Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions, a start-up started by IIT Madras alumni, has created India’s first 3D-printed home. The structure was printed using a speciality concrete created by the researchers to produce large-scale 3D structures in short periods of time.
According to them, the mix is based on regular portland cement, which has a lower water-cement ratio. Although concrete is the most often utilized material in building projects, it cannot be recycled and needs a significant amount of energy to mix and transport. Thus, the team’s endeavor to harness technology to print the house using standard portland cement can “overcome the problems of conventional building”.
Tvasta has not only produced its own material mix, which is an extrudable concrete composed of cement, sand, geopolymers, and fibers, but it has also established its own manufacturing process and has also built an indigenous concrete 3D printer.
Its first construction, a 600-square-foot single-story home, was erected in 5 days. That must be perplexing to the generation before us who toiled their entire lives to save enough money to purchase a land and build a house.
With the availability of fast-paced mediums such as 3D printing, not only can the housing problem be addressed in a short period of time, but the construction process can be carried out in a far more sustainable manner with the use of such local materials that reduce the need to transport concrete long distances, thereby reducing the environmental impact.
Tvasta’s 3D home project intends to assess the ease with which dwellings may be constructed using concrete printing technology, and understand the cost on a large scale to address the problems of affordable housing in a country like India.
Reference- Tvasta website & PR, Home Grown, Firstpost, The Week, Business Standard