Thin Glass Composites with 3D Printed Polymer Cores

Thin glass is currently mainly used for displays on electronic devices, but it also offers interesting characteristics for architectural applications. Due to its high strength and small thickness the glass can easily be bent in architecturally
appealing curvatures, while the small glass thickness (≤ 2 mm) offers a significant weight reduction compared to traditional window glazing. Research at TU Delft and TU Dresden focuses on exploiting these beneficial characteristics
for the creation of lightweight composite façade panels. More specifically, composite panels are developed that consist of thin glass outer facings which are adhesively bonded to an inner stiffening 3D-printed open-cell polymer core.
Besides the benefits of high strength, high stiffness and low weight, the composite panels also offer the potential to influence daylight entry through customisation of the 3D-printed core pattern. The current contribution highlights the current state of the research activities and describes the concept of the thin glass composite panels, their constituent components and the related digital fabrication process.