The molten material gets funneled through an alumina-zircon-silica nozzle. The Kiln Cartridge operates at approximately 1900☏ and can contain sufficient material to build a single architectural component. Mediated Matter describes the process in a blogpost, “The upper chamber acts as a Kiln Cartridge while the lower chamber serves to anneal the structures. In the case of Mediated Matter’s technology, the printer is broken up into two chambers, in which an upper chamber heats the glass before it flows into a second chamber and is extruded out of the printhead. Micron3DP was reluctant to reveal too much about their process, except that their printhead can reach up to 1640° C. The tunability enabled by geometrical and optical variation driven by form, transparency and color variation can drive limit or control light transmission, reflection and refraction, and therefore carries significant implications for all things glass: aerodynamic building facades optimized for solar gain, geometrically customized and variable thickness lighting devices and so on.” Glass 3D printing process (Image Credit: Steven Keating) Oxman explains to ArchDaily, “G3DP is an additive manufacturing platform designed to print optically transparent glass. In collaboration with the university’s Glass Lab and Department of Mechanical Engineering, G3DP is a highly precise method for 3D printing optically transparent glass. Caustic patterns of 3D printed glass structures (Image Credit for this Series: Andy Ryan) And, while extruder manufacturer Micron3DP has been experimenting with the technology, Neri Oxman’s Mediated Matter Group at MIT has just unveiled a fully-fledged glass printing platform, dubbed G3DP, according to architecture site ArchDaily. 3D printing glass could render new methods for making fiber optic cables that are exponentially more efficient at transmitting light, and, therefore, data.
Glass 3D printing holds a great deal of potential, not just for creating intricate home decor and lighting solutions or even to manufacture bespoke specs, though those are certainly on the table.
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