3D Printing of Moon Highlands Regolith Simulant
- Paper number
IAC-18,A3,IP,31,x48462
- Author
Mr. Lorenzo Abbondanti Sitta, Italy, Politecnico di Milano
- Coauthor
Prof. Michèle Lavagna, Italy, Politecnico di Milano
- Year
2018
- Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility of 3D printing of Moon regolith simulant specififically selected to have a composition similar to that of Lunar Highlands Terrain type. This work is a validation of the results already obtained by other researchers with the simulant JSC-1A and serve the purpose to provide wider knowledge on the additive manufacturing with Moon in-situ resources using the simulant NU-LHT-2M. The technology adopted in this study is the Selective Laser Melting (SLM), supported by granulometry analysis of the powder and SEM imaging and microanalysis of the material before and after processing to assess the chemical composition variation and structure modififications. The properties of the printed parts were tested using a Vickers microindenter, a hydraulic press coupled with a load cell and a thermovacuum chamber. The results obtained confifirm the feasibility of SLM with Moon Highlands regolith simulant using energy densities ranging from 2.96 to 4 J/mm2 obtaining small printed parts with average surface hardness of 695HV and compressive strength of 22,7MPa suggesting possible future applications of this technology in the fabrication of objects and, if opportunely scaled, even small buildings.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-18,A3,IP,31,x48462.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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