Ultraviolet and thermal dual-curing assisted extrusion-based additive manufacturing of lunar regolith simulant for in-site construction on the Moon

Abstract

The establishment of a lunar base is crucial for lunar studies, resource extraction, and advancement in deep space exploration. Considering the limitations of rocket capacity and Earth-Moon transportation costs, lunar regolith is regarded as the most practical material for lunar base construction. Consequently, the in-situ additive manufacturing technology for simulated lunar regolith has been widely studied in recent years. This paper proposes a novel additive manufacturing approach for lunar regolith simulants. The simulants and several resins were mixed into a paste with high simulant content of 86 wt%, which was suitable for extrusion-based additive manufacturing process. To fully leverage the lunar environment, the feasibility of the ultraviolet (UV) and thermal curing of the resins was first verified, which was followed by the validation of the lunar regolith paste with the solid content of 86 wt%. After the characterization of the ultraviolet and heat curing properties, the paste was further 3D printed via the extrusion-based device. The extruded paste underwent preliminary curing in a UV environment and was then heated to approximate the daytime lunar conditions, achieving complete curing of the printed component. The cured parts exhibited a compressive strength of 9.83 ± 1.07 MPa, meeting the requirements for infrastructure construction in the low-gravity lunar environment. This work offers significant implications for future in-situ construction on the Moon using extrusion-based additive manufacturing of lunar regolith.