Chinese Space Science and Technology ›› 2023, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (6): 66-73.doi: 10.16708/j.cnki.1000-758X.2023.0085

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3D printing densification of lunar regolith simulant

LIU Yiwei,ZHANG Xian,WANG Chao,SONG Jian,CHEN Xiong,Yao Wei   

  1. 1 Qian Xuesen Laboratory of Space Technology,China Academy of Space Technology,Beijing 100094,China
    2 School of Mechanical Engineering,Nanjing University Science and Technology,Nanjing 210094,China
  • Online:2023-12-12 Published:2023-12-25

Abstract:

The in-situ 3D printing of lunar regolithadditive manufacturingcan realize the in-situ construction of the lunar base and the in-situ manufacturing of key componentsand can greatly reduce the cost and risk of the lunar exploration mission.A selective laser melting lunar regolith simulant experiment system was built to carry out single-track molding experiments to explore the effect of laser powerscanning speedand the thickness of the first powder layer on sample densificationwhile the width and depth of each track were measured.The results show that the width of the single-track decreases with increasing scanning speed until the width is almost constant.At the same laser powerthe single-track depth becomes deeper as the first powder layer thickness increases.The single-track depth increases and then decreases with the increase in scanning speed.The density of a single-track can reach 2.5g/cm3and the relative density is 86%.As the scanning speed increasesthe density of single-track for different layer thicknesses is stabilized at 1.7g/cm3.When the first layer of powder is thinnerthe density of single-track is also slightly higher than other layer thicknesses.The date will provide essential suport for in-situ construction technology.

Key words:

in-situ resource utilizationISRU), lunar regolith simulant, selective laser meltingSLM), powder layer thickness, sunlight, laser power