Washington State University
Mars
Researchers at Washington State University mixed a small amount of simulated crushed Martian rock mixed with a titanium alloy, which created a strong high-performance material. The team says the 3D printing process could one day be used on Mars to make tools or rocket parts.
The parts were created with as little as 5%, all the way up to 100% Martian regolith, a black powdery substance that is meant to mimic the rocky, inorganic material found on the surface of the red planet.
The parts containing 5% Martian regolith were strong, but the 100% regolith parts were brittle and cracked easily. Despite the results of the latter, the researchers determined that high-Martian content materials would be useful in making coatings to protect equipment from rust or radiation damage, according to Amit Bandyopadhyay, one of the authors on the study published in the International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology.
“In space, 3D printing is something that has to happen if we want to think of a manned mission because we really cannot carry everything from here,” said Bandyopadhyay, a professor in WSU’s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. “And if we forgot something, we cannot come back to get it.”
It can prove expensive to bring materials into space. The authors of the WSU study noted that it costs 54,000 USD for the NASA space shuttle to put only one kilogram of payload into Earth orbit. Using 3D printing to manufacture parts in space, or on a different planet, saves weight and money, as well as allowing astronauts a way to repair things on site.
Bandyopadhyay first demonstrated the feasibility of this idea in 2011, when his team used 3D printing to manufacture parts from lunar regolith, simulated crushed moon rock, for NASA. Space agencies have since embraced the technology, with the International Space Station having its own 3D printers to create needed materials on site for experiments.
For the WSU study, Bandyopadhyay, along with graduate students Ali Afrouzian and Kellen Traxel, used a powder-based 3D printer to mix simulated Martian rock dust with a titanium alloy. Titanium is often used in space exploration for its strength and heat resistant properties.
In the process that was used as part of the study, a high-powered laser heated the materials to over 2,000 degrees Celsius. Afterwards, the melted mix of Martian regolith-ceramic and metal material flowed onto a moving platform that allowed the researchers to create different shapes and sizes. It was then tested for strength and durability after it cooled down.
The 100% Martian rock dust material cracked as it cooled, but the researchers stated that it could still function as a good coating for radiation shields, as cracks do not matter in that context.
The mixture with 5% regolith, however, didn’t crack or bubble when cooled, as well as exhibiting better properties than the titanium alloy alone. This meant it could be used to make lighter weight pieces that could still bear heavy loads.
“It gives you a better, higher strength and hardness material, so that can perform significantly better in some applications,” said Bandyopadhyay. He went on to say that the study was just the start, and future research could yield better composites using different metals or 3D printing techniques.
He continued: “This establishes that it is possible, and maybe we should think in this direction because it’s not just making plastic parts which are weak but metal-ceramic composite parts which are strong and can be used for any kind of structural parts.”
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.
