3. INTRODUCTION
• One of the most challenging tasks for
the present day Civil Engineer is to lay
an base on the lunar surface.
• The Idea of Lunarcrete dates back to
1985
4. LUNAR NATURE
• 1/6 Gravitation of the earth
• Less atmosphere on the moon
• Lunar surface is continuously exposed to
radiation
5. Topics to be discussed
• What is Lunarcrete
• lunar soil
• Raw materials
• Lunarcrete manufacturing
• Conclusion
6. What is LUNARCRETE
• Lunarcrete, also known as "mooncrete", an
idea first proposed by Larry A. Beyer in 1985, is
a hypothetical aggregate building material,
similar to concrete formed from lunar regolith
that would reduce the construction costs of
building on the Moon.
7. REGOLITH or LUNAR SOIL
The bulky part of Lunarcrete, the aggregate,
can be made of the top layer of lunar soil,
called “REGOLITH”.
8. Characteristics of Lunar soil
Grain size = < 100 mm
Bulk density = 0.9 to 1.1 g/cm3
Porosity = 45
Thickness = 4-5m
Specific Gravity = 2.9 to 3.5
9.
10. RAW MATERIALS
• Material available on the Lunar surface is
REGOLITH.
• Water is obtained by extracting Lunar
rock.
• Fibres are obtained from Iron Extracted
from lunar Rock.
• Cement can be obtained by processing
materials on the lunar surface.
11. AGGREGATES
• A/C to ASTM they are classified based on sp.gr.
• If Lunar soils have >2.6 they form best aggregates.
• Lunar environment have no effect on this process.
• Lack of moisture eliminates Alakali Agg.Reaction
12. water
• Transporting water from earth is costly.
• Ilmenite reduction & alkali hydroxide.
produce hydrogen
• Moon terrestrial burn WATER
rock hydrogen in O2
13. FIBERS
• Fibers could be prepared by extracting Iron from lunar
rocks.
• Tensile strength is to be 1/10 th of compressive strength
• Doubles tensile strength by 4% of weight.
16. LUNARCRETE PRODUCTION
• Water – Powdered Ice – uniform mix
• No Cover-no Air - prevents vacuum
• Cured with Heat Insulator-Then expose to vacuum
17. WATERLESS LUNARCRETE PRODUCTION
• sulfur is used instead of water-Binding agent
Eliminates need of water,
SULFUR strength in less time 70% to 80%,
Binding Agent(liquid or semi-liquid)
requires heating 130 to 140⁰C.
• sulfur melts about 119⁰C & stiffen about 148⁰C
• Sulfur concrete hardens like a rock in an hour
Sulfur concrete=12-22%sulfur+78-68%aggregate
18. Estimated Laboratory properties for Lunarcrete
Compressive strength = 39–75.7 N/mm2
Young's modulus = 21.4 kN/m2
Density = 2.6 g/cm3
Temperature coefficient = 5.4 × 10−6 K−1
20. Factors Effecting Lunarcrete
• Prior to the production of Lunarcrete 2
things should be kept in mind
1)Low gravity effect
2) Effect of vacuum
21. Lunarcrete test results
• Workability is less- sulfur (30%)
• Workability is more- sulfur (40%)
• More than 40% - Portland cement- W/C > 0.4
• In less time solidified with high sulfur content
• Density of Lunarcrete- 2200Kg/m3
• No voids found inside the specimen
