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News: India has strengthened its Additive Manufacturing (AM) ecosystem under National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing.
About Additive Manufacturing (AM)
- Additive Manufacturing(AM) is defined as the technology that constructs a three-dimensional object from a digital 3D model or a CAD model by adding material layer by layer.
- It is commonly known as 3D printing.
- It brings in convergence of computing, electronics, design software and materials science.
- How it works:
- Virtual design: The process begins with a digital design made in a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) file – either modelled from scratch or captured using a 3D scanner or now a days made using AI from mobile phone photos.
- STL file: A STL (Standard Tessellation Language) file represents a 3D model as a collection of triangular surfaces.
- It is one of the commonly used file formats for preparing models for AM.
- This file instructs what to build to the machine.
- Slicing: Slicing software divides this digital model into hundreds or thousands of horizontal layers.
- Once done it instructs machine how to print layer-by-layer.
- Printing: The sliced file is fed into the AM machine, which reads each layer and builds the object step by step.
- Additive Process: An AM object is built by laying down successive layers of material until it takes its final shape.
- Currently, there are 40+ such processes in market and R&D stage.
- Final object: The printer fuses successive layers of material together into a single, complete three-dimensional object.
- Once printed, post processing is done to make it marketable.
- Application: It is increasingly being adopted across sectors such as aerospace, defence, healthcare, electronics and construction.
About National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing (NSAM)
- The National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing was launched as India’s policy framework for developing domestic capabilities in 3D printing and additive manufacturing.
- Released by: It was released by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in 2022.
- It sets clear, time-bound national targets, pursued through Centre-State, industry and academic collaboration.
- Aim: It aims to capture 5% of the global additive manufacturing market and contribute nearly USD 1 billion to India’s GDP.
- Targets: It also envisages to:
- Develop 50 India-specific AM technologies
- Nurture 100 start-ups
- Create 500 new products
- Train 1 lakh skilled workers
- Build capabilities across 10 manufacturing sectors.
About National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing (NSAM) 2.0
- NSAM 2.0: The government is now conceptualizing NSAM 2.0 to accelerate the growth of India’s additive manufacturing market.
- Focus: The proposed next phase will focus on Intellectual Property Rights generation, digital integration, commercialisation of globally competitive technologies and improving the affordability of AM machines and materials through clusters.
- NSAM 2.0 also proposes expanding the AM start-up ecosystem, supporting defence applications and promoting Sustainable Development Goal-driven pilot programmes.
