ETHAN TOWNSEND
Stern and Kaitlyn Becker ’09, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and one other coauthor, received the inspiration for the bricks partly from their expertise as undergraduates in MIT’s Glass Lab.
“I discovered the fabric fascinating,” says Stern, who went on to design a 3D printer able to depositing molten recycled glass. “I began considering of how glass printing can discover its place.”
“I get enthusiastic about increasing design and manufacturing areas for difficult supplies with attention-grabbing traits, like glass and its optical properties and recyclability,” says Becker, who started exploring these concepts as a school member. “So long as it’s not contaminated, you may recycle glass nearly infinitely.”
For his or her new examine, Becker, Stern, and coauthors Daniel Massimino, SM ’24, and Charlotte Folinus ’20, SM ’22, of MIT and Ethan Townsend at Evenline used a glass printer that pairs with a furnace to soften crushed glass bottles into a cloth that may be deposited in layered patterns. They printed prototype bricks utilizing soda-lime glass that’s sometimes utilized in a glassblowing studio. Two spherical pegs manufactured from a distinct materials, much like the studs on a Lego brick, are integrated into each to allow them to interlock. One other materials positioned between the bricks prevents scratches or cracks however will be eliminated if a construction is to be dismantled and recycled. The prototypes’ figure-eight form permits meeting into curved partitions, although recycled bricks may be remelted within the printer and fashioned into new shapes. The group is trying into whether or not extra of the interlocking characteristic could possibly be constructed from printed glass too.