The research project titled Development of Novel Gold and Silver Alloys was sanctioned to Prof G S Vinod Kumar from the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The project was sanctioned by Waman Hari Pethe Sons, a leading Gold/Diamond jewellery manufacturing company based in Maharashtra, with a total outlay of Rupees 17 Lakhs. The tenure of the project is two years, from May 2022 to May 2024.
Prof Vinod Kumar’s research interests mainly revolve around the hardening of 22 carats and 24 carats gold for light-weight and high-strength jewellery and the novel processing of light alloy (Al and Mg) foam and studying the structure and properties. He has been intensely involved in the development of technologies for improving the hardness of 22k gold for weight saving and high strength in the cast and hand-made jewellery. This was jointly patented by SRM and Titan. He also has several industrial research partnerships and funded projects to his credit.
The present project aims to develop novel high carat gold (24,22 and 18 carats) for high-strength and light-weight jewellery applications and novel silver alloys (high pure (99%) or sterling silver (92.5%)) having better anti-tarnishing capability. It further aims to develop colour gold alloys (Black, violet and pink gold). The project also involves both the lab-scale and industrial development of the process for scaling up jewellery production of the gold and silver alloys.