Investigating the microscopic, mechanical, and thermal properties of vacuum-sintered BH-1 lunar regolith simulant for lunar in-situ construction

Y. Jiang, F. Li, S. Zhou, L. Liu | 2025 | Case Studies in Construction Materials

DOI 10.1016/j.cscm.2024.e04132

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Summary

This paper investigates the vacuum-sintered BH-1 lunar regolith simulant for lunar in-situ construction. It evaluates microstructural, mechanical, and thermal properties using XRD, SEM, nanoindentation, uniaxial compression, and thermal property tests. The sintering temperature significantly affects microstructure and mechanical strength, with a maximum compressive strength of 90 MPa at 1100 C. The BH-1 LRS exhibits a low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) within 150 C to 150 C. The paper discusses the investigation of the Chang'e-5 lunar samples and their potential applications in lunar construction. It highlights the production properties of regolith polymer composites for lunar construction, emphasizing the importance of material selection for sustainable lunar habitats. The study also references previous research on lunar regolith and its use in construction materials. The provided text contains a series of URLs and file names related to images and thumbnails, likely from a scientific or academic paper. The URLs are associated with different image sizes (thumbnail, high-resolution) and are hosted on an AWS S3 bucket. The file names include identifiers like 'gr1', 'gr2', etc

Connected extracted records

These are the records this paper contributes to the simulant, returned sample, method, and property browsers.

Used simulants

BH-1

lunar regolith simulant

Needs review

100% confidencepage 1

Returned samples

No returned samples extracted yet.

Experiments and measurements

XRD

X-ray diffraction

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XRD, X-ray diffraction, X-ray diffraction, X-ray diffraction, X-ray diffraction, X-ray diffraction, X-ray diffraction, X-ray diffraction100% confidencepage 1

SEM

Scanning electron microscopy

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SEM, Scanning electron microscopy, Scanning electron microscopy, Scanning electron microscopy, Scanning electron microscopy, Scanning electron microscopy, Scanning electron microscopy, Scanning electron microscopy100% confidencepage 1

Nanoindentation

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Nanoindentation, Nanoindentation, Nanoindentation, Nanoindentation, Nanoindentation, Nanoindentation, Nanoindentation, Nanoindentation100% confidencepage 1

Uniaxial compression

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Uniaxial compression, Uniaxial compression, Uniaxial compression, Uniax, compression, Uniaxial compression, Uniaxial compression, Uniaxial compression, Uniaxial compression100% confidencepage 1

Thermal property tests

Needs review

Thermal property tests, Thermal property tests, Thermal property tests, Thermal property tests, Thermal property tests, Thermal property tests, Thermal property tests, Thermal property tests100% confidencepage 1

Sintering at Various Temperatures

Thermal Processing

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Sintering at 900°C, Sintering at 950°C, Sintering at 1000°C, Sintering at 1050°C, Sintering at 1100°C85% confidencepage 8

Thermal Characterization

Material Analysis

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Thermal Analysis, Thermal Characterization of BH-1 LRS90% confidencepage 8

Microstructural Analysis

Material Characterization

Needs review

Optical Microscopy, SEM Analysis, MIP Analysis85% confidencepage 8

Measured properties

Thermal Properties

Characterized in Fig. 1

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Material Properties90% confidencepage 8

Microstructure

Analyzed via SEM and MIP

Needs review

Material Properties85% confidencepage 8

Mechanical Properties

Measured via Nanoindentation

Needs review

Material Properties80% confidencepage 8

Phase Composition

Analyzed via XRD

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Material Properties80% confidencepage 8

compressive strength

90 MPa

Needs review

mechanical100% confidencepage 10

coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE)

low

Needs review

thermal100% confidencepage 10

microstructure

affected by sintering temperature

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microstructural100% confidencepage 10

mineral composition

unchanged at different sintering temperatures

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chemical100% confidencepage 10

Methods and applications

Methods

X-ray diffractionScanning electron microscopyNanoindentationUniaxial compressionThermal property testsThe URLs suggest that the paper's images are hosted on an AWS S3 bucket, which aSintering at various temperaturesThermal characterizationSEM analysisOptical microscopyMIP analysisNanoindentation testingXRD analysisX-ray diffraction (XRD)scanning electron microscopy (SEM)Thermogravimetric (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) testsVacuum sintering testsMercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP)Uniaxial compression testsThermal property measurementsdilatometer (NETZSCH DIL 402SU)laser flash methodDSCArchimedes drainage methodthermal conductivity calculationmercury intrusion porosimetryenergy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopythermal treatmentNanoindentation testsUniaxial compression testThermal conductivity measurementsCoefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) measurementsSEM-EDS microanalysisSEMEDSXRDMIPthermal conductivity and CTE testSolar sinteringLaser sinteringMicrowave sinteringSpark plasma sinteringVacuum sinteringDigital light processingExtrusion-3D printingNeural network predictionThermal conductivity measurement

Applications

Lunar in-situ constructionMaterial characterization for space applicationsAcademic ResearchScientific PublishingLunar regolith simulant for space explorationMaterial characterization for planetary scienceThermal and mechanical testing of simulated lunar materialslunar base constructionin-situ resource utilization (ISRU)lunar regolith consolidationSinteringThermal analysisMechanical testingPorosity analysisthermal insulationthermal barrier coatingsheat exchangersinsulation materialsthermal management systemsstructural materialsaerospace applicationsautomotive applicationsspace explorationmaterial scienceThermal insulation on the MoonApplications demanding faster heat dissipationlunar regolith utilizationspace habitat materialsConstruction of lunar habitats3D printing of lunar regolith simulantsIn situ resource utilization (ISRU) for space explorationDevelopment of synthetic space bricksLunar regolith simulant for extraterrestrial constructionConcrete thermal propertiesThermal expansion prediction