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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1990

Genesis lunar outpost criteria and design

This design study--the third in the space architecture series--focused on the requirements of an early stage lunar outpost. The driving assumptions of the scenario was that the base would serve as a research facility and technology testbed for future Mars missions, a habitat supporting 12 persons for durations of up to 20 months, and would sustain the following five experimental facilities: Lunar surface mining and production analysis facility, construction technology and materials testbed, closed environmental life support system (CELSS) test facility, lunar farside observatory, and human factors and environment-behavior research facility. Based upon the criteria set forth in a previous programming document, three preliminary lunar base designs were developed. Each of the three schemes studied a different construction method and configuration. The designs were then evaluated in terms of environmental response, human habitability, transportability, constructability, construction dependability and resilience, and their suitability in carrying out the desired scientific research. The positive points of each scheme were then further developed by the entire project team, resulting in one integrated lunar outpost design.

Hansmann, Timothy↗
NASA NTRS1991

Encoding unique global minima in nested neural networks

Nested neural networks are constructed from outer products of patterns over (-1,0,1)N, whose nonzero bits define subnetworks and the subcodes stored in them. The set of permissible words, which are network-size binary patterns composed of subcode words that agree in their common bits, is characterized, and their number is derived. It is shown that if the bitwise products of the subcode words are linearly independent, the permissible words are the unique global minima of the Hamiltonian associated with the network.

Baram, Yoram↗
NASA NTRS1993

Cold press sintering of simulated lunar basalt

In order to predict the conditions for which the lunar regolith may be adequately sintered, experiments were conducted in which samples of simulated lunar basalt (MLS-1) were pressed at high pressures and then heated in an electric furnace. This sintering process may be referred to as cold press sintering since the material is pressed at room temperature. Although test articles were produced which possessed compressive strengths comparable to that of terrestrial concrete, the cold press sintering process requires very high press pressures and sintering temperatures in order to achieve that strength. Additionally, the prospect of poor internal heat transfer adversely affecting the quality of sintered lunar material is a major concern. Therefore, it is concluded that cold press sintering will most likely be undesirable for the production of lunar construction materials.

Altemir, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1995

The performance and calibration of WFPC2 on the Huble Space Telescope

The Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) was installed in the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in 1993 December. Since then, the instrument has been providing high-quality images. A significant among of calibration data has been collected to aid in the understanding of the on-orbit performance of the instrument. Generally, the behavior of the camera is similar to its performance during the system-level thermal vacuum test at JPL in 1993 May. Surprises were a significant charge-transfer-efficiency (CTE) problem and a significant growth rate in hot pixels at the original operating temperature of the CCDs (-76 deg C). The operating temperature of the WFPC2 CCDs was changed to -88 deg C on 1994 April 23, and significant improvements in CTE and hot pixels are seen at this temperature. In this paper we describe the on-orbit performance of the WFPC2. We discuss the optical and thermal history, the instrument throughput and stability, the Point Spread Function (PSF), the effects of undersampling on photometry, the properties of cosmic rays observed on-orbit, and the geometric distortion in the camera. We present the best techniques for the reduction of WFPC2 data, and describe the construction of calibration products including superbiases, superdarks, and flat fields.

Holtzman, Jon↗
NASA NTRS1995

Local multiplicative Schwarz algorithms for convection-diffusion equations

We develop a new class of overlapping Schwarz type algorithms for solving scalar convection-diffusion equations discretized by finite element or finite difference methods. The preconditioners consist of two components, namely, the usual two-level additive Schwarz preconditioner and the sum of some quadratic terms constructed by using products of ordered neighboring subdomain preconditioners. The ordering of the subdomain preconditioners is determined by considering the direction of the flow. We prove that the algorithms are optimal in the sense that the convergence rates are independent of the mesh size, as well as the number of subdomains. We show by numerical examples that the new algorithms are less sensitive to the direction of the flow than either the classical multiplicative Schwarz algorithms, and converge faster than the additive Schwarz algorithms. Thus, the new algorithms are more suitable for fluid flow applications than the classical additive or multiplicative Schwarz algorithms.

