Dr Minh-Son (Son) Pham

Summary

Dr. Minh-Son Pham is a Senior Lecturer (equiv. to Associate Professor in USA) in the department of Materials. Previously, he was a Research Associate at Carnegie Mellon University and a Guest Researcher at NIST from 2013 to 2015. He obtained a Doctor of Science degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich with distinction - ETH Medal in 2013 for outstanding doctoral thesis. Dr. Pham is the recipient of the TMS's Young Innovator Award for Materials Science of Additive Manufacturing 2024, and delivered a special lecture at TMS 2024. He joined Imperial in Dec. 2015 as a research fellow, was made Lecturer in 2018 and Senior Lecturer in 2021. His groundbreaking research has been published in Nature, Nature Communications. He has delivered > 15 keynote and invited lectures at international conferences (e.g., TMS 2024, Programmable Materials 2020, ICMAT2019, Thermec)

He currently leads a research group of 10 PhD students and 2 postdocs (Dr. Xu and Dr. Liu) to carry out fundamental research in advanced manufacturing (including metal 3D printing), material design, material/mechanical degradation and meta-materials. He establishes strong collaborations with industries across different sectors from aerospace, energy, and medical devices (orthopaedics and atrial fibrillation treatment) to help tackling challenges related to reliability, performance, sustainability and environmental issues in these sectors. He is an active reviewer for a variety of scientific journals (including Nature, Nature Comms, Science Advances, Acta Mat.) and funding bodies (EPSRC, ERC Horizon 2020, Royal Society, Royal Academy of Eng. NSF, DFG). Dr. Pham holds two patents and be a co-founder of a spin-off. Dr. Pham is an associate editor for Journal of Micormechanics and Molecular Physics and a member of editorial board of Metal and Materials International. He is sitting at multiple scientific committees (including London Materials Society, Additive Manufacturing Benchmarking). More additional details about his research can be found at:  Pham personal webpage

He teaches multiple subjects at Imperial: Fracture mechanics, Additive Manufacturing (i.e. 3D printing), Microstructure of Steels and Partial Differential Equations. Dr. Pham is the careers adviser in the department of Materials. Dr. Pham currently coordinates the international exchange programmes in Materials and Nuclear Engineering between Imperial and other world leading universities including MIT, Purdue, EPFL and ETHZ.

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Research:

META-MATERIALS & PROGRAMMABLE MATERIALS: 

Our groundbreaking study "Damage-tolerant architected materials inspired by crystal microstructure, Nature, 565, 305-311 (2019)" presents a transformative approach to combine the science of metals with 3D printing to generate extraordinarily tough and lightweight meta-materials with desired properties, holding great potential for a variety of applications. 

The study has been highlighted by  > 15 media channels (in English, Dutch, Korean): Imperial College's webpage, Physics World, Chemical & Engineering News, Dutch Newspaper NRC, Science News, EurekAlert, Nature Korea, University of Sheffield, & many more

This groundbreaking study was featured in Reuter's most innovative universities

 

We currently work with leading experts in aerospace and personal protection and with medical doctors and surgeons to design novel meta-materials for medical treatments such as atrial fibrillation treatment.

Image source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1016/j.joa.2017.08.001 

 

References:

1. Damage-tolerant architected materials inspired by crystal microstructure, M.S. Pham, C. Liu, I. Todd, J. Lerttharnasarn, Nature, 565, 305-311 (2019)

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ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING (3D PRINTING): 

We used advanced electron microscopy and computational analyses to reveal the underlying mechanism responsible for the microstructure development and mechanical performance in 3D printing of alloys. Our recent study was featured in Nature Communications's Metallurgy Collection. 

References:

1. The role of side-branching in microstructure development in laser powder-bed fusion, MS Pham, B Dovgyy, P Hooper, C. Gourlay, A. Piglione, Nature Communications 11, 749, 2020.
2. In-situ thermography for laser powder bed fusion: effects of layer temperature on porosity, microstructure and mechanical properties, Williams R, Ronneberg T, Piglione A, Jones C, Pham M-S, Davies C, Hooper P, Additive Manufacturing, 30, 100880
3. Damage-tolerant architected materials inspired by crystal microstructure, M.S. Pham, C. Liu, I. Todd, J. Lerttharnasarn, Nature, 565, 305-311 (2019)
4. Epitaxial growth in 316L steel and CoCrFeMnNi high entropy alloy made by powder-bed laser melting, B. Dovgyy, M.S. Pham, 2018
5. Printability and microstructure of the CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy fabricated by laser powder bed fusion, A.Piglione, B.Dovgyy, C.Liu, C.M.Gourlay, P.A.Hooper, M.S.Pham, Materials Letters, 2018
6. Twinning-induced plasticity in austenitic stainless steel 316L made by additive manufacturing, M.S. Pham, B. Dovvgy, P. Hooper, (MSE A, 2017).

