India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

vic · Post by **vic** » 19 Apr 2011 19:33

Kailash wrote:DRDO develops composite oxygen cylinders for IAF, Army pilots

All these small steps are slowly adding up:-)

wig · Post by **wig** » 25 Apr 2011 19:02

US Firm Signs Pact to Acquire DRDO’S Technology for Explosive Detection Kit

A USA based firm Crowe & Company, LLC has entered into a licensing agreement with DRDO to acquire the technology of Explosive Detection Kit developed by the High Energy Material Research Lab (HEMRL), Pune, one of the constituent laboratories of DRDO. An MoU to the effect was signed by Dr. Subhananda Rao, Director HEMRL on behalf of DRDO, and Ms. Faye Crowe, President, Crowe & Company, LLC, USA here today.

HEMRL has developed the kit for quick detection and identification of explosives that can detect and identify explosives based on any combination of nitro esters, nitramines, trinitrotoluene (TNT), dynamite or black powder. The testing requires only 3 to 5 mg of suspected sample and only 3 or 4 drops of reagents. The explosive detection kit comes packed in a box the size of a vanity case and in miniature vials that can be kept in shirt pockets. It contains reagents capable of detecting explosives, even in extremely small, trace quantities.

Crowe & Company had approached FICCI under DRDO-FICCI, ATAC programme to enter into MoU for licensing agreement with DRDO for the said technology. In the past FICCI has also facilitated a similar kind of licensing agreement for explosive detection kit between DRDO an Indian company, named, Vantage Integrated Security Solutions (P) Ltd. The DRDO – FICCI Accelerated Technology Assessment & Commercialisation (ATAC) programme is a unique initiative that aims for commercialisation of cutting edge technologies developed by various labs of DRDO for civilian applications.

Speaking on the occasion Dr. Prahlada, Distinguished Scientist & Chief Controller R&D (Aeronautics & Services Interaction), DRDO, the key architect of DRDO-FICCI ATAC initiative, said “the ATAC programme has achieved a major milestone with the US Company taking DRDO technology for use by US homeland security and for international markets.” Dr Prahlada further said that the present technology can also be helpful to control illegal trafficking of the explosive materials as it can equally detect and identify explosive materials in the pre- and post-blast scenarios.

Mr S. Sundaresh, Distinguished Scientist & Chief Controller R&D (Armaments & Combat Engg.) stated that the technology is very effective and is in use by Indian security forces and would now help the international community also. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Subhananda Rao, Distinguished Scientist & Director HEMRL, Pune informed that through the explosive detection kit, the security forces can instantly identify the explosive that was used for the detonation in the aftermath of a blast. They just have to take a sample of the residues from the scene of the crime and test it against the chemicals given in the kit. The change in colour tells them if the explosive used is RDX, TNT, PETN or any other chemical. Highlighting the features of the technology Mr S. Radhakrishnan, Director, DIITM, DRDO informed that the present technology is being widely used by the bomb detection squads of the Indian Army, paramilitary and police in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Mr Radhakrishnan further informed that the present licensing agreement with M/s Crowe & Company is a major milestone and it also signifies DRDO solution for a global problem.

Ms Faye Crowe, President of Crowe & Company said that after getting the necessary approvals from the US regulatory institutions they are planning to introduce the explosive detection kit to the US army and US homeland security forces and in other international markets.

http://www.pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Apr 2011 01:12

Did they use the kit to detect what was used in Varanasi blast case which is so far undetermined?

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 26 Apr 2011 06:32

vic wrote:
Kailash wrote:DRDO develops composite oxygen cylinders for IAF, Army pilots
All these small steps are slowly adding up:-)

Admins vic's account has been hacked. This is an imposter making a positive statement!!

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Apr 2011 20:31

X-post....

