WITH the help of the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, a Hyderabad-based deep-tech startup,Simpli forge Creations,has built the world’s first on-site 3D printed bunker in Leh for military use. Project Prabalenvisages military bunkersindifferentconfigurations in remote locations at higher altitudes, said Professor K V L Subramaniam of IIT-Hyderabad, under whose guidance the project was conceptualised.

 

“The demonstration project that we did is located in Leh, at an altitude of 11,000 feet above sea level, and we completed the construction under what is called HALO conditions – high altitude and low oxygen,” Subramaniam told PTI. According to him, thanks to a lot of planning, they managed to achieve the project in under two weeks,including the transportation of the printer to the remote spot. “The location was highly inhospitable, where we had to function at 40 to 50 per cent oxygen levels. Lack of oxygen meant both man and machine had to perform at lower efficiency levels,” said the professor.

 

The team is also behind the world’s first 3D-printed temple inside Charvitha Meadows, a gated villa community at Burugupalli inSiddipet,Telangana.Butthemilitary project took several attempts before they could perfect the concrete mix required for high-altitude printing, added Subramaniam. “We tried to simulatetheconditionsprevalentinthe chosen location to get the mix right,” said the professor. As it was a defence construction, they were also required to design a specially geometric-patterned façade,which would minimise the ricochet of bullets, said Subramaniam. “We created undulations on the surface,which,incidentally,ispossibleonlywith3Dprinting—sothat bullets would not bounce off the structure,” he added. “It’s a monumental leap for defence infrastructure and construction technology,” said Dhruv Gandhi, CEO of Simpliforge Creations,whichwillnowberolling out several bunkers in different configurations using the proven design and technology for the Indian Army.