Determining Extraterrestrial Regolith In Situ Resource Utilization Feasibility Via Rheological Characterization and Additive Manufacturing Suitability

"The proposed project aims to provide a step toward bridging the gap between theory and reality for interplanetary in situ resource utilization (ISRU) through experimentation and simulation. ISRU refers to the concept of leveraging resources already present at a given destination. Instead of increasing payload weight by hauling tons of traditional construction supplies, soil on the Moon, Mars, and other locations can be used as feedstock material for additive manufacturing methods like binder jet 3D printing (BJ3DP). BJ3DP selectively adjoins particles together with a binding agent into primitives, which are the building blocks of a cross section for a desired part. Concerning the project, rheometry testing on extraterrestrial soil simulants will be conducted first to provide dynamic, bulk, and shear powder characterization. Subsequent discrete element method (DEM) simulations will be executed to generate ""digital twins"" of these materials. Binder jetting can then be simulated as well using an in-house coupled fluid dynamics and DEM solver. In its current state, the solver takes numerous hours to simulate a few seconds of binder jetting. This computational process needs to be scaled up with artificial intelligence in order to observe full cross-sections and potentially even complete, miniature parts. These digital parts can be validated with physical specimens from an accessible Ex One Binder Jet 3D Printer. A post-processing scheme will need to be developed to achieve sufficient part density via sintering and/or infiltration. Mechanical strength, surface hardness, elasticity, and other characteristics can be compared between parts constructed from regolith simulants and traditional metals. Each of these steps are designed to shed light on how feasible ISRU could be in future space missions."

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