Rudradev wrote:
Singha wrote:it seems the only country with adequate stocks of 'smart' munitions to wage a strong war for weeks is the khan. they have stockpiled tens of thousands of paveway and jdams for sure and thousands of more costly munitions jsow/jassm/slam etc.

the rest have enough for maybe 2 weeks war usage. and the weapons even if unused are consuming their limited number of takeoff and landing cycles permitted.

its not that India is any better in this regard. I would bet our stocks of PGMs are less than what France UK had. unless we develop Sudarshan and produce them like bata hawai chappals our position will not be comfortable at all -- think of number and density of pak-chinese targets vs the paltry few in Libya ... and on a much much wider area.

within a week IAF would be down to HSLD bombs and low alt release within sam/aa envelope.
Thanks GD for putting your finger directly on the strategic lesson India can derive from this Libya NFZ campaign.

IMHO we will not be building Sudarshans in any great number, for a long time. It simply doesn't fit in with what our doctrine currently appears to be.

We simply do not have the capacity to inflict the sort of aerial punishment against our enemies, that NATO can. We will not have that capacity for decades. There will be no SEAD, no instant sterilization of Paki airspace, no quick and absolute air-dominance while the ground fighting is done by dashing young Baloch rebels embedded with spec-ops cadre. Most likely there will not even be any "strategic bombing" as such... let alone smart munitions, fuel and spares stocks will require us to make every sortie count for the maximum strategic advantage.

IAF as I see it, has four roles in the present doctrine: (1) defence of Indian airspace, (2) interdiction of enemy counterthrusts and supply lines, (3) neutralization of the enemy's long-range strike capability (airbases/missile assets) and (4) CAS for the IA's offensives. Our grunts are the ones who will win the war, or not, by standing on the enemy's soil and killing his sepoys/jihadis mano-a-mano. IAF will only facilitate that.

Accordingly I expect IAF to be very parsimonious with its sparse stocks of PGMs. They will be used only against targets whose priority is very well defined and against which the strike window is limited.

Yes, within a week we will be down to HSLD and dumb bombs and our sorties will be increasingly vulnerable to Paki air defence systems (no chance that we will knock them all out in an initial display of overwhelming shock and awe.)

Within three-four weeks of hostilities, TSPAF may be completely finished. However, I would guess that probably half (or less) of our initial air strength will be serviceable by that point.

And that's as good as IAF being knocked out... because if we keep on losing planes and the Chinese open a new front at that point, we are phugged. Whatever we achieve on the ground will have to be achieved in three weeks, after which the IA in Pakistan cannot count on IAF support.

That is the true cost of facing the spectre of a two-front war. Even if the Chinese don't actually do anything, the mere possibility of their becoming involved places severe constraints on our armed forces that greatly strengthens Paki conventional capability relative to ours.

GD and RD good summary of one situation. However per my calcs IAF in 72 hrs wont have any point targets in TSP and would have delivered a significant amount of ordnance. And I didnt take into account the improvements that Litening type pods give to dumb bombs delivery as shown in the LCA Chitradurg trials.
The bottleneck is the amount of ordnance that the OFB can churn out in advance.

srai · Post by **srai** » 27 Apr 2011 10:49

^^^

If the IAF can budget $100 million per year for the acquisition of air-launched PGMs, then by 2020 IAF would have a pretty substantial PGM inventory.

Code: Select all

Given,
$100 million budget/year

Costs
* $50,000 to $100,000 per low-cost air-launched PGM (i.e. LGBs, JDAM, etc)
* $500,000 to $1 million per stand-off air-launched PGM (i.e. Storm Shadow/Scalp, Taurus, JASSM, etc)

PGM type                                   Budget/year             Price/unit         Quantity/year         Qty in 10 years
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Low-cost air-launched PGM (i.e. LGBs)       $50 million            $50k-$100k         500-1,000 units       5,000-10,000 units
Stand-off air-launched PGM (i.e. Scalp)     $50 million            $500k-$1 mil       50-100 units          500-1,000 units

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 27 Apr 2011 15:28

http://www.dailypioneer.com/329559/Misg ... ities.html
lack of political will..

