A team at MIT has unveiled a first of its kind optically transparent glass printing process called G3DP.
The additive manufacturing platform is designed to print optically transparent glass. T
The platform is based on a dual heated chamber concept. The upper chamber acts as a Kiln Cartridge while the lower chamber serves to anneal the structures. The Kiln Cartridge operates at approximately 1900°F and can contain sufficient material to build a single architectural component. The molten material gets funneled through an alumina-zircon-silica nozzle. The project synthesizes modern technologies, with age-old established glass tools and technologies producing novel glass structures with numerous potential applications.
The G3DP project was created in collaboration between the Mediated Matter group at the MIT Media Lab, the Mechanical Engineering Department, the MIT Glass Lab and Wyss Institute. Researchers include John Klein, Michael Stern.
Originally published by Cosmos as New process 3D prints optically transparent glass
Bill Condie
Bill Condie is a science journalist based in Adelaide, Australia.
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