Efforts are underway to establish a permanent lunar base on the Moon. In situ lunar regolith is anticipated to be useful as a building material after sintering. However, sintering lunar regolith into a large-scale str...Efforts are underway to establish a permanent lunar base on the Moon. In situ lunar regolith is anticipated to be useful as a building material after sintering. However, sintering lunar regolith into a large-scale structure presents challenges. Therefore, the key to lunar construction lies in assembling multiple small-sized sintered modules into a stable, large-sized structure. This study explored the feasibility of welding the sintered HUST-1 lunar regolith simulant(HLRS) using a laser device and conducted experiments using lasers of varying power. The microstructure, mineral composition, element distribution, and shear strength of the welded joint were investigated. A few low-melting minerals were fused and vaporized during welding, leading to the generation of thermal decomposition gas. Furthermore, the welded joint exhibited numerous micro-cracks, pores, and bubbles,resulting in reduced weld shear strength. Finally, the influence of laser power on weld shear strength was investigated, revealing that the highest shear strength(15.69 N/cm) was achieved at a laser power of 1000 W. This study demonstrates the feasibility of laser welding of sintered HLRS for the first time, with potential applications in lunar base construction.展开更多
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Grant Nos.2023YFB3711300 and 2021YFF0500300)the Strategic Research and Consulting Project of the Chinese Academy of Engineering(Grant Nos.2023-XZ-90 and 2023-JB-09-10)。
文摘Efforts are underway to establish a permanent lunar base on the Moon. In situ lunar regolith is anticipated to be useful as a building material after sintering. However, sintering lunar regolith into a large-scale structure presents challenges. Therefore, the key to lunar construction lies in assembling multiple small-sized sintered modules into a stable, large-sized structure. This study explored the feasibility of welding the sintered HUST-1 lunar regolith simulant(HLRS) using a laser device and conducted experiments using lasers of varying power. The microstructure, mineral composition, element distribution, and shear strength of the welded joint were investigated. A few low-melting minerals were fused and vaporized during welding, leading to the generation of thermal decomposition gas. Furthermore, the welded joint exhibited numerous micro-cracks, pores, and bubbles,resulting in reduced weld shear strength. Finally, the influence of laser power on weld shear strength was investigated, revealing that the highest shear strength(15.69 N/cm) was achieved at a laser power of 1000 W. This study demonstrates the feasibility of laser welding of sintered HLRS for the first time, with potential applications in lunar base construction.
