Printability and hardening performance of three-dimensionally-printed geopolymer based on lunar regolith simulant for automated construction of lunar infrastructure

Abstract

Using an in situ lunar regolith as a construction material in combination with 3D printing not only reduces the weight of materials carried from the Earth but also improves the automation of lunar infrastructure construction. This study aims to improve the printability of a geopolymer based on a BH-1 lunar regolith simulant, including the extrudability, open time, and buildability, by controlling the temperature and adding admixtures. Rheological parameters were used to represent printability with different water-to-binder ratios, printing temperatures, and contents of additives. The mechanical properties of the hardening geopolymer with different filling paths and loading directions were tested. The results show that heating the printed filaments with a water-to-binder ratio of 0.32 at 80 °C can adjust the printability without adding any additive, which can reduce the construction cost of lunar infrastructure. The printability of the BH-1 geopolymer can also be improved by adding 0.3% Attagel-50 and 0.5% polypropylene fiber by mass at a temperature of 20 °C to cope with the changeable environmental conditions on the Moon. After curing under a simulated lunar environment, the 72-h flexural and compressive strengths of the geopolymer specimens reach 4.1 and 48.1 MPa, respectively, which are promising considering that the acceleration of gravity on the Moon is 1/6 of that on the Earth.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

geopolymer / lunar regolith simulant / 3D printing / rheology / printability

References

[1] Wang C, Nie H, Chen J, Lee H P. The design and dynamic analysis of a lunar lander with semi-active control. Acta Astronautica, 2019, 157: 145–156

[2] RappD. Use of Extraterrestrial Resources for Human Space Missions to Moon or Mars. New York: Springer, 2018, 125–146

[3] Qiu Y, Park K. Environment-sensitive hydrogels for drug delivery. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 2012, 64: 49–60

[4] Taylor S L, Jakus A E, Koube K D, Ibeh A J, Geisendorfer N R, Shah R N, Dunand D C. Sintering of micro-trusses created by extrusion-3D-printing of lunar regolith inks. Acta Astronautica, 2018, 143: 1–8

[5] Toutanji H A, Evans S, Grugel R N. Performance of lunar sulfur concrete in lunar environments. Construction & Building Materials, 2012, 29: 444–448

[6] Davis G, Montes C, Eklund S. Preparation of lunar regolith based geopolymer cement under heat and vacuum. Advances in Space Research, 2017, 59(7): 1872–1885

[7] Davidovits J. Geopolymers: Inorganic polymeric new materials. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 1991, 37(8): 1633–1656

[8] Xu F, Gu G, Zhang W, Wang H, Huang X, Zhu J. Pore structure analysis and properties evaluations of fly ash-based geopolymer foams by chemical foaming method. Ceramics International, 2018, 44(16): 19989–19997

[9] HeikenGVanimanDFrenchB M. Lunar Sourcebook—A User’s Guide to the Moon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, 753

[10] Montes C, Broussard K, Gongre M, Simicevic N, Mejia J, Tham J, Allouche E, Davis G. Evaluation of lunar regolith geopolymer binder as a radioactive shielding material for space exploration applications. Advances in Space Research, 2015, 56(6): 1212–1221

[11] Alexiadis A, Alberini F, Meyer M E. Geopolymers from lunar and Martian soil simulants. Advances in Space Research, 2017, 59(1): 490–495

[12] Zhang C, Nerella V N, Krishna A, Wang S, Zhang Y, Mechtcherine V, Banthia N. Mix design concepts for 3D printable concrete: A review. Cement and Concrete Composites, 2021, 122: 104155

[13] Pilehvar S, Arnhof M, Pamies R, Valentini L, Kjøniksen A L. Utilization of urea as an accessible superplasticizer on the moon for lunar geopolymer mixtures. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2020, 247: 119177

[14] Cesaretti G, Dini E, de Kestelier X, Colla V, Pambaguian L. Building components for an outpost on the lunar soil by means of a novel 3D printing technology. Acta Astronautica, 2014, 93: 430–450

[15] Chu S H, Li L G, Kwan A K H. Development of extrudable high strength fiber reinforced concrete incorporating nano calcium carbonate. Additive Manufacturing, 2021, 37: 101617

[16] Panda B, Tan M J. Rheological behavior of high volume fly ash mixtures containing micro silica for digital construction application. Materials Letters, 2019, 237: 348–351

[17] Liu C, Wang X, Chen Y, Zhang C, Ma L, Deng Z, Chen C, Zhang Y, Pan J, Banthia N. Influence of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and silica fume on stability, rheological properties, and printability of 3D printing foam concrete. Cement and Concrete Composites, 2021, 122: 104158

[18] Labonnote N, Rønnquist A, Manum B, Rüther P. Additive construction: State-of-the-art, challenges and opportunities. Automation in Construction, 2016, 72(3): 347–366

[19] Guo X, Yang J, Xiong G. Influence of supplementary cementitious materials on rheological properties of 3D printed fly ash based geopolymer. Cement and Concrete Composites, 2020, 114: 103820

