Three alumni of IIT Madras in the year 2016 founded a deep tech startup named. This company has now constructed India’s first 3D Printed house. The single storey house is equipped with all modern amenities, a single bedroom, a kitchen and a hall. It has a built up area of around 600 square feet.
Video Credits: Tvasta, YouTube
The entire process took approximately 21 days to be printed due to Covid 19 related restrictions. The company is capable of printing such structures in just about 5 days.
Adithya VS, who is the CEO of Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions while speaking to The Better India, said that, “Tvasta’s 3D Printing technology is built to bring digital technological advantages to the realm of construction. The focus is to make the process available to all sections of the construction industry, including affordable housing and large-scale infrastructure building. The reduction in overall time required for construction involves an order of magnitude change. What would require months to build can be built in days.”
He added that, “Currently, the capability is to print the superstructure of a house that would require 4 to 5 months to build conventionally in about 5 days. The technology has also been designed in such a way that it is sustainable and green. The material used contains industrial waste and recycled material. This reduces the overall carbon footprint of the structure during construction.”
The house was developed in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity’s Terwillinger Center for Innovation in Shelter. The main aim behind building this structure was to showcase the research, development and manufacturing capabilities that are available in India.
The ‘Concrete 3D Printing’ technology provides a lot of advantages such as reduction in the cost of construction, reducing the carbon footprint, utilizing materials that are eco friendly and many more.
The houses that are built using 3D printing technology can be customised according to the geographical and climatic conditions exclusive to a particular area. Due to this, additional costs such as cooling are reduced. This also makes sure that overall energy consumption by the house is reduced.
While speaking about the advantages of Concrete 3D Printing Adithya VS said, “The cost reduction is achieved by increasing the productivity of workers who are involved in the construction process. A structure that would take months to build can be done in a matter of a few days; this contributes to tremendous savings on the time and cost of capital.”
He also added that, “There is also a saving on the amount of material used as 3D Printing reduces wastage and the total amount of material required to build a structure. The saving on time is primarily brought in by the employment of robotics and automation technologies.”
The material that was used for the construction of this structure is a proprietary 3D Printable Mix that was developed by the company. Other than this, natural materials such as mud can also be used for construction. In the future, according to Adithya, the company is aiming to introduce green materials into the construction sector.
The ‘Concrete 3D Printing’ technology is an automated manufacturing method by Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions. The technology is developed completely indigenously. The structure is planned to be used as a conference centre at the IIT Madras.
