Lunar regolith-AlSi10Mg composite fabricated by selective laser melting

Selective laser melting (SLM) provides a new method for on-site fabrication on the Moon. In this paper, the lunar regolith - AlSi10Mg composite was successfully fabricated by SLM. It is found that the lunar regolith re-solidified as a vermicular shape during the SLM processing. A variety of metallurgical reactions occur in the composite system. The SiO2, FeO, and TiO2 in the starting lunar regolith are reduced by the aluminum. The re-solidified lunar regolith is mainly composed of CaO and Al2O3. During the processing, the lunar regolith is found to be burned loss, which is essentially caused by the Al2O3 loss. The sample quality that considers both burning loss and relative density is analyzed. When the scanning speed is 500 mm/s and the hatching space is 0.12 mm, a higher relative density and the content of lunar regolith can be obtained. The compressive properties of the composites were measured. The results show that 92.5% relative dense sample has an ultimate compressive strength of 264 MPa. This research is expected to be applied to the on-situ manufacturing of high-strength components on the Moon.

Automated summary

Selective laser melting (SLM) is utilized to fabricate lunar regolith-AlSi10Mg composite successfully, with various metallurgical reactions and re-solidification observed. Specific parameters led to higher relative density and lunar regolith content, resulting in improved sample quality and compressive properties.