Cai, Xiao-Chuan↗
NASA NTRS1984

Slow Scan Telemedicine

Originally developed under contract for NASA by Ball Bros. Research Corporation for acquiring visual information from lunar and planetary spacecraft, system uses standard closed circuit camera connected to a device called a scan converter, which slows the stream of images to match an audio circuit, such as a telephone line. Transmitted to its destination, the image is reconverted by another scan converter and displayed on a monitor. In addition to assist scans, technique allows transmission of x-rays, nuclear scans, ultrasonic imagery, thermograms, electrocardiograms or live views of patient. Also allows conferencing and consultation among medical centers, general practitioners, specialists and disease control centers. Commercialized by Colorado Video, Inc., major employment is in business and industry for teleconferencing, cable TV news, transmission of scientific/engineering data, security, information retrieval, insurance claim adjustment, instructional programs, and remote viewing of advertising layouts, real estate, construction sites or products.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2010

DEM Solutions Develops Answers to Modeling Lunar Dust and Regolith

With the proposed return to the Moon, scientists like NASA-KSC's Dr. Calle are concerned for a number of reasons. We will be staying longer on the planet's surface, future missions may include dust-raising activities, such as excavation and handling of lunar soil and rock, and we will be sending robotic instruments to do much of the work for us. Understanding more about the chemical and physical properties of lunar dust, how dust particles interact with each other and with equipment surfaces and the role of static electricity build-up on dust particles in the low-humidity lunar environment is imperative to the development of technologies for removing and preventing dust accumulation, and successfully handling lunar regolith. Dr. Calle is currently working on the problems of the electrostatic phenomena of granular and bulk materials as they apply to planetary surfaces, particularly to those of Mars and the Moon, and is heavily involved in developing instrumentation for future planetary missions. With this end in view, the NASA Kennedy Space Center's Innovative Partnerships Program Office partnered with OEM Solutions, Inc. OEM Solutions is a global leader in particle dynamics simulation software, providing custom solutions for use in tackling tough design and process problems related to bulk solids handling. Customers in industries such as pharmaceutical, chemical, mineral, and materials processing as well as oil and gas production, agricultural and construction, and geo-technical engineering use OEM Solutions' EDEM(TradeMark) software to improve the design and operation of their equipment while reducing development costs, time-to-market and operational risk. EDEM is the world's first general-purpose computer-aided engineering (CAE) tool to use state-of-the-art discrete element modeling technology for the simulation and analysis of particle handling and manufacturing operations. With EDEM you'can quickly and easily create a parameterized model of your granular solids system. Computer-aided design (CAD) models of real particles can be imported to obtain an accurate representation of their shape. EDEM(TradeMark) uses particle-scale behavior models to simulate bulk solids behavior. In addition to particle size and shape, the models can account for physical properties of particles along with interaction between particles and with equipment surfaces and surrounding media, as needed to define the physics of a particular process.

Dunn, Carol Anne↗
DOE OSTI2025

Direct interpolative construction of the discrete Fourier transform as a matrix product operator

The quantum Fourier transform (QFT), which can be viewed as a reindexing of the discrete Fourier transform (DFT), has been shown to be compressible as a low-rank matrix product operator (MPO) or quantized tensor train (QTT) operator. However, the original proof of this fact does not furnish a construction of the MPO with a guaranteed error bound. Meanwhile, the existing practical construction of this MPO, based on the compression of a quantum circuit, is not as efficient as possible. We present a simple closed-form construction of the QFT MPO using the interpolative decomposition, with guaranteed near-optimal compression error for a given rank. This construction can speed up the application of the QFT and the DFT, respectively, in quantum circuit simulations and QTT applications. We also connect our interpolative construction to the approximate quantum Fourier transform (AQFT) by demonstrating that the AQFT can be viewed as an MPO constructed using a different interpolation scheme.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Direct Air Capture of CO 2 and Delivery to Photobioreactors for Algal Biofuel Production (Final Report)

