us, "In my research, I study the fundamental physics of laser processing, focusing on the fluid dynamics of the interactions between lasers or plasmas with materials. This is an exciting field of study, as the fluid flows that develop due to such interactions (caused by phenomena such as evaporation, ionisation, jet formation, material ejection, etc.) can carry a wealth of information about the processing technique being employed. However, the fast time, small length scales, and high energy of these events make it challenging to elucidate these dynamics. Through a combination of multiphysics simulations, high- speed microscopy, X-ray radiography and advanced flow visualisation techniques, I have shown that we can overcome these barriers. By applying these tools to study laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), I was the first to visualise the fluid and particle dynamics of the process and demonstrate their importance to defect generation.


I have since shown that flow patterns observable optically in the laser plume are indicative of processing regime and the overall stability of


THE LASER USER


LPBF. I plan to expand my research into a broader range of laser-based processes, spanning from manufacturing to biomedical applications and beyond."


Contact: I.Bitharas@hw.ac.uk


When performance is vital.


TAKE CONTROL OF PRECISION MOTION FOR MEDICAL DEVICE MANUFACTURING.


UK.AEROTECH.COM 10


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