Development of lunar regolith-based composite for in-situ 3D printing via high-pressure extrusion system  

作　　者：Hua ZHAO Jihong ZHU Shangqin YUAN Shaoying LI Weihong ZHANG 

机构地区：[1]State IJR Center of Aerospace Design and Additive Manufacturing,School of Mechanical Engineering,Northwestern Polytechnical University,Xi’an 710072,China [2]Key Laboratory of Metal High Performance Additive Manufacturing and Innovative Design,MIIT China,Northwestern Polytechnical University,Xi’an 710072,China [3]Unmanned System Research Institute,Northwestern Polytechnical University,Xi’an 710072,China

出　　处：《Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering》2023年第2期253-266,共14页机械工程前沿（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(Grant No.2017YFB1102800);the National Natural Science Foundation of China for Excellent Young Scholars(Grant No.11722219);the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.51905439);the Emerging(Interdisciplinary)Cultivation Project of Northwestern Polytechnical University,China(Grant Nos.19SH030403,20SH030201,and 21SH030601).

摘　　要：To fully utilize the in-situ resources on the moon to facilitate the establishment of a lunar habitat is significant to realize the long-term residence of mankind on the moon and the deep space exploration in the future.Thus,intensive research works have been conducted to develop types of 3D printing approach to adapt to the extreme environment and utilize the lunar regolith for in-situ construction.However,the in-situ 3D printing using raw lunar regolith consumes extremely high energy and time.In this work,we proposed a cost-effective melting extrusion system for lunar regolith-based composite printing,and engineering thermoplastic powders are employed as a bonding agent for lunar regolith composite.The high-performance nylon and lunar regolith are uniformly pre-mixed in powder form with different weight fractions.The high-pressure extrusion system is helpful to enhance the interface affinity of polymer binders with lunar regolith as well as maximize the loading ratio of in-situ resources of lunar regolith.Mechanical properties such as tensile strength,elastic modulus,and Poisson’s ratio of the printed specimens were evaluated systematically.Especially,the impact performance was emphasized to improve the resistance of the meteorite impact on the moon.The maximum tensile strength and impact toughness reach 36.2 MPa and 5.15 kJ/m2,respectively.Highpressure melt extrusion for lunar regolith composite can increase the effective loading fraction up to 80 wt.% and relatively easily adapt to extreme conditions for in-situ manufacturing.

关 键 词：in-situ resource utilization melt extrusion molding lunar regolith-based composites mechanical properties additive manufacturing 

分 类 号：TB33[一般工业技术—材料科学与工程]