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Completed TRL 4 (started at 2, targeting 6)
Project Objective
Utilizing regolith as an additive to recycled 3D printing material in order to best stretch resources on the lunar surface.
Project Description
A sustained human presence outside of our terrestrial home requires the advancement of technologies that support human presence in new, harsh environments. A significant need exists for human habitats that are low cost, quick to assemble, and durable for extended exposure to harsh space environments. Thus, the long-term goal of the proposed research is to establish long-term human presence on the surface of the moon by advancing technologies needed to fabricate lunar surface habitats. In pursuit of this goal, the objectives of this research are to (1) blend and additively manufacture recycled thermoplastic/regolith composites and (2) characterize the resulting composites for strength, stiffness, thermal stability, and durability to space environment effects.
Project Results and Conclusions
In the proposed research, we will blend lunar regolith simulant with poly(L-lactic acid) (PLA), a thermoplastic polymer that is lightweight, easily processed, and recyclable. These composites will reduce the amount of material that must be delivered to space by utilizing materials present on the lunar surface. At the same time, the PLA matrix can be sourced from packaging material waste, thus reducing both the need to store and return the material to Earth and the environmental impact of human materials being landfilled on the Moon. The regolith simulant will be added to the PLA matrix at varying weight fractions to evaluate the compatibility of the two materials. The composite material will be additively manufactured into test coupons, thus evaluating the compatibility of the material with 3D printing. Test coupons will be characterized using techniques such as, but not limited to, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), tensile testing, and spit-Hopkinson pressure bar testing.
To date, we have advanced a process for incorporating lunar regolith simulant into a PLA polymer matrix (starting from pellets) at loadings up to 25% weight. The composite material has been extruded using a Filabot Extruder into filaments for fused filament fabrication 3D printing. The resulting filaments have been used to 3D print test samples for differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis, and tensile testing. DSC and TGA tests have been performed to identify glass transition temperature, cold crystallization effects, and thermal degradation temperatures of the material. Partial data has been collected from dynamic mechanical analysis and tensile testing.
To date, the results have not been disseminated. The results will be incorporated into a conference presentation (ASME Aerospace Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, May 5-7, 2025), a journal publication (in preparation), a master’s thesis (in preparation), and an undergraduate research symposium poster (Spring 2025).
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