New laser-based technology for autonomous repair of high value components in defence, aviation sectors

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, February 18

An Indian scientist has developed technology that autonomously repairs and restores high-value components such as moulds, turbine blades and other aerospace components with minimal human intervention. The technology has immense scope in defence and aviation sectors.

Repair techniques being used at present like welding and thermal spraying are ad hoc and do not provide the desired level of accuracy and precision. Moreover, they are manual and the quality of work depends upon the skill of the technician.

The technology, developed by Prof Ramesh Kumar Singh, from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, uses a laser for a high level of process control and is totally autonomous, which ensures repair or restoration with better quality and repeatability.

The technology has undergone validation and testing. “It is expected that this technology will leap-frog the restoration and repair industry to the next level and help in nucleation of a viable cutting-edge laser manufacturing ecosystem,” the Ministry of Science and Technology said in a statement issued today.

The defective component that needs to be repaired is examined autonomously for damage with a laser scanner and special algorithms are used for determining the deposition path. Laser-directed energy deposition (LDED) technique is then used to deposit the required material followed by finishing and automated post-restoration inspection.

The repair and restoration system is robotic and capable of functioning autonomously for all key activities such as scanning, path planning, damage assessment, material deposition, finishing and inspection.

In addition, the process parameters will be obtained from physics-based models to induce favourable residual stress, which is one of the key limitations in restoration. This paves the way for the development of ‘science enabled technology’ solutions, which are not available for restoration of high-value components,” Prof Ramesh Kumar said in a statement.

“The developed technology is very impactful, and a game-changer for the restoration and repair segment of the manufacturing industry and has huge market potential. The components which can be reconditioned via this technology are very high-value. The level of accuracy and precision, which is possible through this technology, is phenomenal and is far ahead of the current state-of-the-art methods,” he added.