Dr Nguyen Van Ahn

Arc physics, fluid flow, develop novel technologies.
Work position: Lecturer in Additive Manufacture
Category: Academic input

I have been Lecturer (Assistant professor) of Additive Manufacturing (AM) at Cranfield University since August 2021. I obtained my MSc in Welding Engineering from Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam in 2013, and my Ph.D. (2018) in Material Science and Engineering from Osaka University, Japan. My Ph.D. research at Osaka University focuses on applying innovative experimental techniques to track the molten metal flow in the weld pool in keyhole welding.

During my doctoral study, I worked as a part-time researcher for a startup project to develop novel welding technological solutions at Murata Welding Laboratory. I then continued working as the leader of the welding study group at this lab, and, eventually, as the chief technology officer (CTO). My team developed novel hybrid micro TIG-Plasma welding processes and a hybrid arc-plasma–spot welding technique that provides high-quality, reliable welds of thin metal sheets. In addition to being a CTO, I was appointed as the Principal Investigator of an extensive multinational program sponsored by the Vingroup Innovation Foundation (VINIF). This project aims to optimize and automate the welding of ultra-thin metal sheets. Our final product offers some important implementation in manufacturing lithium batteries, automobiles, and integrated-circuit chips.

Currently, my research focuses on developing novel micro-welding/joining and micro-AM technologies using TIG-plasma power sources to replace Laser and Electron Beam AM processes in manufacturing thin and micro parts in fields such as Biotechnology, Aerospace, and Electronical devices. At the same time, I also use high-speed image technologies to diagnose and elucidate the arc physics phenomena, molten pool behavior, and droplet and heat transfer in AM processes.

I am an associate editor of the editorial board of the Science and Technology Welding and Joining Journal, a premier journal in welding, joining, and wire-arc additive manufacturing.

I received several prizes from the American Welding Society, the Japanese government (for our development of novel welding technology/system), the Vietnamese government, Vietnamese welding society.

I have an extensive collaboration network with colleagues at American universities (Yuming Zhang - Kentucky University; Debroy and Tuhin - Pensstate University, Wei Zhang - Ohio State University, Eric MacDonald - Oak Ridge National Laboratory), British universities (Wajira Mirihanage – The University of Manchester, Pham Son Minh - Imperial College London), Japanese universities, Chinese Universities, Vietnamese Universities.