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 28 Apr 2011 17:13

R&DE(E) organises Golden Jubilee symposium on robotics and autonomous vehicles

Read the last Paragraph

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 28 Apr 2011 19:30

Pipavav Shipyard signs agreement with Babcock to build aircrat carriers.

Pipavav Shipyard today said it has signed an agreement with UK-based Babcock group to jointly build aircraft carriers for the Indian Navy.

"This is an important milestone in Pipavav Shipyard's efforts to become a major player in the Defence sector. This event is likely to eliminate necessity to import large battle ships such as aircraft carrier in the future," the company said in filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

It added "this is the first time in the country that such important co-operation for lead battle ships between a global major and Indian private shipyard has taken place, paving the way for India to be self-sufficient for such vital assets".

However, the filing did not give any details on whether Babcock has picked any stake in Pipavav.

Besides this, the statement said the company will also look for forming joint ventures to build similar lead battle ships for friendly countries.

Babcock group is the UK's leading naval support business and is involved in building next generation aircraft carriers, managing naval bases.

It also does refitting, refuelling and decommissioning of submarines, undertakes maintaining and refitting warships and providing equipment support on behalf of the UK government.

In November, 2010, Pipavav had said it received a licence to build warships for Indian Navy after securing clearances from ministries like home and defence and other related agencies. Subsequently, its proposal was also cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.

As per the approval, Pipavav Shipyard has the licence to build five warships per year, which in effect means that the company can undertake about 20 warships of various capacities at a time, as the normal building time for any front line warship is between three to four years.

According to the company, it is the only shipyard in the private sector with modular construction facilities and a huge dry dock to receive the licence.

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 03 May 2011 08:33

DRDO NSTL gets Computer Numeric Control machine centre

akimalik · Post by **akimalik** » 03 May 2011 09:16

Hi ... does anyone know if we in India are researching something similar?:
http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/Strong ... 44180.html

(p.s. :- Here, a Chinese is leading the development of this material, so how long before we find this in J-XX?)

A Sharma · Post by **A Sharma** » 04 May 2011 05:50

DRDO Technology Focus on Materials Technologies

Kailash · Post by **Kailash** » 04 May 2011 08:55

Union Minister lauds role of naval research lab

jaladipc · Post by **jaladipc** » 06 May 2011 01:29

A Sharma wrote:DRDO Technology Focus on Materials Technologies

And the solid R&D in the development of magnetic fluids has nothing to do with the development of Anti-gravity aircraft

This just confirms that the research has been going on in this tech development for the past 7 years.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 06 May 2011 08:24

Tell us more about Sudarshan LGB. Whats the progress now?

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 06 May 2011 09:22

Essar to supply 13000 tonnes of steel plates to Mazagoan Dock for warship production

The mill is capable of producing plates with a thickness ranging from 5 to 150 mm, width from 900 to 4900 mm and 3 m to 25 m in length – all of which are import- substitution products.

jaladipc · Post by **jaladipc** » 06 May 2011 09:56

^^^^ tests have been proved successful with high degree of accuracy.As well all know that its integration on all front line A/C including AL SEE AAH was conceived after the ones with Jag proved successful.
But the two others that wont see light in public domain will be a couple of new ADM`s meant for all strike A/C including the upcoming Rafales. They will certainly turn out as a big pain in the musharaff for both chinks and TTP as they are two diff designs with different ranges and speeds.The long range high supersonic/hypersonic one will take the cake since it is intended to poke fun at chinks.
will put more details once the chaiwallah comes to have another one by two chai.

Kailash · Post by **Kailash** » 06 May 2011 15:11

Government planning to set Rs 25,000 crore chip-manufacturing units fearing rogue programs in imported chips

KOLKATA: Fearing the possibility of rogue programs getting embedded in imported chips that could compromise security of critical installations, the government is planning to two chip-manufacturing units at an investment topping Rs 25,000 crore.

