Additive Manufacturing of Wear-Resistant Novel Transition Metal Boride Material System for Lunar Exploration

Achieve wear-resistant, lightweight components with exceptional thermal properties, thermal shock resistance and high toughness for vehicles for lunar exploration and other extreme environments Dust threatens long-term durability of mechanisms operating on Lunar or Martian surfaces. Current material technologies do not provide adequate protection for these spacecraft. Novel wear-resistant, lightweight materials with robust thermal and mechanical properties enable mechanisms and gears to operate in extreme environments without lubrication, wear, or jamming. Novel transition-metal boride materials will be additively manufactured for the first time to yield complex geometries tailored to survive long duration exploration missions on Lunar or Martian surfaces A recently developed novel ceramic system, metal+aluminum+boride (MAB), possesses a unique structure that offers exceptional properties well suited for demanding space applications, including tires for exploratory rovers or external structures for landing vehicles Application of MAB phase materials has been restricted by limited fabrication routes yielding simple geometries. Recent breakthroughs in processing of MAB powders make novel manufacturing methods, such as additive manufacturing, possible to broaden their potential application The innovation is to apply an additive manufacturing process to a novel MAB system for the first time to enable complex shaped components for space applications

The innovation is to apply an additive manufacturing process to a novel MAB system for the first time to enable complex shaped components for space applications

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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