In Situ 3D Lunar Manufacturing Using Digital Light Processing

As the thirst for space exploration has creeped back into the public zeitgeist, the aerospace industry is gearing up to become residents of our closest celestial neighbor. A lunar expedition to the south pole offers a multitude of challenges. The logistics and cost of getting resources from Earth to the moon clearly enables the need for predominantly in-situ part and structure additive manufacturing (AM) using locally available materials. In this regard, Greenland Anorthosite lunar regolith was three-dimensionally (3D) printed using Digital Light Processing (DLP). Complex and intricate geometries with high dimensional accuracy were printed and sintered with no signs of delamination. The solid loading of Greenland regolith was 60 wt% with a shrinkage post sintering of less than 6% in all three directions. The mechanical integrity and thermal stability of the printed part has also been studied. The compressive failure of the sintered sample was validated using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). This research is a step towards validating the use of lunar regolith for part and colonist habitat manufacturing.