A mobile DAC system was designed and constructed to pair with photobioreactors growing algae for biofuel production. The DAC system was designed as a versatile research system, rather than a compact production unit. The system was constructed and mounted on a mobile skid to facilitate transportation to the algae production site. Within the DAC system, CO 2 was captured using amine-loaded monoliths that allow for high CO 2 uptake with low pressure drop. The CO 2 is collected using a Global Thermostat patented temperature/vacuum swing adsorption (TVSA) process. Amine sorbents and process conditions were optimized to produce 10 to >20 g CO 2 .h-1. The stability of the amine sorbents was also studied, with sorbent modifications made to improve stability to degradation by oxidation. An Algenol-developed Spirulina strain (Arthrospira platensis AB2293) was selected as the production cyanobacterial strain. AB2293 cultured was inoculum for outdoor production following PBR installation by Algenol. The PBR system was composed of three independent PBRs, with each PBR composed of four hanging bags internally recirculated by a liquid turnover pump. The PBRs were operated outdoors in Atlanta, GA, and integrated with the DAC system. Algae were grown with similar productivity using DAC-CO 2 as algae grown using pure CO 2 obtained commercially (Airgas). Throughout the experimental duration, no discoloration was observed, and cellular morphology was consistent between the two experimental treatments. An LCA including lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, full life cycle inventory of the Algenol system and the DAC system and integrated DAC+PBR system was developed. Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions were calculated for capture of carbon dioxide using input from Global Thermostat and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Three scenarios for energy provision were evaluated: a natural gas combined heat and power system sized to meet the electricity requirement, a natural gas combined heat and power system sized to meet the process heat requirements, and a system without on-site power that procures the electricity from the grid. In all three cases, as expected, the major contributor to the emissions is the energy consumption associated with the desorption step of the DAC process. The LCA quantified the reduced potential energy and greenhouse gas emissions of heat and mass integration of DAC and Algenol compared to unintegrated DAC and Algenol systems. A life cycle assessment of the role of sorbent productivity and lifetime was also developed. The development of more robust, oxidation resistant DAC sorbents may enable small reductions in energy requirements and in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts. NREL performed techno-economic analysis (TEA) to identify the integration scenario most likely to achieve a 15% cost reduction target versus the baseline. Heat and mass integration of DAC and the PBR is critical to minimizing the MFSP. The baseline case utilizes no heat and mass integration, and the DAC system provides 100% of the CO 2 required by the photobioreactors (20 tonnes/hr), operating for 12 hours/day capturing 40 tonnes CO 2 /operating hour. The minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) of ethanol calculated from the baseline case was $10.68/gal ethanol. This corresponds with a targeted MFSP of $9.07/gal ethanol (or 15% reduction). This target was achieved by integration Option 2a with the greatest cost reduction of 17.8% (or $8.78/gal) and integration Option 2b with a cost reduction of 16.4% (or $8.93/gal). Reductions in MFSP are attributed to two primary process considerations: (a) CO 2 storage at night reduces the capital expenses associated with DAC (i.e., increasing on-stream time); and (b) distributed DAC scenarios (DAC-PBR integration Options 2a and 2b) make use of boiler and DAC CHP flue gas CO 2 (free). Direct air capture on-stream time was one of the largest contributors to MFSP reduction.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRS2016

Construction of a Matched Global Cloud and Radiance Product from LEO/GEO and EPIC Observations to Estimate Daytime Earth Radiation Budget from DSCOVR

With the launch of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), new estimates of the daytime Earth radiation budget can be computed from a combination of measurements from the two Earth-observing sensors onboard the spacecraft, the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR). Although these instruments can provide accurate top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance measurements, they lack sufficient resolution to provide details on small-scale surface and cloud properties. Previous studies have shown that these properties have a strong influence on the anisotropy of the radiation at the TOA, and ignoring such effects can result in large TOA-flux errors. To overcome these effects, high-resolution scene identification is needed for accurate Earth radiation budget estimation. Selected radiance and cloud property data measured and derived from several low earth orbit (LEO, including NASA Terra and Aqua MODIS, NOAA AVHRR) and geosynchronous (GEO, including GOES (east and west), METEOSAT, INSAT-3D, MTSAT-2, and HIMAWARI-8) satellite imagers were collected to create hourly 5-km resolution global composites of data necessary to compute angular distribution models (ADM) for reflected shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) radiation. The satellite data provide an independent source of radiance measurements and scene identification information necessary to construct ADMs that are used to determine the daytime Earth radiation budget. To optimize spatial matching between EPIC measurements and the high-resolution composite cloud properties, LEO/GEO retrievals within the EPIC fields of view (FOV) are convolved to the EPIC point spread function (PSF) in a similar manner to the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Single Scanner Footprint TOA/Surface Fluxes and Clouds (SSF) product. Examples of the merged LEO/GEO/EPIC product will be presented, describing the chosen radiance and cloud properties and details of how data from the multi-satellite measurements are selected.

