Manufacture of polymeric concrete on the Moon

Abstract

The present study concerns a development of lunar concrete using a thermoplastic polymer in constructing outpost on the Moon, assuming that a given quantity of polymer has to import from the Earth. A mixture of 10% polymer and 90% lunar soil by mass was cast in a 50 mm cubic mold, followed by being preheated in the vacuum chamber at <0.1 Torr to mimic the highest temperature on the equator, and then further heat was provided to the mix with a heat plate at 230 C. Substantially, the strength of the lunar concrete was gained about 12.6-12.9 MPa within 5 h, as being strong enough to construct an infrastructure on the Moon, encompassing habitat, landing/launching pad and facilities. Considering the maximum payload in a lander, about 100 t of lunar concrete could be produced by a single landing on the Moon. © 2015 IAA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.