New technology can autonomously repair & restore high-value components such as moulds, turbine blades & aerospace components

What is the news?

An Indian Scientist has developed a completely autonomous technology for the repair and restoration of high-value components such as moulds, turbine blades, and other aerospace components that require minimal human intervention.

About existing repair techniques for high-value components

The existing repair techniques like welding and thermal spraying are ad hoc and do not provide accuracy and precision. Moreover, all the existing technologies are manual, and the quality of repair depends upon the skill set of the person.

What is the new repair technique for high-value components?

The new technique uses a laser for excellent process control and is completely autonomous with minimal to zero human intervention.

With the help of the technology, the defective component which requires repair will be scanned autonomously for damage detection via a laser scanner. Then the deposition path will be determined based on certain algorithms. The laser-directed energy deposition (LDED) technique will be used to deposit the material. This is followed by finishing and automated inspection of the restored product.

The developed system consists of a robotic restoration system and is designed to function autonomously for all key activities, namely, scanning path planning, damage detection, deposition, finishing, and inspection. This ensures restoration with enhanced quality and repeatability.

The technology developed with support from the Advanced Manufacturing Technologies Program of the Department of Science & Technology.

What is the potential of new repair technique for high-value components?

1) This new technology is very impactful, and a game-changer for the restoration and repair segment of the manufacturing industry and has huge market potential, 2) The level of accuracy and precision, which is possible through this technology, is far ahead of the current state-of-the-art methods.

Hence, it is expected that this technology will leap-frog the restoration and repair industry to the next level and help in the nucleation of a viable cutting-edge laser manufacturing ecosystem for Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Source: This post is based on the article “New technology can autonomously repair & restore high-value components such as moulds, turbine blades & aerospace components” published in PIB on 18th February 2022.