Duda, David P.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Integrating Theory and Practice: Applying the Quality Improvement Paradigm to Product Line Engineering

My assertion is that not only are product lines a relevant research topic, but that the tools used by empirical software engineering researchers can address observed practical problems. Our experience at NASA has been there are often externally proposed solutions available, but that we have had difficulties applying them in our particular context. We have also focused on return on investment issues when evaluating product lines, and while these are important, one can not attain objective data on success or failure until several applications from a product family have been deployed. The use of the Quality Improvement Paradigm (QIP) can address these issues: (1) Planning an adoption path from an organization's current state to a product line approach; (2) Constructing a development process to fit the organization's adoption path; (3) Evaluation of product line development processes as the project is being developed. The QIP consists of the following six steps: (1) Characterize the project and its environment; (2) Set quantifiable goals for successful project performance; (3) Choose the appropriate process models, supporting methods, and tools for the project; (4) Execute the process, analyze interim results, and provide real-time feedback for corrective action; (5) Analyze the results of completed projects and recommend improvements; and (6) Package the lessons learned as updated and refined process models. A figure shows the QIP in detail. The iterative nature of the QIP supports an incremental development approach to product lines, and the project learning and feedback provide the necessary early evaluations.

Stark, Michael↗
NASA NTRS1998

Modeling Code Is Helping Cleveland Develop New Products

Master Builders, Inc., is a 350-person company in Cleveland, Ohio, that develops and markets specialty chemicals for the construction industry. Developing new products involves creating many potential samples and running numerous tests to characterize the samples' performance. Company engineers enlisted NASA's help to replace cumbersome physical testing with computer modeling of the samples' behavior. Since the NASA Lewis Research Center's Structures Division develops mathematical models and associated computation tools to analyze the deformation and failure of composite materials, its researchers began a two-phase effort to modify Lewis' Integrated Composite Analyzer (ICAN) software for Master Builders' use. Phase I has been completed, and Master Builders is pleased with the results. The company is now working to begin implementation of Phase II.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2022

Immersive Industrialized Construction Environments for Energy Efficiency Construction Workforce

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is actively developing and testing Immersive Industrialized Construction Environments (IICE) for construction automation and worker-machine interaction to investigate possible solutions and increase workforce productivity. At full scope and matured functionality, IICE allows us to accelerate the development of and better explore industrialized construction approaches such as prefabrication. IICE also enables wider adoption of energy-efficient products and Industry 4.0 construction automation through worker-machine interaction pilots. Industry 4.0 and industrialized construction approaches can encourage workforce specialization in energy efficiency construction, address the lack of multi-skilled workers, and increase workforce productivity with construction automation. However, recent attempts to integrate these concepts with the industry have only been moderately successful. To address this, focusing the pedagogy on using a digital twin, its digital models, and virtual reality could make the experience of continuing education on construction automation more affordable, accessible, scalable, immersive, and safer, and could greatly improve the efficiency and robustness of the building and construction industry. IICE accurately represents the realities of construction uncertainties without having to create full scale physical prototypes of machines. In this paper, we address the following research question: How can a digital twin and its models in virtual reality enhance the learning experience and productivity of energy efficiency construction workers to gain the skills in operating Industry 4.0 components such as construction automation and handling energy-efficient products in industrialized construction factories and on-site? We introduce original research on developing IICE and present preliminary findings from time and motion pilot studies.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS1976

Evaluation of selected chemical processes for production of low-cost silicon

Plant construction costs and manufacturing costs were estimated for the production of solar-grade silicon by the reduction of silicon tetrachloride in a fluidized bed of seed particles, and several modifications of the iodide process using either thermal decomposition on heated filaments (rods) or hydrogen reduction in a fluidized bed of seed particles. Energy consumption data for the zinc reduction process and each of the iodide process options are given and all appear to be acceptable from the standpoint of energy pay back. Information is presented on the experimental zinc reduction of SiCl4 and electrolytic recovery of zinc from ZnCl2. All of the experimental work performed thus far has supported the initial assumption as to technical feasibility of producing semiconductor silicon by the zinc reduction or iodide processes proposed. The results of a more thorough thermodynamic evaluation of the iodination of silicon oxide/carbon mixtures are presented which explain apparent inconsistencies in an earlier cursory examination of the system.

