3D-Printed Recycled Glass Bricks
MIT Engineers Created a Solution to Printing Custom Glass Bricks
Colin Smith — November 27, 2024
MIT engineers have developed a new type of reconfigurable masonry using 3D-printed, recycled glass. Leveraging a custom 3D glass printing technology provided by MIT spinoff Evenline, the team has created strong, multilayered glass bricks, each in the shape of a figure eight, designed to interlock like LEGO bricks. In mechanical testing, a single glass brick withstood pressures similar to that of a concrete block. The researchers envision that these 3D-printable glass masonry units could be reused many times over as recyclable bricks for building facades and internal walls.
The concept behind this innovation is circular construction, which aims to reuse and repurpose building materials to minimize the manufacturing of new materials and reduce the construction industry's "embodied carbon," or the greenhouse gas emissions associated with every process throughout a building's construction, from manufacturing to demolition. By using recycled glass and a custom 3D printing process, the team hopes to create a sustainable, circular building material that can be disassembled and reassembled into new structures, contributing to a more eco-friendly construction industry.
Image Credit: MIT