Right now, there are no chip manufacturing facilities in India and the department of information technology has recently received the Union Cabinet's nod for the project. The facilities will be set up either exclusively by the Defence Research and Development Organisation ( DRDO) and a defence public sector unit or through a public-private partnership.

"Plans include setting up a semiconductor unit (Fab-1) with established technology to support fabrication of chips to meet the requirement of high volume products as well as the requirement of the fab-less design companies on pay-per-use basis. This activity may involve either setting up a plant in India with established technology or acquiring an existing fabrication abroad and its eventual relocation to India. The government support needed for either of the options will be negotiated," a department of information technology statement said on Wednesday.

Fab-2 - the second phase of the project -- will entail a greenfield state-of-the-art semiconductor fabrication unit. This would imply giving equity or grant to an established integrated device manufacturer to set up the unit in India. The amount of equity or grant will also be negotiated with the government, the note said.

India is already a hub for semiconductor design with nearly 2,000 chips being designed every year and more than 20, 000 engineers engaged in chip design and verification -- mostly at the research centres of global semiconductor firms.

Annually, India generates nearly $2 billion in revenues for the chip design services. The semiconductor manufacturing companies abroad are generating revenues to the tune of $ 15 billion from wafer manufacturing based on these designs.

ramdas · Post by **ramdas** » 06 May 2011 19:11

Jaladipc,

1. To what extent are Sudarshan and the new (not to be made public) munitons in production ? The key is suficient production.

2. There was to be a K-15/shourya test in Feb. It did not happen. Are these weapons, Agni III etc being produced in sufficient quantity ? You had mentioned a approx 2000 km anti-ship boost glide missile some time back. How can such things be tested in secret ? Wont we have to issue a NOTAM ?

3. Same qn strikes me when India today says K-4 slbm was secretly tested. Pop-up test is one thing. Full flight test is another.

4. In general, delay in testing K-15 and Agni series (ToI reports a series of tests was to happen in April) worries me. Now, W. Selvamurthy says A-V to be tested in March 2012. Earlier, it was Sep. 2011. Why the repeated delays ? Time is the factor against us,given our strategic circumstances.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 06 May 2011 19:30

No Time is with India. Most likely the delay is due to some new feature.

Jaladipc, Buy that one by two for me.

ramdas · Post by **ramdas** » 06 May 2011 21:01

Ramanaji,

I dont see how time is with us. US is soon leaving Af. PLA in PoK as a bait to justify escalation. How long will it be before a two front situation develops ? With Agni series, the need is to deploy A-III and A-V with sufficiently many user trials with highest urgency. Maybe, they should have tested a 3 stage non-canisterized A-V. What is needed at this point is something that we can produce in enough numbers and rapidly deploy in order to deter.

Otherwise, if we keep playing in the laboratory with new features at every stage, we make a serious military industrial mistake which has caused countries to lose wars in the past.

Rahul.ka · Post by **Rahul.ka** » 06 May 2011 23:59

Hope this link is not posted here.

http://physics.unipune.ernet.in/~despun/

Kailash · Post by **Kailash** » 09 May 2011 14:35

Too early to gauge impact of removal from Entities'' list: DRDO

The US step, Saraswat said, "should help to improve obtaining hi-tech items by us from the US". He, however, was guarded about the move translating into action, saying it is too early to say or gauge its impact because of the licencing process (in the US)." The DRDO chief noted that the legal process in the US mandated that any technology or item that has dual use cannot be given without licences. Observing that almost all the items required by the DRDO are of dual-use nature, he said the US should be liberal in delivering equipment and issuing licences when told that it would not be used for manufacturing of weapons. "When I say I am not using a particular item for weapons of mass destruction or nuclear weapons, then they (the US) should accept that and deliver that (item)," Saraswat said. He explained that many of the items can be used in weapon systems as well as extremely harmless substances like sporting goods. "Whether we use a computing or communication device or a carbon-made tennis racket, they are all dual use items and they all require licences," he said.

