Reusable 3D-Printed Glass Bricks Could Cut Construction Emissions

Engineers at MIT have developed reusable, interlocking bricks created from recycled glass.

Using a 3D printer that is capable of working with molten glass, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created an interlocking brick design that can be repurposed at the end of the building’s lifespan.

“Glass is a highly recyclable material,” said assistant professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, Kaitlyn Becker. “We’re taking glass and turning it into masonry that, at the end of a structure’s life, can be disassembled and reassembled into a new structure, or can be stuck back into the printer and turned into a completely different shape. All this builds into our idea of a sustainable, circular building material”.

The interlocking design, not unlike that of the popular LEGO brick, features a shape akin to a figure of eight. During mechanical testing, the team found that the design is capable of withstanding similar pressures as concrete blocks.

“Glass as a structural material kind of breaks people’s brains a little bit,” said Michael Stern, a former MIT graduate student and researcher in both MIT’s Media Lab and Lincoln Laboratory, who is also founder and director of Evenline, an MIT spinoff. “We’re showing this is an opportunity to push the limits of what’s been done in architecture”.

During tests with an industrial hydraulic press, the team discovered that the strongest bricks were those created from printed glass with a separate interlocking feature, made from aluminium, attached to the bottom of the brick.

“Glass is a complicated material to work with,” said Becker. “The interlocking elements, made from a different material, showed the most promise at this stage”.

The team used soda-lime glass, most commonly used in glass-blowing, and incorporated round pegs, similar to the studs found on a LEGO brick.

“With the figure-eight shape, we can constrain the bricks while also assembling them into walls that have some curvature,” said lead author of the research paper, Daniel Massimino.

The 3D printer used in the process was designed by Stern, a project he took on while studying in the mechanical engineering department.

“I started thinking of how glass printing can find its place and do interesting things, construction being one possible route,” Stern added.

The brick design meets the circular construction ethos in a number of ways: they are made of recycled glass, are reusable and easily reconfigurable, and if they won’t work in a new project, they can be easily melted down and 3D printed into a different shape.

“We have more understanding of what the material’s limits are, and how to scale,” added Stern. “We’re thinking of stepping stones to buildings, and want to start with something like a pavilion – a temporary structure that humans can interact with, and that you could then reconfigure into a second design. And you could imagine that these blocks could go through a lot of lives”.

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