Research

My research asks a simple question with a difficult answer: what actually happens inside the melt pool during laser powder bed fusion — and how can we measure it? I approach this with multispectral imaging, careful radiometric calibration, and systematic experiments on beam shaping.

In-situ Multispectral Imaging

I develop multispectral imaging (MSI) systems — both off-axial and co-axial to the laser — for in-situ monitoring of PBF-LB/M. By capturing several spectral bands simultaneously, MSI separates temperature from emissivity and yields absolute temperature maps of the melt pool surface, rather than the relative intensity signals of conventional monitoring.

Melt Pool Physics

With calibrated temperature and emissivity maps, melt pool behavior becomes measurable physics: peak temperatures, thermal gradients, keyhole indicators, vapor plume effects, and spatter formation. I study how these thermal signatures correlate with defect formation and final microstructure in materials such as stainless steel 316L, Inconel 718, and Ti-6Al-4V.

Laser Beam Shaping

Beam shaping turns the laser from a fixed Gaussian point source into a design variable. I investigate how ring-shaped, dual-spot, and inverse-designed beam profiles change melt pool temperature distributions and process stability — and how this can be used to control microstructure and increase productivity in PBF-LB/M.