TY - JOUR

T1 - Two-Dimensional Laser Melting of Lunar Regolith Simulant Using the MOONRISE Payload on a Mobile Manipulator

AU - Linke, Stefan

AU - Voß, Anna

AU - Ernst, Mathias

AU - Taschner, Patrick A.

AU - Baasch, Julian

AU - Stapperfend, Simon

AU - Gerdes, Niklas

AU - Koch, Jürgen

AU - Weßels, Peter

AU - Neumann, Jörg

AU - Overmeyer, Ludger

AU - Stoll, Enrico

N1 - Funding Information: The research project MOONRISE is funded by the VolkswagenStiftung within the scope of the open—for the unusual (‘‘Offen – für Außergewöhnliches’’) program (Az. 94647 and Az. 94890).

PY - 2022/6/9

Y1 - 2022/6/9

N2 - Laser melting experiments were carried out with the MOONRISE payload, installed on the mobile manipulator, MIRA3D. The MOONRISE payload was developed to demonstrate the feasibility of additive processing of lunar regolith with the help of lasers on the Moon within a lunar surface mission in the next years. The development of hardware for the flight to the moon is well advanced and, if successful, would pave the way for the use of laser melting for production of components from regolith. The aim of the experiments described in this article was to test the planned scenario on the Moon, especially the interaction between laser payload, manipulator, and soil surface, and to identify suitable process parameters for production of two-dimensional (2D) objects. The ability to produce 2D objects is an important intermediate step on the way to produce large three-dimensional structures such as habitats, walls, or foundations. During the experiments, specimens with a size of ∼20 × 20 × 4 mm were repeatedly produced. As analog material, two synthetic lunar soils produced with the modular regolith simulant systems from Technische Universität Braunschweig (TUBS) were used. The experiments were conducted under Earth gravity and atmospheric conditions. This article describes the hardware used, procedure for carrying out the experiments, and properties of the produced samples.

AB - Laser melting experiments were carried out with the MOONRISE payload, installed on the mobile manipulator, MIRA3D. The MOONRISE payload was developed to demonstrate the feasibility of additive processing of lunar regolith with the help of lasers on the Moon within a lunar surface mission in the next years. The development of hardware for the flight to the moon is well advanced and, if successful, would pave the way for the use of laser melting for production of components from regolith. The aim of the experiments described in this article was to test the planned scenario on the Moon, especially the interaction between laser payload, manipulator, and soil surface, and to identify suitable process parameters for production of two-dimensional (2D) objects. The ability to produce 2D objects is an important intermediate step on the way to produce large three-dimensional structures such as habitats, walls, or foundations. During the experiments, specimens with a size of ∼20 × 20 × 4 mm were repeatedly produced. As analog material, two synthetic lunar soils produced with the modular regolith simulant systems from Technische Universität Braunschweig (TUBS) were used. The experiments were conducted under Earth gravity and atmospheric conditions. This article describes the hardware used, procedure for carrying out the experiments, and properties of the produced samples.

KW - additive manufacturing

KW - construction

KW - ISRU

KW - laser melting

KW - lunar exploration

KW - sinter

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132379185&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1089/3dp.2020.0323

DO - 10.1089/3dp.2020.0323

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85132379185

VL - 9

SP - 223

EP - 231

JO - 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing

JF - 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing

SN - 2329-7662

IS - 3

ER -