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 10 May 2011 04:30

DRDO’s Scientist of the Year award for Guruprasad

As head of R&DE (E), Guruprasad is leading several important development projects in combat engineering, weapon launch systems, advanced composite products, nuclear, biological and chemical protection systems and robotic systems.

SriSri · Post by **SriSri** » 11 May 2011 10:49

Cross posting..
DRDO, ISRO Miliary, ISR Platforms being tested during Indian Army, Air Force Joint Exercises

mikehurst · Post by **mikehurst** » 11 May 2011 11:05

Hello it was suggested that this would be the appropriate forum for my query. The query is with regard to a statistic that is included in a DIPP paper on FDI in private defence industry. Link: http://www.dipp.nic.in/DiscussionPapers ... ay2010.pdf.

Clause 1.2 in this paper is re-produced here for reference:
".....................The defence equipment available today is of old vintage and needs replacement. Only 15% of the equipment can be described as ‘state-of-the-art’ and nearly 50% is suffering from obsolescence........................."

I would like to know what would be the optimum mix of technology in an armed force; i.e. what percentage should be state of the art, what should be adequate so on and so forth. Further are there any comparable figures available for any other armed forces.

Also is this the correct forum to put up a primer to the defence procurement procedure 2008 vintage. If there is a thread dedicated to this or any other area discussing defence offsets, please point me in the general direction.

Regards,
Mike.

Kailash · Post by **Kailash** » 12 May 2011 13:48

DRDO, DAE to enter formal collaboration from 12th Five-Yr Plan

mikehurst · Post by **mikehurst** » 12 May 2011 16:23

So i did not find any other thread exclusively related to "Defence Procurement Procedure": (might not have searched properly) and am therefor assuming this is the site for such discussion. The article below is an in dept look at the administrative and procedural aspects of DPP 2008. [Tried to put it up here, but was too unwieldy. Am providing the link.] http://thenativeopinion.blogspot.com/20 ... -2008.html

Primarily i am looking for feedback and-or comments, as i want to finally write a post on the revised DPP 2011. Would appreciate any feedback on any inaccuracies or information i may have missed out.

Thanks,

Mike.

Viv S · Post by **Viv S** » 12 May 2011 23:29

mikehurst wrote:I would like to know what would be the optimum mix of technology in an armed force; i.e. what percentage should be state of the art, what should be adequate so on and so forth. Further are there any comparable figures available for any other armed forces.

According to Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik, the ideal degree of obsolescence is about 20-25% with another 20-25% of equipment being state-of-the-art, something the IAF is set to achieve by about 2015, while its already the same in 'other air forces' (NATO presumably).

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/i ... dge/167850

^^ Probably about 6 min or so into the interview.

mikehurst · Post by **mikehurst** » 13 May 2011 08:07

Viv S wrote:
mikehurst wrote:I would like to know what would be the optimum mix of technology in an armed force; i.e. what percentage should be state of the art, what should be adequate so on and so forth. Further are there any comparable figures available for any other armed forces.
According to Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik, the ideal degree of obsolescence is about 20-25% with another 20-25% of equipment being state-of-the-art, something the IAF is set to achieve by about 2015, while its already the same in 'other air forces' (NATO presumably).

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/i ... dge/167850

^^ Probably about 6 min or so into the interview.

Thank you sir, was looking for this, i had read this somewhere but could not find the source.

Mike.

karan_mc · Post by **karan_mc** » 13 May 2011 09:05

Indian military capable of detecting any intrusion, says DRDO scientist

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 13 May 2011 09:22

Kailash wrote:DRDO, DAE to enter formal collaboration from 12th Five-Yr Plan

The areas are converging and need the collaboration for national security needs.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 18 May 2011 09:37

Who makes those FAE bombs that DRDO designed and were showed at displays? Are they special filling of the standard OFB hardware?

