The microstructure and mechanical properties of microwave-heated lunar simulants at different input powers under vacuum

Lim, Sungwoo; Degli Alessandrini, Giulia; Bowen, James; Anand, Mahesh and Cowley, Aidan (2023). The microstructure and mechanical properties of microwave-heated lunar simulants at different input powers under vacuum. Nature Scientific Reports, 13(1), article no. 1804.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-29030-z

Abstract

To achieve a sustainable human presence on the Moon, it is critical to develop technologies utilising the local resources (a.k.a. in-situ resource utilisation or ISRU) for construction and resource extraction. In this study, we investigate the viability of microwave heating of two lunar soil simulants (JSC-1A and OPRH3N) under vacuum conditions, to simulate a lunar surface environment compared to previous studies performed at atmospheric pressure. All simulants are thermally treated in a bespoke 2.45 GHz microwave apparatus using three input powers: 1000 W, 600 W and 250 W. The microstructures and mechanical properties of the microwaved samples are analysed to identify their potential applications. Our key findings are: (i) higher input powers generate materials in shorter fabrication times with higher mechanical strengths and higher yields despite the same total energy input; (ii) the microstructures of the microwaved samples under vacuum are very different from those under atmospheric conditions due to the widespread vesicles/bubbles; and (iii) different heating rates caused by different input powers can be utilised for specific ISRU purposes: higher input powers for extra-terrestrial construction and lower input powers for resource extraction. Findings from this study have significant implications for developing a microwave-heating payload for lunar ISRU demonstration missions.

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• Item ORO ID
• 87288
• Item Type
• Journal Item
• ISSN
• 2045-2322
• Project Funding Details

• Funded Project Name	Project ID	Funding Body
  Microwave Heating Demonstrator (MHD) payload – Develop hardware of 250W Microwave Generator and oxygen/water extraction subsystem	AMS 1752394	UK Space Agency (UKSA)
  Microwave heating Apparatus of lunar Regolith for Variant Experiments of Lunar ISRU missions	AMS 1465858	ESA (European Space Agency)
  Planetary Science Consolidated Grant 2020-2023	Not Set	STFC (Science & Technology Facilities Council)

• Extra Information
• Unmapped bibliographic data:
  JO - Scientific Reports [Field not mapped to EPrints]
• Academic Unit or School
• Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) > Physical Sciences
  Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
  Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) > Engineering and Innovation
• Research Group
• ?? space ??
• Copyright Holders
• © 2023 The Authors
• Related URLs
• • https://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/...(Author Website)
• Depositing User
• Sungwoo Lim