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AEROSPACE:

We work with world leading companies in aerospace to understand the creep and fatigue damage of Ti and Ni superalloys to help ensure the safety and performance of aero-engines - the hearts of every aeroplanes.

References:

1. Crystal plasticity analysis of deformation anisotropy of lamellar TiAl alloy: 3D microstructure-based modelling and in-situ micro-compression, L Chen, TEJ Edwards, F Di Gioacchino, WJ Clegg, FPE Dunne, MS Pham, International Journal of Plasticity 119, 344-360
2. Creep deformation mechanisms and CPFE modelling of a nickel-based superalloy, M.Z. Li, M.S. Pham, Z. Peng, G. Tian, B.A. Shollock, MSE A, 2018

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ENERGY (INCLUDING FUSION)

We have studied the mechanical integrity of structures and components in power plants such as thermal fatigue of austenitic stainless steel in primary cooling circuit in nuclear power plants. Led by Dr. Catrin, we currently work with experts in UK Atomic Energy Authority - Culham Centre for Fusion Energy to study the fatigue-creep interaction of critical components, helping to realise future power plants powered by green energy source - fusion.

Image source: CCFE

References:

1. Evolution of dislocation microstructures and internal stresses of AISI 316L during cyclic loading at 293 and 573K, M.S. Pham, S.R. Holdsworth, Metal. and Mat. Trans. A 45 (2014), 2, pp. 738-751, Springer.
2. Microscopic analysis of the influence of ratcheting on the evolution of dislocation structures observed in AISI 316L stainless steel during low cycle fatigue, G. Facheris, M.S. Pham, K.G.F. Janssens & S.R. Holdsworth, MSEA 587 (2013), 1-11, Elsevier
3. Cyclic deformation response of AISI 316L at room temperature: mechanical behaviour, microstructural evolution, physically-based evolutionary constitutive modelling, M.S. Pham, S.R. Holdsworth, K.G.F. Janssens, E. Mazza, Int. J. of Plasticity 47 (2013) 143-164.
4. Role of microstructural condition on fatigue damage development of AISI 316L at 20 and 300°C, M.S. Pham & S.R. Holdsworth, Int. J. Fatigue 51 (2013) 36-48.
5. Dynamic strain ageing of AISI 316L during cyclic loading at 300°C: Mechanism, evolution, and its effects, M.S. Pham & S.R. Holdsworth, MSE A 556 (2012) 122–133.
6. Dislocation structures evolution and its effect on cyclic deformation behavior of AISI 316L steel,M.S. Pham, C. Solenthaler, K.G.F. Janssens & S.R. Holdsworth, MSE A 528 (2011) 3261-3269, Elsevier.

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MULTIAXIAL FORMING FOR CAR BODY COMPONENTS

We collaborate with experts at NIST-NCAL automotive consortium that consists of major car manufacturers and materials providers in USA including General Motors and Ford to support automotive industry in its efforts in reducing the weight of vehicles, hence reducing carbon emissions. Materials in car body in white (image source: https://www.carbodydesign.com/gallery/2018/02/the-new-volvo-v60/13/)

References: 

1. Roles of texture and latent hardening on plastic anisotropy of face-centered-cubic materials during multi-axial loading, M.S. Pham, A. Creuziger, M. Iadicola, T. Foecke, A.D. Rollett (Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids)
2. Forminglimit prediction using a self-consistent crystal plasticity framework: a casestudy for body-centered cubic materials (Modelling and Simulation in MSE, 5, Vol 24, 2016), 2016, Y.G. Jeong, M.S. Pham, M. Iadicola, A. Creuziger. T. Foecke
3. Thermally-activated constitutive model includingdislocation interactions, aging and recovery for strain path dependence of solidsolution strengthened alloys: Application to AA5754, M.S. Pham,M. Iadicola, A. Creuziger, L. Hu and A. D. Rollett, Int. J. Plasticity, December (2015), 75, pp. 226-243.
4. Constitutive Modeling based on Evolutionary Multi-junctionsof Dislocations, M.S. Pham, Anthony D. Rollett, Adam Crueziger,Mark A. Iadicola and Timothy Foecke, Key Engineering Materials, 2014, Vol 611, p1771-1776.

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

More Publications