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 18 May 2011 20:28

Chackoji, WRT to the titanium sponge plant, please find out how many melts they do to process the ingot?

The reason is double vaccum melt is traditional and gives good properties. However since ~2005 triple melt is the standard as it improves metal elongation(by removing any trace impurities) and thus improves fatigue life for a/c components.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 20 May 2011 00:01

DRDO Directors' Conference

Directors' Deliberations
The Defence Minister, Mr AK Antony called upon the DRDO top brass to nurture talent and ensure "fairness at all levels" in order to realise the organisation's goals. "I would like to flag one issue for the top brass of DRDO - paying undivided attention to and effective management of human resources," Mr Antony said while addressing the 35th Directors' Conference of DRDO in New Delhi.
Stressing the need to create a dynamic work environment, Mr AK Antony said, "No amount of technology and financial resources can ever match the vibrancy of human resource. Efficetive HR policies are the key to a dynamic, vibrant and futuristic organisation. I call upon CCR&Ds, Directors and senior scientists in charge of laboratories to lead by example and maintain transparency and fairness at all levels, even in routine administrative matters. DRDO personnel at all levels must be given equal opportunities in matters pertaining to career progression and training."
Mr Antony said though the DRDO has developed "spin-off" products that have greatly benefitted the civil society, it must not lose sight of its prime objectives. "We want to retain and attract the vast pool of talent but the Government's efforts must be backed up by genuine support so that its intentions are translated into reality at the ground level. The onus clearly lies on the top hierarchy of DRDO to create and sustain a creative, positive, vibrant and dynamic work environment where personnel feel motivated to give off their best and, at the same time, their reasonable expectations are fully met," he added.
Lauding the DRDO's indigenous missile development programme, Mr Antony said that the country needs missiles that can reach 5,000 kms and a reliable missile defence system. "India has been able to reach an appreciable level of competence in missile technologies, with a reach capability up to 3,500 kilometres. Now, DRDO is developing Agni missile, with a capacity to reach 5,000 kilometres. DRDO must also speed up the developmental trials and induction of Interceptor Missile for a credible ballistic missile defence," he said. Mr Antony cautioned against delays in vital weapons projects that affected the operational preparedness of the Armed Forces. "Time and cost overruns continue to be a matter of concern. While wholeheartedly appreciating DRDO, I have to give the other side of picture too. I am conveying the concerns of our Armed Forces. Such delays not only invite criticism, but also have an adverse impact on the operational preparedness of our Armed Forces," he said.
The Defence Minister stressed on the need for a partnership between DRDO and the Armed Forces. He added, "It is the collective duty of the Defence Industry, Armed Forces and scientific fraternity to hold regular and healthy interactions among themselves to understand each other's concerns and requirements in a better way... As the technology hub for our Armed Forces and nation, DRDO needs to enhance the frequency of its interaction with all the concerned S&T departments as well as the end user - our Armed Forces. Air Chief used a phrase - 'partner'. It is a correct term. But they (Armed Forces) are partners as well as 'users'.
Pointing out that the unconventional warfare and low-intensity conflicts have emerged as the new threats, the Defence Minister said that the requirement of the soldier deployed in counter-insurgnecy operations and jungle warfare, including his mental health, must be met. "I have recently asked one of the life science laboratories of DRDO to undertake extensive psychological research to optimise the stress profile and enhance the mental health of soldiers. The objective of this exercise is to further reduce the incidents of suicides and fratricides among soldiers. The earlier steps have resulted in a substantial reduction of such incidents and control and management of such aberrations in mental behaviour. Fratricides are, more or less, under control," Mr Antony said.
Addressing the gathering, Mr Satpalji Maharjaj, Chairman, Standing Committee of Parliament on Defence, strongly advocated that the DRDO's budget should be raised to 15 per cent of the defence budget, at par with some of the neighbouring countries. He also supported the DRDO staff's demand to implement the sort of incentives that have been advanced to similar organisations like ISRO.
In his address, Dr Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister said that after the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, the DRDO would take up the design of Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCE) in the financial year 2011-12. The Chief of Air Staff and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Nirmal Verma and the Defence Secretary, Mr Pradeep Kumar also spoke on the occasion.

