Fabrication Informed Design
Molten glass 3D printing was invented and developed as a collaboration between the MIT Glass Lab and MIT Media Lab. That innovation relied on an interdisciplinary design approach and a holistic connection from material, fabrication, and design where all 3 are designed concurrently.
Following their invention of molten glass 3D printing, the interdisciplinary team at the MIT Media Lab developed a platform for high fidelity, large-scale, additive manufacturing of optically transparent glass. This new platform, dubbed G3DP2, includes a digitally integrated thermal control system-to accompany the various stages of glass forming-as well as a novel 4-axis motion control system permitting flow control, spatial accuracy and precision, and one of the fastest production rates of any additive manufacturing tools at 6kg per hour.
The process takes G-Code, the design instructions for precision machining defining thousands of points in 3D space, to control a custom computer controlled ceramic bed that traces out the form of each object. The machine architecture is considered completely from a blank canvas, designed to be accountable to the specific material properties and behaviors of molten silicate glass, and includes unique design and toolpathing suites characterized by machine motion rather than product geometry.
Molten glass at 2000ºF drains from an overhead furnace into a 900ºF build chamber, and the designs are built layer by layer as the ceramic printbed receives a continuous filament of material. Printed objects are annealed in a separate chamber over a matter of hours in order to relieve internal stress. Finally, traditional glass cold working tools are used to grind and polish the faces. To match the complex and unique design space for 3D printed glass, custom fixtures are designed for each individual object using the same computational tools as the glass and integrated into our projects and collection.
