Duration: 36 months
The development of infrastructure on Mars is essential in future crewed missions, where In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) will play a key role in sustainable sourcing. Regolith feedstock can be processed for manufacturing through different methods [1]. Extrusion Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a technology that offers scalability, the capability to manufacture a diverse range of materials and complex shapes, and adaptability to harsh environments such as the one on Mars.
Using site-specific resources, materials can be developed for good mechanical strength and radiation absorbance. With no protective magnetosphere on Mars, humans and electronic equipment are vulnerable to cosmic radiation that amounts to very high doses without proper shielding. The use of regolith has been investigated for this purpose [2–4], in some cases incorporating polymer layers for increased hydrogen content to enhance neutron capture capabilities [5].
Clay-rich regolith, ice water, and brines are present on Mars [6–9] and can potentially produce slurries for AM of infrastructure. Extrusion AM can produce green bodies with clay-water matrices that remain frozen under the right conditions, providing structural integrity. Frozen silty clay’s tensile and compressive strengths can approach similar values to that of concrete on Earth. Additionally, clay slurries are an effective absorber of thermal neutrons, with increased performance given a higher water content [10]. This project proposes the development of water-clay systems in different phase conditions (wet, icy, dry) to investigate the mechanical and radiation shielding properties of materials produced via extrusion AM.
[1] Karl D, Cannon KM, Gurlo A. Review of space resources processing for Mars missions: Martian simulants, regolith bonding concepts and additive manufacturing. Open Ceramics 2022;9(100216). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceram.2021.100216.
[2] Kim MH, Thibeault SA, Wilson JW, Heilbronn L, Kiefer RL, Weakley JA et al. Radiation protection using Martian surface materials in human exploration of Mars. Physica Medica 2001;17:81–3.
[3] Llamas HJ, Aplin KL, Berthoud L. Effectiveness of Martian regolith as a radiation shield. Planetary and Space Science 2022;218:105517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2022.105517.
[4] Meurisse A, Cazzaniga C, Frost C, Barnes A, Makaya A, Sperl M. Neutron radiation shielding with sintered lunar regolith. Radiation Measurements 2020;132:106247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radmeas.2020.106247.
[5] Sargent S. Radiation Shielding Bricks for Mars Using Martian Regolith Simulant and Hydrogen-Rich Polymers.
[6] Ojha L, Wilhelm MB, Murchie SL, McEwen AS, Wray JJ, Hanley J et al. Spectral evidence for hydrated salts in recurring slope lineae on Mars. Nature Geosci 2015;8(11):829–32. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2546.
[7] Wernicke LJ, Jakosky BM. Martian Hydrated Minerals: A Significant Water Sink. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 2021;126(e2019JE006351).
[8] Wallis MK, Wickramasinghe JT, Wickramasinghe NC. Mars polar cap: a habitat for elementary life. International Journal of Astrobiology 2009;8(2):117–9. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1473550409004467.
[9] Bierson CJ, Tulaczyk S, Courville SW, Putzig NE. Strong MARSIS Radar Reflections From the Base of Martian South Polar Cap May Be Due to Conductive Ice or Minerals. Geophysical Research Letters 2021;48(13). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL093880.
[10] Yoshikawa E, Komine H, Saito Y, Goto S, Narushima S, Arai Y et al. Radiation-Shielding Properties of Heavy Bentonite-Based Slurry for the Decommissioning of the Fukushima First Nuclear Power Plant. Geo-Chicago 2016 2016;269(269 GSP). https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784480120.031.
