Creating giant rocket components with India’s largest metal 3D printer till date, IIT Hyderabad and DRDO’s joint effort achieves a milestone in large-scale additive manufacturing.
The DRDO-Industry-Academia Centre of Excellence (DIA-CoE) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad has reached a major milestone in large area additive manufacturing (LAAM) systems.
This achievement is the result of a collaborative effort between IIT Hyderabad, DRDO’s Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) in Hyderabad, and industry partners.
The LAAM system recently demonstrated uses Powder-based Directed Energy Deposition (DED) technology for manufacturing rocket components. The indigenously designed machine, with an impressive build volume of 1m x 1m x 3m, ranks as one of India’s largest metal additive manufacturing systems. The process integrates Laser and Blown-Powder Direct Energy Deposition technology, utilising dual heads for enhanced thermal balance and efficiency.
According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), notable achievement in this development is the successful fabrication of a component standing at one metre in height, marking a key step in the creation of large-scale components through additive manufacturing.
Dr Samir V Kamat, Secretary of the Department of Defence R&D and Chairman of DRDO, praised the DIA-CoE at IIT Hyderabad for designing, developing, and demonstrating the LAAM system.
He highlighted that this innovation opens up exciting opportunities for large-scale metal part production, which could drive significant growth and innovation in the field of additive manufacturing across the country.
