Product development of Hybrid Glass Blocks

Abstract

Glass has been widely used in the construction industry since the early nineteenth century. It was most commonly used in the form of a window, which is a flat glass panel. Glass has natural optical properties and is resistant to weather, making it ideal for use as a facade material. Glass’s novel applications in the built environment have led us to go beyond its 2D application of flat glass panels to a solid, 3D component, as seen in recent projects such as Maison de Hermes in Tokyo and Crystal House in Amsterdam.

Currently, there are two approaches in glass blocks: load-bearing solid glass blocks with poor thermal properties and hollow glass blocks with optimal thermal properties but no structural performance. Can we combine these approaches and develop a glass block with good load-bearing and thermal properties? Research on Hybrid glass blocks is one such topic that investigates the potential of this unique concept. A hybrid glass block is the combination of solid and hollow glass blocks designed as a single product with good thermal performance and load-bearing capacity.

The existing research on this topic is promising and noteworthy for further development as it conceptualises the rudimentary design guidelines for the system. The output of the existing research is oriented towards the design development of the novel hybrid glass blocks, ideation of the production methodologies, and validation of their thermal performance. Thus the scope for further research and development is actual prototyping of the design concepts, validation of the structural performance, and qualitative analysis. It is observed that the shape of the hybrid glass blocks impacts the structural-thermal performance, production methodology, and desirability of standardisation. Thus, to develop this product a thorough investigation and exploration are necessary.

The research first focuses on developing design guidelines for the innovative hybrid glass system. A product development methodology is formulated to guide and aid the design process of the hybrid glass block systems. Various design concepts are explored in-depth for each design problem based on their relationship with the structural-thermal performance, manufacturing, and assembly process and are then assessed through a set of design criteria to develop a final design concept. The final design concept is further refined based on manufacturing standards and challenges. The final design is then detailed and implemented in the Academy of Arts, Maastricht (case study), and various assembly strategies for dry stacked cast glass systems are formulated.

To validate the design a prototype manufacturing is done by using a kiln casting method. The prototyping challenges, observations, and decisions aid to assess the practicality of the design. A hybrid method of numerical and experimental validation is considered to evaluate the design based on its feasibility for application in the building industry. This research proves to be a guide for developing hybrid glass block systems and provides them with a design development, manufacturing, and evaluation framework to design, develop and assess their concepts.