New Glass Bricks Produced with 3D Printing Technology: Lego-like Connections for Easy Recycling
Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed 3D-printed glass bricks that boast strength comparable to concrete, as reported by New Atlas on September 20. Evenline, a company spun out of MIT, has created a specialized 3D printer capable of using molten glass as raw material.
Glass bricks shaped like the number eight, suitable for curved structures. (Photo: Ethan Townsend).
During the brick printing process, Michael Stern, the founder of Evenline, and his colleagues utilized soda-lime glass, a material commonly used in most glassblowing studios. According to the engineering team, the glass bricks feature an eight-shaped design, ideal for curved structures. They also have two small connectors at the bottom to link together like Lego blocks.
After printing the bricks, the engineering team placed them in an industrial hydraulic press to test their load-bearing capacity. The results showed that the glass bricks are nearly as durable as concrete blocks. The multi-layered structure and the connection features at the base enhance their strength. The research team even constructed a small wall using the bricks to validate their findings. The study detailing the development and testing of the glass bricks has been published in the journal Glass Structures and Engineering.
New Glass Bricks Offer Multiple Environmental Benefits.
- First, they are made from recycled glass.
- Second, once their purpose is fulfilled, they can be disassembled and restructured into new shapes.
- Third, if they are not suitable for a particular construction project, the glass bricks can be melted down and 3D printed into different shapes.
“I am very excited about expanding the design and manufacturing space for materials that challenge interesting properties, such as glass with its optical characteristics and recyclability. As long as the glass is not contaminated, you can recycle it almost infinitely,” stated Kaitlyn Becker, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT.
