Opportunities and scope of desktop 3D printers in India

Abstract

AM is an advanced manufacturing technology used for fabricating parts in layers, from a CAD file. Various methods and materials have been developed to cater to its expanding applications. AM has seen tremendous growth in the recent past. While growth in the technical aspect is essential for the development of new techniques, growth in the economic aspect provides the need of innovation. With its ever-increasing industrial and personal applications, the 3D printing technology has experienced advancements in both the aspects. Yet its full potential has not been harnessed in developing countries. In this work, it is proposed to optimize the existing desktop 3D printers for developing countries. A market survey was conducted to recognise the lagging areas and the design modifications were made accordingly to produce a compact, efficient and cost-effective personal 3D printer for the respective needs and applications in developing countries. The data collected was relevant to the Indian market. The construction, testing and analysis of the prototype, 3D printer 1.0 and 3D printer 2.0 resulted in reduced cost, high print speed and improved product quality of the produced personal 3D printers, to make it suitable for the Indian market.