IIT-M builds nation’s 1st 3D printed structure

The Civil Engineering Department in association with Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions have established the IIT Madras Printability Lab to take this indigenously developed technology to the mass market.

The team is now aiming to develop a platform and a specific process to build a single storey house of 320 sq ft within three days. A prototype printed in IIT Madras would serve as a base foundational model for accelerating research and development and testing.

Professor Koshy Varghese from the Department of Civil Engineering, a key person in the establishment of this research centre, said, “The Building Technology and Construction Management Division at IIT Madras is a unique research group which has the expertise in materials as well as construction technologies which is relevant to this effort.” 

Noting how they have been working on developing 3D printing technology in the area of construction from 2016, he added that the institute was exploring automated construction methods and novel formwork systems for rapid housing construction.

Professor Manu Santhanam, Department of Civil Engineering, said the technology can meet the complex demands of modern architecture with concrete. “The use of a combination of binders and optimally proportioned and sized aggregates, along with suitable chemical additives, the concrete mixture is fine tuned to achieve the characteristics that make it possible for shape retention after placement,” he said.