Rourkel: The National Institute of Technology-Rourkela (NIT-R) in Odisha has secured a patent for a machine developed by one of its teacher and two students. The machine can be useful in defence, aviation and automobile sectors.
The machine, which can measure and predict the lifespan of composite panels used in construction and manufacturing sectors, has been developed by Prof Subrat Kumar Panda of Mechanical Engineering and BTech students of 2018 batch Souvik Biswas and Chetan Kumar Hirwani. They call the machine ‘Fatigue and Creep Testing Machine for Nonmetallic/Composite Materials’.
According to Prof Panda, the machine provides a platform for estimating the fatigue life-cycle of composite panels. The composite panels consist of multiple layers bonded together to create multilayer sheets, cored laminates, or industrial structural panels. Those are made from a variety of metal, plastic, wood, ceramic, glass, and fibre-based composite materials. They are often used extensively for external walls, internal structures and roof construction on commercial buildings.
“When we use the charger of a mobile, the wire often gets damaged by extensive folding, messing up or using it. Through this machine, one can estimate how many times the folding or bending of the flexible material can be done before it fails. Same way, when composite panels are used in the construction of buildings or anything where bending is a common mode of failure, one can predict the entire product life cycle. It is expected to have wide utilisation in the field of defence, aviation and automobile and allied industries,” TNIE quoted Prof Panda as saying.
Prof Panda and the two students had filed the patent application on behalf of NIT-R in 2018. The patent office of the Central government recently granted its approval under the Patents Act, 1970 for 20 years.