[20] Panda B, Ruan S, Unluer C, Tan M J. Improving the 3D printability of high volume fly ash mixtures via the use of nano attapulgite clay. Composites. Part B, Engineering, 2019, 165: 75–83

[21] Zhang Y, Zhang Y, She W, Yang L, Liu G, Yang Y. Rheological and harden properties of the high-thixotropy 3D printing concrete. Construction & Building Materials, 2019, 201: 278–285

[22] Liu X, Li Q, Li J. Shrinkage and mechanical properties optimization of spray-based 3D printed concrete by PVA fiber. Materials Letters, 2022, 319: 132253

[23] Hambach M, Volkmer D. Properties of 3D-printed fiber-reinforced Portland cement paste. Cement and Concrete Composites, 2017, 79: 62–70

[24] Raza M H, Zhong R Y, Khan M. Recent advances and productivity analysis of 3D printed geopolymers. Additive Manufacturing, 2022, 52: 102685

[25] Zhou S, Zhu X, Lu C, Li F. Synthesis and characterization of geopolymer from lunar regolith simulant based on natural volcanic scoria. Chinese Journal of Aeronautics, 2022, 35(1): 144–159

[26] Zhou S, Lu C, Zhu X, Li F. Preparation and characterization of high-strength geopolymer based on BH-1 lunar soil simulant with low alkali content. Engineering, 2021, 7(11): 1631–1645

[27] McKayDCarterJBolesWAllenCAlltonJ. JSC-1: A new lunar regolith simulant. In: Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Space IV. Albuquerque, NM: American Society of Civil Engineer, 1994, 857–866

[28] Zheng Y, Wang S, Ouyang Z, Zou Y, Liu J, Li C, Li X, Feng J. CAS-1 lunar soil simulant. Advances in Space Research, 2009, 43(3): 448–454

[29] Robens E, Dbrowski A, Mendyk E, Goworek J, Sobczak J. Investigation of surface properties of lunar regolith—Part IV, annales UMCS. Chemistry, 2008, 63: 144–168

[30] Ma G, Li Z, Wang L. Printable properties of cementitious material containing copper tailings for extrusion based 3D printing. Construction & Building Materials, 2018, 162: 613–627

[31] Ranjbar N, Mehrali M, Kuenzel C, Gundlach C, Pedersen D B, Dolatshahi-Pirouz A, Spangenberg J. Rheological characterization of 3D printable geopolymers. Cement and Concrete Research, 2021, 147: 106498

[32] Ivaniuk E, Friedrich Eichenauer M, Tošić Z, Müller S, Lordick D, Mechtcherine V. 3D printing and assembling of frame modules using printable strain-hardening cement-based composites (SHCC). Materials & Design, 2022, 219: 110757

[33] ASTMD2196-20. Standard Test Methods for Rheological Properties of Non-Newtonian Materials by Rotational Viscometer. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM, 2020

[34] Sun C, Xiang J, Xu M, He Y, Tong Z, Cui X. 3D extrusion free forming of geopolymer composites: Materials modification and processing optimization. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2020, 258: 120986

[35] Zhou S, Yang Z, Zhang R, Zhu X, Li F. Preparation and evaluation of geopolymer based on BH-2 lunar regolith simulant under lunar surface temperature and vacuum condition. Acta Astronautica, 2021, 189: 90–98

[36] GB/T17671-2021. Test Method of Cement Mortar Strength (ISO method). Beijing: Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China, 2021 (in Chinese)

[37] Ma G, Li Z, Wang L, Wang F, Sanjayan J. Mechanical anisotropy of aligned fiber reinforced composite for extrusion-based 3D printing. Construction & Building Materials, 2019, 202: 770–783

[38] Ye J, Cui C, Yu J, Yu K, Xiao J. Fresh and anisotropic-mechanical properties of 3D printable ultra-high ductile concrete with crumb rubber. Composites. Part B, Engineering, 2021, 211: 108639

[39] Petrie C J S. The rheology of fibre suspensions. Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics, 1999, 87(2): 369–402

[40] Chen M, Liu B, Li L, Cao L, Huang Y, Wang S, Zhao P, Lu L, Cheng X. Rheological parameters, thixotropy and creep of 3D-printed calcium sulfoaluminate cement composites modified by bentonite. Composites. Part B, Engineering, 2020, 186: 107821

[41] Chen M, Li L, Wang J, Huang Y, Wang S, Zhao P, Lu L, Cheng X. Rheological parameters and building time of 3D printing sulphoaluminate cement paste modified by retarder and diatomite. Construction & Building Materials, 2020, 234: 117391

[42] Long W J, Lin C, Tao J L, Ye T H, Fang Y. Printability and particle packing of 3D-printable limestone calcined clay cement composites. Construction & Building Materials, 2021, 282: 122647

[43] Ye J, Cui C, Yu J, Yu K, Dong F. Effect of polyethylene fiber content on workability and mechanical-anisotropic properties of 3D printed ultra-high ductile concrete. Construction & Building Materials, 2021, 281: 122586

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s). This article is published with open access at link.springer.com and journal.hep.com.cn