Indian Army’s first 3D printed houses built by Military Engineering Services (MES) in collaboration with the Chennai-based start-up Tvasta was inaugurated at the south-Western Air Command, Gandhinagar on 13th March. The construction of houses is designed using software and printed using 3-D rapid construction technology. The construction of two houses measuring 700 square feet built-up area was completed in just 21 days by MES.
Using this technology, a new house can be built in five days against four or five months in conventional mode, the start-up claimed. Concrete 3-D printing is an automated manufacturing method for constructing three-dimensional real-life structures. The technique utilizes a concrete 3D printer that accepts a computerized three-dimensional design file from the user and fabricates a 3-D structure in a layer-by-layer manner by extruding a specialized type of concrete specifically designed for the purpose.
These houses are symbolic of the modern-day rapid construction efforts in serving the national interests by way of catering faster to the growing married accommodation requirements of the Indian Armed Forces, officials said in a press release. “These structures also stand testament for the solidarity of the Indian Armed Forces in fostering home-grown technologies that are focused on indigenization of Defense technologies, as a part of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat,” the statement read.
The MES recently also constructed India’s first 3-D printed sanitary blocks with a total built area of about 600 square feet at Jaisalmer, marking a new beginning for the possibilities of construction 3D printing in defence applications.
The Engineer-In-Chief of Indian Army Lt Gen Harpal Singh said that adaptation of rapid construction technologies was the need of the hour and saw an effective solution in 3-D concrete printing, which can be effectively adapted within available spaces to meet the minimal urgent requirements of such housing.
The disaster-resilient structures comply with Zone-3 earthquake specifications. The defence services said that the 3-D printed houses are symbolic of the modern-day rapid construction efforts to cater faster to the growing accommodation requirements of the Indian Armed Forces.
Team BharatShakti
