Selective laser melting of partially amorphous regolith analog for ISRU lunar applications

As the idea of crewed outposts on the Moon gains momentum, In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technologies tend to become imperative to fulfill astronauts' needs. This article explores a way to use the lunar regolith as a source material for the additive manufacturing of complex objects, based...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta astronautica 2025-01, Vol.226 (Part 1), p.66-77
Main Authors: Granier, Julien, Cutard, Thierry, Pinet, Patrick, Le Maoult, Yannick, Chevrel, Serge, Sentenac, Thierry, Favier, Jean-Jacques
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Annealing
Ceramics
Compressive strength
Engineering Sciences
Glass
Lunar regolith
Materials
Sciences of the Universe
SLM
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Summary:As the idea of crewed outposts on the Moon gains momentum, In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technologies tend to become imperative to fulfill astronauts' needs. This article explores a way to use the lunar regolith as a source material for the additive manufacturing of complex objects, based on the selective laser melting (SLM) technique. A lunar regolith analog, Basalt of Pic d’Ysson (BPY), is used as a starting point for this study, to investigate the now demonstrated impact of amorphous analog content in the powder bed, substrate type, and post-SLM annealing treatments on the mechanical properties of 3D-printed objects. Improvements to the manufacturing and sample extraction stages are proposed to systematically reproduce the high compressive strength values obtained, thus contributing to the robustness and reliability of the process. •A new basaltic mare analog called BPY is presented and characterized.•Samples are made from this analog with SLM technology.•Objects printed with amorphous analog showed high compressive strength.•The nature of the substrate also plays a role in the final mechanical properties.•Annealed objects have reached maximal compressive stress of up to 132 MPa.
ISSN:0094-5765
1879-2030
DOI:10.1016/j.actaastro.2024.10.024