Blocher, J. M., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Investigation of a Laminar Flow Leading Edge

The recent resurgence of interest in utilizing laminar flow on aircraft surfaces for reduction in skin friction drag has generated a considerable amount of research in natural laminar flow (NLF) and hybrid laminar flow control (HLFC) on transonic aircraft wings. This research has focused primarily on airfoil design and understanding transition behavior with little concern for the surface imperfections and manufacturing variations inherent to most production aircraft. In order for laminar flow to find wide-spread use on production aircraft, techniques for constructing the wings must be found such that the large surface imperfections present in the leading edge region of current aircraft do not occur. Toward this end, a modification to existing leading edge construction techniques was devised such that the resulting surface did not contain large gaps and steps as are common on current production aircraft of this class. A lowspeed experiment was first conducted on a simulation of the surface that would result from this construction technique. Preston tube measurements of the boundary layer downstream of the simulated joint and flow visualization using sublimation chemicals validated the literature on the effects of steps on a laminar boundary layer. These results also indicated that the construction technique was indeed compatible with laminar flow. In order to fully validate the compatibility of this construction technique with laminar flow, thus proving that it is possible to build wings that are smooth enough to be used on business jets and light transports in a manner compatible with laminar flow, a flight experiment is being conducted. In this experiment Mach number and Reynolds number will be matched in a real flight environment. The experiment is being conducted using the NASA Dryden F-104 Flight Test Fixture (FTF). The FTF is a low aspect ratio ventral fin mounted beneath an F-104G research aircraft. A new nose shape was designed and constructed for this experiment. This nose shape provides an accelerating pressure gradient in the leading edge region. By flying the aircraft at appropriate Mach numbers and altitudes, this nose shape simulates the leading edge region of a laminar flow wing for a business jet or light transport. Manufactured into the nose shape is a spanwise slot located approximately four inches downstream of the leading edge. The slot, which is an inch wide and one-eighth of an inch deep allows the simulation of surface imperfections, such as gaps and steps at skin joints, which will occur on aircraft using this new construction technique. By placing strips of aluminum of various sizes and shapes in the slot, the effect on the boundary layer of different sizes and shapes of steps and gaps will be examined. It is planned to use five different configurations, differing primarily in the size and number of gaps. Downstream of the slot, the state of the boundary layer is determined using hot film gages and Stanton gages. Agreement between these two very different techniques of measuring boundary layer properties is considered important to being able to state with confidence the effects on the boundary layer of the simulated manufacturing imperfections. To date, the aircraft has not flown. First flights of the aircraft are on schedule to begin October 4, 1993. Low-speed, preliminary experiments at matching Reynolds numbers have been completed.

Drake, Aaron↗
DOE OSTI2020

A buoyancy–shear–drag-based turbulence model for Rayleigh–Taylor, reshocked Richtmyer–Meshkov, and Kelvin–Helmholtz mixing

