Fused glass deposition modelling for applications in the built environment

Abstract

Abstract For the built environment and for engineers, glass is an indispensable material with unique properties. Recent developments have shown that there is a potential market for additive manufacturing technology in the building industry, based on the production with a relatively small amount of repetitions and the tendency of applying technological innovations for advanced buildings. This paper focusses on the potential of fusing glass filaments on a glass base plate in order to develop a scientific base to create a process that is able to print 3D glass on glass plates for applications in the building industry. These fused components could eliminate boreholes for joints in glass panes including related disadvantages. Also, the fused deposition glass components can be a potential reinforcement of flat glass. Therefore, the fusing of soda lime silicate glass and borosilicate glass has been investigated. Based on these experiences, samples with different glass thicknesses are manufactured and the fused components are tested for their bending strength. The manufactured samples are analysed with polarized images, 3D computer tomography, microscopy and energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy. This paper describes, presents and discusses the results of the investigations, and demonstrates that load transfer via fused glass joints is possible in principle.