Larsen & Toubro is close to finishing work on India’s first public building in Bengaluru using 3D printing technology, two years after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman opened the nation’s first 3D-printed home on the campus of the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras to promote affordable housing around the Nation.
The structure, a 1,100 square foot post office, is being 3D printed over 45 days for a cost of Rs 23 lakh. The company said that even while the technology reduces building time by 30 to 40 percent, the cost is almost the same.
According to MV Satish, Senior Executive Vice President (buildings) of Larsen & Toubro, “the Technology has been authorised by the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council and the structural design has been accepted by IIT Madras.”
3D Printing: What is it?
Unlike conventional building techniques, 3D printing employs a robotic arm to build layers of a unique concrete mixture that is fed into the device. Special adhesives for rapid drying and other purposes are included in the mixture.
The robotic arm’s pace at which the mixture is funnelled out is mostly controlled by the operator, who sends design information into the device.
According to Satish, printing a building will be just as expensive as using conventional techniques for individual projects.
“Yet, the cost may be greatly reduced by at least 20% when we consider a large number of projects. The main benefit is that we can finish 100,000 square feet in about six months.”
