Regular glass isn’t particularly printer-friendly, so the stuff they sell is usually a glass-filled nylon, or some sort of composite that’s more malleable and easy to work with. However, it seems that things could be kicked up a notch as researchers at MIT in collaboration with Mediated Matter Group have found a way to use glass as the printing material instead.
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But seeing it done with molten glass just takes it to the next level, at least visually.
The researchers said the technique allows tuning the transparency, colour, as well as light transmission, reflection and refraction of the glass, allowing multiple geometrical and optical variations. It consists of two parts, a kiln that heats the glass to 1900°F, and a lower chamber that anneals (cools) the molten glass so that it can be shaped into one of the programmed pieces.
3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, has been hailed as the next big revolution in manufacturing.
Mediated Matter explains in a blog post. The upper chamber acts as a “Kiln Cartridge”, which works at around 1,900 degrees Fahrenheit and can contain sufficient material to build a “single architectural component”. Below that sits an alumina-zircon-silica nozzle, which can programmed to make the same intricate moves in X-, Y-, and Z-space familiar to anyone who has seen a 3D printer in action. In theory, these patterns can be adjusted and tuned to create objects for specific applications.
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Some of MIT’s 3D printed glass creations will be on display at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum next year, Popular Science reports.
