WHO
MIT engineers 3D printed sturdy glass bricks for building structures. The interlocking bricks, which can be repurposed many times over, can withstand similar pressures as their concrete counterparts.
WHAT
A team of MIT researchers is developing a new kind of reconfigurable masonry made from 3D-printed, recycled glass. Using a custom 3D glass printing technology provided by MIT spinoff Evenline, the team has made strong, multilayered glass bricks, each in the shape of a figure eight, that are designed to interlock, much like LEGO bricks. As a structural demonstration, the researchers constructed a wall of interlocking glass bricks. They envision that 3D-printable glass masonry could be reused many times over as recyclable bricks for building facades and internal walls. The team used the Glass 3D Printer 3 (G3DP3), the latest version of Evenline’s glass printer, which pairs with a furnace to melt crushed glass bottles into a molten, printable form that the printer then deposits in layered patterns. The team printed glass bricks and tested their mechanical strength in an industrial hydraulic press that squeezed the bricks until they began to fracture. The researchers found that the strongest bricks were able to hold up to pressures that are comparable to what concrete blocks can withstand. Those strongest bricks were made mostly from printed glass, with a separately manufactured interlocking feature that attached to the bottom of the brick. These results suggest that most of a masonry brick could be made from printed glass, with an interlocking feature that could be printed, cast, or separately manufactured from a different material.
WHERE
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
WHY
At the end of its structural life, glass can be disassembled and reassembled into a new structure, or it can be stuck back into the printer and turned into a completely different shape. All this builds into the team’s idea of a sustainable, circular building material.
WHEN
To demonstrate glass masonry’s potential, the MIT team constructed a curved wall of interlocking glass bricks. Next, they aim to build progressively bigger, self-supporting glass structures.
For more information, contact Abby Abazorius;
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This article first appeared in the December, 2024 issue of Tech Briefs Magazine (Vol. 48 No. 12).
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