TY - GEN
T1 - A COMPOSITIONAL STUDY OF REGOLITH COMPOSITES WITH CARBON NANOTUBE ADDITIVES FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL CONSTRUCTION
AU - Hoe, Andrea J.
AU - Lin, Wenhua
AU - Wang, Yeqing
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by ASME.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - As extraterrestrial construction becomes an increasingly relevant goal in society, it is crucial to identify materials that balance high mechanical performance and ease of sourcing. One such candidate material, suitable for lunar habitat construction, is lunar regolith in combination with urea. This research aims to develop a novel lunar regolith composite for improved material strength. In this study we explore the relationship between the loading of carbon nanotubes within lunar regolith composites and their resulting modification of mechanical properties and porosity. Previous studies have shown the incorporation of carbon nanotubes in various applications such as fly ash composites, increases mechanical properties of interest for the material. The formulation of the composite material consists of lunar regolith, urea, distilled water, phosphoric acid, and carbon nanotube powder. The results of this study will include an assessment of the compressive strength for specimens containing carbon nanotubes at different weight fractions of 0%, 0.25%, 0.50% and 1.00%. Uniaxial compression tests demonstrate a maximum compressive strength of 5.82 MPa. We were able to achieve a 23% increase in compressive strength with carbon nanotube additives over composites containing no carbon nanotubes. However, space habitats require thorough and repeated testing to protect the lives at stake in these extreme environments. This increase in compressive strength allows the development of such materials and will allow for more freedom within the structural possibilities available in space architecture.
AB - As extraterrestrial construction becomes an increasingly relevant goal in society, it is crucial to identify materials that balance high mechanical performance and ease of sourcing. One such candidate material, suitable for lunar habitat construction, is lunar regolith in combination with urea. This research aims to develop a novel lunar regolith composite for improved material strength. In this study we explore the relationship between the loading of carbon nanotubes within lunar regolith composites and their resulting modification of mechanical properties and porosity. Previous studies have shown the incorporation of carbon nanotubes in various applications such as fly ash composites, increases mechanical properties of interest for the material. The formulation of the composite material consists of lunar regolith, urea, distilled water, phosphoric acid, and carbon nanotube powder. The results of this study will include an assessment of the compressive strength for specimens containing carbon nanotubes at different weight fractions of 0%, 0.25%, 0.50% and 1.00%. Uniaxial compression tests demonstrate a maximum compressive strength of 5.82 MPa. We were able to achieve a 23% increase in compressive strength with carbon nanotube additives over composites containing no carbon nanotubes. However, space habitats require thorough and repeated testing to protect the lives at stake in these extreme environments. This increase in compressive strength allows the development of such materials and will allow for more freedom within the structural possibilities available in space architecture.
KW - Carbon Nanotubes
KW - Compressive Strength
KW - Extraterrestrial Construction
KW - Lunar Regolith Composites
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85176783048&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85176783048&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1115/ssdm2023-107092
DO - 10.1115/ssdm2023-107092
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85176783048
T3 - Proceedings of ASME 2023 Aerospace Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, SSDM 2023
BT - Proceedings of ASME 2023 Aerospace Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, SSDM 2023
PB - American Society of Mechanical Engineers
T2 - ASME 2023 Aerospace Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, SSDM 2023
Y2 - 19 June 2023 through 21 June 2023
ER -