Конкордиа их сургуулийн судлаачид Сарны гадаргуу дээрх материалыг ашиглан сансрын бүтээн байгуулалтын зардлыг бууруулах шинэ аргыг боловсруулжээ.
Сар руу нэг килограмм ачаа тээвэрлэхэд нэг сая гаруй ам.доллар зарцуулагддаг тул судлаачид газар дээр нь байгаа нөөцийг ашиглах нь зүйтэй гэж үзэж байна. Фаршад Малекпур болон Мехди Хожжати нар Сарны хөрсний дуураймал материал болон өндөр чанарын PEKK хуванцрыг хослуулан 3D хэвлэгчээр эд анги бүтээх туршилт хийжээ. Энэхүү судалгаа нь сансарт тээвэрлэлтийн зардлыг эрс бууруулах боломжит шийдэл юм.
Тус багийнхан 3D хэвлэх явцад хуванцрыг дахин ашиглах боломжийг судалсан бөгөөд материалыг гурван удаа дахин боловсруулсан ч механик болон дулааны шинж чанарт нь мэдэгдэхүйц өөрчлөлт гараагүй байна. Сарны хөрсний дуураймал материалыг нэмснээр хэвлэх явцад үүсэх агшилт, гажуудлыг бууруулж, халаалтын процессыг илүү үр дүнтэй болгожээ. Гэсэн хэдий ч энэхүү нэмэлт бодис нь эд ангид жижиг нүх сүв үүсгэж, улмаар материалыг илүү хэврэг болгож буй нь судалгаагаар тогтоогдсон байна.
Энэхүү технологи нь одоогоор эхлэлийн шатандаа байгаа бөгөөд зөвхөн дуураймал хөрс ашиглан лабораторийн орчинд туршсан болно. Иймд Сарны бодит нөхцөлд уг материал хэрхэн тэсвэртэй байх нь одоогоор тодорхойгүй байна. Судлаачид уг аргыг ашиглан Сарны модулийн буултын үед цохилтын хүчийг шингээх бүтцүүдийг хэвлэх боломжтой гэж үзэж байгаа юм.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Building on the Moon is expensive, but scientists may have found a way to make better use of the materials already available there. Researchers at Concordia University have combined simulated lunar soil with recycled plastic to create 3D-printed parts.
Getting materials from Earth to the Moon comes with a staggering price tag. Some estimates put the cost of transporting just one kilogram (2.2 pounds) at more than $1 million. For anyone planning a permanent lunar habitat, finding ways to reduce the amount of material shipped from Earth is a major challenge.
One possible answer lies right beneath astronauts’ feet. The Moon’s surface is covered in lunar regolith, a mixture of dust and small, sharp rock fragments. In a study published in Composites Part B: Engineering, researchers Farshad Malekpour and Mehdi Hojjati explored how this material could be mixed with recycled high-performance plastic to make useful objects.
A New Use for Moon Dust
The researchers mixed simulated lunar soil with poly(ether ketone ketone), better known as PEKK, a high-performance thermoplastic that can be recycled and processed again. They turned the mixture into filament and used it to 3D print several objects, including a wrench and lightweight structures designed to absorb impacts.
These structures, called sacrificial structures, are made to deform under pressure and absorb energy. The team tested them to see how the material might handle forces similar to those experienced when a lunar module lands on the Moon. And the lunar soil did more than simply fill out the mixture.
The Concordia University study found that adding regolith simulant helped reduce shrinking and warping during heat treatment. That means printed objects were better able to keep their shape. The mineral particles also lowered the temperature at which PEKK crystallized during heating, making the treatment process more efficient.
Recycled Three Times, but Plastic Had a Weakness
One of the most interesting parts of the experiment was what happened when the researchers reused the plastic. Instead of starting with fresh PEKK each time, they collected material from an earlier printed structure. They shredded it, ground it into powder, dried it using heat, and mixed it with simulated lunar soil. The mixture was then turned into new filament and printed again.
The researchers repeated the recycling process three times without finding any significant loss in the plastic’s thermal or mechanical properties. They also put the material through a series of tests to see how well it performed. The results showed that the recycled composite remained thermally stable, with lunar soil particles spread evenly throughout the plastic. But the mixture wasn’t perfect. Adding regolith created more tiny internal pores, making the composite more brittle than PEKK on its own.
The study published in Composites Part B: Engineering makes an important distinction: the recycled plastic itself hadn’t deteriorated. The added mineral particles changed the properties of the final material. That helps explain why the researchers focused on impact-absorbing structures rather than permanent building components.
Old Plastic Could Get a Second Life on the Moon
The main idea behind the research is simple: use materials already available in space rather than constantly transporting new supplies from Earth. The team demonstrated how previously used plastic could be collected, recycled, combined with simulated Moon dust, and transformed into new objects through 3D printing. This approach follows the principle of closed-loop manufacturing, which focuses on recovering and reusing materials instead of discarding them after a single use.
Mehdi Hojjati, a professor in Concordia University’s Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Aerospace Engineering, describes the work as among the first to combine recycled space-grade polymer with lunar regolith in this way.
The experiments showed that high-performance plastic could withstand repeated recycling while remaining suitable for use in a mixture containing simulated lunar soil. However, the technology is still in its early stages. The team used simulated Moon dust rather than actual lunar material, meaning the process has yet to be tested under real lunar conditions.
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