It is widely recognized that future exploration missions to the Moon will include construction of permanent lunar bases to support long-term lunar missions. The lunar in situ resource utilization concept to produce superior construction materials is a vital part of exploration missions. This paper presents a novel approach for consolidation of lunar regolith with activated thermite reactions using aluminum or magnesium-polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) systems to produce superior ceramic materials for potential construction purposes on the Moon. Thermodynamic analysis of reactive systems was used to predict the adiabatic temperature and equilibrium product concentrations. It was demonstrated that PTFE up to 2% by weight is sufficient to achieve regolith consolidation and reduce aluminum (magnesium) content to 15% by weight with utilization of more than 80% by weight regolith. Testing of fabricated materials shows that consolidated ceramics can have up to 60% porosity, which significantly improves thermal insulation up to . The hardness value of the material—approximately 850 in the Knoop scale—confirms that consolidated regolith can accomplish the construction requirements on the Moon.
Consolidation of Lunar Regolith Simulant by Activated Thermite Reactions
2014-08-08
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Consolidation of Lunar Regolith Simulant by Activated Thermite Reactions
Online Contents | 2015
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