The Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), Ropar, has set up a cold spray laboratory (facility for additive manufacturing) in collaboration with General Electric (GE), an American multinational conglomerate.
Dean and principal investigator, Harpreet Singh, said, “The facility at the mechanical engineering department of the institute is operational and it will use high-pressure cold spray technology.”
He said the facility was funded under Uchchatar Avishkar Yojna (UAY) and Fund for Improvement of Science and Technology Infrastructure in Universities and Higher Educational Institutions (FIST).
The facility has the capability to provide working pressure of more than 50 bar at 1,000 degrees Celsius for repair, refurbishment and component manufacturing for several advanced applications in power generation, aerospace, automobile, bio-medical, textile and processing industries.
“Cold spray is an eco-friendly technology with high production rate,” the professor said.
The facility will be an enabler and support for scientists, academicians and industrialists of the country, he added.
Mariasundaram Antony, general manager, GE Power, said, “We are excited to see the depth of basic research at IIT Ropar that connects academic research with direct industrial applications.”
“This project aligns well with the Government of India’s initiatives such as Make in India and Skill India,” he said.
Narinder Singh, co-investigator for the facility, said, “This smart technology has application temperatures that are much lower than the other thermal-spray and welding processes, which leads to a longer asset life.”
Harpreet Singh Arora and Harpreet Singh Grewal from Shiv Nadar University, Noida,will also be a part of the project as co-investigators.
