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3D printing with moondust

Goulas, Athanasios and Friel, Ross J. LU (2016) In Rapid Prototyping Journal 22(6). p.864-870
Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the main process parameters of laser melting (LM) type additive manufacturing (AM) on multi-layered structures manufactured from JSC-1A Lunar regolith (Moondust) simulant powder. Design/methodology/approach - Laser diffraction technology was used to analyse and confirm the simulant powder material particle sizes and distribution. Geometrical shapes were then manufactured on a Realizer SLM" 100 using the simulant powder. The laser-processed samples were analysed via scanning electron microscopy to evaluate surface and internal morphologies, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to analyse the chemical composition after processing, and the samples were mechanically investigated... (More)

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the main process parameters of laser melting (LM) type additive manufacturing (AM) on multi-layered structures manufactured from JSC-1A Lunar regolith (Moondust) simulant powder. Design/methodology/approach - Laser diffraction technology was used to analyse and confirm the simulant powder material particle sizes and distribution. Geometrical shapes were then manufactured on a Realizer SLM" 100 using the simulant powder. The laser-processed samples were analysed via scanning electron microscopy to evaluate surface and internal morphologies, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to analyse the chemical composition after processing, and the samples were mechanically investigated via Vickers micro-hardness testing. Findings - A combination of process parameters resulting in an energy density value of 1.011 J/mm2 allowed the successful production of components directly from Lunar regolith simulant. An internal relative porosity of 40.8 per cent, material hardness of 670 ±11 HV and a dimensional accuracy of 99.8 per cent were observed in the fabricated samples. Originality/value - This research paper is investigating the novel application of a powder bed fusion AM process category as a potential on-site manufacturing approach for manufacturing structures/components out of Lunar regolith (Moondust). It was shown that this AM process category has the capability to directly manufacture multi-layered parts out of Lunar regolith, which has potential applicability to future moon colonization.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Advanced manufacturing technologies, Ceramic multi-Component materials, Laser additive manufacturing, Lunar regolith, On site resource utilization, Space additive manufacturing
in
Rapid Prototyping Journal
volume
22
issue
6
pages
7 pages
publisher
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
external identifiers
  • scopus:84992195895
ISSN
1355-2546
DOI
10.1108/RPJ-02-2015-0022
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
38647eea-01ba-46cc-ba65-4fff1f8d5b0a
date added to LUP
2017-01-23 09:48:10
date last changed
2022-04-16 22:47:19
@article{38647eea-01ba-46cc-ba65-4fff1f8d5b0a,
  abstract     = {{<p>Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the main process parameters of laser melting (LM) type additive manufacturing (AM) on multi-layered structures manufactured from JSC-1A Lunar regolith (Moondust) simulant powder. Design/methodology/approach - Laser diffraction technology was used to analyse and confirm the simulant powder material particle sizes and distribution. Geometrical shapes were then manufactured on a Realizer SLM" 100 using the simulant powder. The laser-processed samples were analysed via scanning electron microscopy to evaluate surface and internal morphologies, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to analyse the chemical composition after processing, and the samples were mechanically investigated via Vickers micro-hardness testing. Findings - A combination of process parameters resulting in an energy density value of 1.011 J/mm<sup>2</sup> allowed the successful production of components directly from Lunar regolith simulant. An internal relative porosity of 40.8 per cent, material hardness of 670 ±11 HV and a dimensional accuracy of 99.8 per cent were observed in the fabricated samples. Originality/value - This research paper is investigating the novel application of a powder bed fusion AM process category as a potential on-site manufacturing approach for manufacturing structures/components out of Lunar regolith (Moondust). It was shown that this AM process category has the capability to directly manufacture multi-layered parts out of Lunar regolith, which has potential applicability to future moon colonization.</p>}},
  author       = {{Goulas, Athanasios and Friel, Ross J.}},
  issn         = {{1355-2546}},
  keywords     = {{Advanced manufacturing technologies; Ceramic multi-Component materials; Laser additive manufacturing; Lunar regolith; On site resource utilization; Space additive manufacturing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{864--870}},
  publisher    = {{Emerald Group Publishing Limited}},
  series       = {{Rapid Prototyping Journal}},
  title        = {{3D printing with moondust}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-02-2015-0022}},
  doi          = {{10.1108/RPJ-02-2015-0022}},
  volume       = {{22}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}