A phenomenological turbulence model for Rayleigh–Taylor, reshocked Richtmyer–Meshkov, and Kelvin–Helmholtz instability-induced mixing is developed using a general buoyancy–shear–drag model. Analytic solutions to the simplified model equations corresponding to each instability are derived separately, which are then used to calibrate the model coefficients to predict specific values of the mixing layer growth parameters and exponents. The buoyancy-shear–drag equations for the bubble and spike mixing layer widths are then solved numerically, and a turbulent diffusivity (or viscosity) is constructed dimensionally as the product of the mixing layer width, h, and its time-derivative, dh/dt. Surrogate turbulent fields are then constructed by multiplying a presumed, approximate self-similar spatial profile by appropriate functions of h and dh/dt. Using several simplifying approximations, the turbulent diffusion equations satisfied by the mean mass fraction and mean shear velocity are solved analytically in a reference frame moving with the mean advection velocity, and it is shown that the mean fields evolve in space and time as expected. The explicit modeling and solution of turbulent transport equations (e.g., for the turbulent kinetic energy and its dissipation rate or a lengthscale) are not required. By using separate equations for the bubble and spike evolution, the model naturally captures the asymmetry induced by an increasing density contrast between the heavy and light fluids. The model also includes molecular dissipation and diffusion, and therefore, can describe transition to fully-developed turbulence if the initial turbulent diffusivity/viscosity is much smaller than the molecular diffusivity/viscosity. This model is applied to constant-acceleration Rayleigh–Taylor, impulsively reshocked Richtmyer–Meshkov, and variable-density Kelvin–Helmholtz mixing layers to demonstrate its utility. It is shown that the numerical solutions of the model calibrated using specific values of the instability growth parameters and exponents: (1) produces mixing layer widths in agreement with the expected self-similar growth power laws; (2) gives spatiotemporal profiles of turbulent fields that are expected and consistent with previous results; (3) predicts the expected power-law growths and decays of the spatially-integrated turbulent fields, and; (4) gives spatiotemporal profiles of the mean fields that are expected and consistent with previous results. This relatively simple model can be implemented numerically, and is expected to be useful for fundamental as well as astrophysical and inertial confinement fusion applications.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

United States plastics: Large flows, short lifetimes, and negligible recycling

Given increasing concerns for the marine environment and human health, as well as trade restrictions from Asian countries, plastics have become a great challenge for the United States. This study addresses the seven commonly used plastics: low-density polyethylene/linear low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, and other plastics. Material flows of the seven polymers were tracked from production into fabrication, manufacturing, flow into use, waste management, and recycling in the United States in 2015. Low- and high-density polyethylene and polypropylene were found to be the largest in both production and product manufacture. More than 88% of the plastics went into three end-use sectors: Packaging, Consumer and Institutional Products, and Building and Construction. In-use lifetimes across the plastics are generally short. Virgin plastics were mainly exported, while intermediate plastic products were largely imported. The actual end-of-life recycling rate of the plastics as a group was no more than 6.2%, with PET and the polyethylene family the most recycled. Here, the high yearly plastic throughput and low recycling rate pose a serious challenge to the sustainability goals of the United States and is in stark contrast to the vision of a circular economy of plastics.

02 PETROLEUM↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Selection, Production, and Properties of Regolith Polymer Composites for Lunar Construction

NASA’s Artemis Program seeks to establish a long-term presence on the moon to enable scientific discoveries and utilization of lunar resources through public-private partnerships. Over the next decades, a lunar spaceport enabling regular transportation from and to Earth will need to be established to provide the services and facilities that are necessary to achieve this goal. Robotic construction technologies using in-situ materials must be developed to build up enabling infrastructure such as launch/landing pads, blast protection, power/communications towers, improved trafficability pathways and radiation protection shelters. Kennedy Space Center’s Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations laboratory at Swamp Works has partnered with AI SpaceFactory to develop the architectural and structural design of an unpressurized shelter. The shelter, called Lina, is designed to protect astronauts and surface assets from radiation, meteoroid impact, moon quakes and thermal gradients. Lina’s structural design criteria and the resulting structure design are detailed in separate papers. A Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) construction process using regolith polymer composites has been developed. This paper presents the material formulations and selection rationale for each of the composite components. Formulations include 70:30, 80:20, and 85:15 wt.% mixture ratios of lunar mare simulant Black Point-1 (BP-1): Polylactic Acid (PLA), 80:20 Lunar Highlands Simulant (LHS-1): PLA and an 80:20 BP-1:PLA formulation with a processing aid/compatibilizer additive. Test samples were printed in simulated lunar dirty thermal vacuum conditions (~-180 °C, ~10 -3 torr). The test environment evolved throughout the duration of the print process. A series of tests were performed to characterize the mixture ratios achieved for each formulation, the off-gassing products during vacuum printing, the strength properties, and porosity of printed products. The LHS-1: PLA formulation yielded an advantageous combination of properties and was used in a final test that additively constructed a sub-scaled Lina on regolith simulant in dirty vacuum conditions.

lunar infrastructure↗