Victor Pacheco

I studied Materials Engineering at Universidad Simon Bolivar (USB) in Venezuela and obtained my degree in March 2012. Afterwards, I joined the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Programme in Materials Science and Engineering (AMASE). I spent the first year of my master at Luleå University of Technology (LTU) in Sweden and the second year at Saarland University (UdS) in Germany. During my master thesis I worked at the Chair of Metallic Materials (LMW) in Saarland University. The main objective of my master thesis project was the composition optimization and characterization of a novel Bulk Metallic Glass Forming alloy.

My research project in the Swedish Graduate School for Neutron Scattering aims at providing a better understanding of the relationship between structure and properties in additive manufacturing (AM). Additive manufacturing (commonly known as 3D printing) represents a disruptive technology that will dramatically transform the manner in which metallic components are produced, mostly in industries where components complexity, customization and small series production play a major role. However, in order to use AM full potential, the link between processing parameters, structure and properties must be fully understood.

Alloys from the Inconel family, high entropy alloys and amorphous metals, among other novel alloys will be investigated. Characterization techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy and specially, the combination of neutron and X-ray diffraction will be used. Neutron scattering is an ideal characterization technique to study AM components, because parts can be probed deeper than with other methods and in a non-destructive manner. Techniques, such as neutron diffraction measurements, atomic pair density correlation function (to investigate local structural arrangements), polarized neutrons (to study order/disorder) and imaging (to investigate microstructure and porosity) will be employed.