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 20 May 2011 09:41

ramana wrote:Chackoji, WRT to the titanium sponge plant, please find out how many melts they do to process the ingot?

The reason is double vaccum melt is traditional and gives good properties. However since ~2005 triple melt is the standard as it improves metal elongation(by removing any trace impurities) and thus improves fatigue life for a/c components.

Let me try that.

Goa Shipyard becomes first Defence Shipbuilding Yard to get a Shiplift System

pragnya · Post by **pragnya** » 20 May 2011 20:13

ramana wrote:Chackoji, WRT to the titanium sponge plant, please find out how many melts they do to process the ingot?

The reason is double vaccum melt is traditional and gives good properties. However since ~2005 triple melt is the standard as it improves metal elongation(by removing any trace impurities) and thus improves fatigue life for a/c components.

Ramanaji, this is from the drdo website. since the drdo passes the technology to the production agency this might be the process involved.

don't know if that helps since my own knowledge in this is zero.

Indigenous X-ray Industrial Tomography System

DRDO has developed a state-of-the art technology for the production of titanium sponge, which is the principal raw material for the manufacture of Ti alloys for aerospace and various corrosion resistance applications. Titanium sponge is mainly produced by high temperature magnesio-thermic reduction of titanium tetrachloride, which is prepared by carbo-chlorination of mineral concentrates. Currently, the sponge production is being practiced commercially by only a select group of four or five countries in the world.

The indigenous technology development program involved design and development of various systems and equipment, study and fine tuning of important process parameters, and technology demonstration with adequate consistency and reproducibility of sponge quality involving the following activities of sponge production:

Purification of raw titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) in two packed beds distillation columns for removing dissolved gases, low and high boiling impurities, chlorides to prepare ‘metal grade’ tetrachloride continuously at the rate of 150 kg/h.

Reduction of pure TiCl4 by magnesium metal followed by vacuum separation of titanium sponge to remove entrapped Mg/MgCl2 employing a twin reactor assembly made of stainless steel, and an electrical resistance furnace to produce the metal in a batch size of about 3000 kg of sponge.

Process automation and data logging using a Distributed Control System.
Ejection of titanium sponge cake from the reactor followed by a series of mechanical processing operations for careful gradation and size reduction to prepare homogenous sponge lots suitable for ingot melting.

The technology gap hitherto prevailing in the titanium metal production has been bridged. It would pave the way for setting up of the first commercial plant for titanium sponge production in the country to gainfully exploit the vast titanium mineral reserves.

http://drdo.gov.in/drdo/English/technol ... anium.html

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 20 May 2011 20:39

pragnya, Looks like single melt from the sponge plant. See the bit about twin reactors to remove Mg and MgCl2 impurities and then the electric arc furnace to get the ingot. However down stream processing of the ingot to make an alloy before rolling into bar stock or sheet stock could have further refinement.
You need to alloy the Ti with Aluminium and Vanadium to provide phases which develop the high strength.

3000kg batch is damn good!

karan_mc · Post by **karan_mc** » 21 May 2011 08:26

OFB-DRDO offer Milap carbine to Army

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 21 May 2011 11:24

ramana wrote:pragnya, Looks like single melt from the sponge plant. See the bit about twin reactors to remove Mg and MgCl2 impurities and then the electric arc furnace to get the ingot. However down stream processing of the ingot to make an alloy before rolling into bar stock or sheet stock could have further refinement.
You need to alloy the Ti with Aluminium and Vanadium to provide phases which develop the high strength.

3000kg batch is damn good!

Ramana,

What is your opinion? The single melt process looks good as the three melts?