Breakage of Sintered Particles for Sample Return on Icy Worlds

This proposal details an approach to increase sample quality and success rate of sample return missions on icy bodies by developing a model that can accurately predict the motion and breakage of ice particles that are sintered together. Many upcoming NASA missions will look to perform a sample return on icy bodies to investigate questions on their chemistry, formation and the potential for life. Although many sampling strategies have been proven successful on Mars, missions to Mars do not need to contend with the issues associated with ice particles sintering together. The ice sintering will make a ""connected"" granular material which causes the necessity to break the sintered connections in order to acquire a sample. During acquisition, sample quality and success rate will be affected if too much or too little breakage occurs. This will call for a new modeling technology that can inform the design of the sample acquisition strategy. To do this the model will have to accurately predict breakage of the sintered connections at a granular scale. Here I propose a new modeling strategy that can capture the geometry of the particles with their sintered connections and predict when breakage will occur. This research is broken down into a three step process of model development, experimental validation and in-situ modeling.

Many upcoming NASA missions will look to perform a sample return on icy bodies to investigate questions on their chemistry, formation and the potential for life. By studying sintering, that sample return will be improved.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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