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General
Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft, which was successfully launched an hour ago, carried bricks made of 'replica' lunar soil. These bricks are produced based on the composition of real lunar soil samples. They will be exposed to the space environment in order to study their mechanical, thermal, and radiation-shielding properties. The purpose is to verify whether they are suitable for use as construction material for China's future lunar bases.
Speaking of replica lunar soil. China has been using simulated lunar soil (produced based on samples of real lunar soil samples) to explore ways to build permanent structures on the Moon. Some of the research results have been published in an English-language paper titled .
Simulated lunar soil is highly similar to real lunar soil in physical properties, mineral composition and chemical properties. Simulated lunar soil-based composite materials are based on simulated lunar soil and are formed into building materials with excellent performance by adding different additives and process treatment.
According to different reinforcement and toughening mechanisms, simulated lunar soil-based composite materials can be divided into many types, including sintered composite materials, geopolymer composite materials, cement-based composite materials, polymer composite materials and fiber-reinforced composite materials.
Sintered composite materials are ultra-high strength building materials formed by phase change of simulated lunar soil powder through high-temperature sintering. This method can achieve 100% in-situ resource utilization and is one of the most promising materials in the construction of lunar bases.
Geopolymer composite materials use alkali-activated solutions to react with silicon-aluminum materials in simulated lunar soil to form a three-dimensional network inorganic polymer. This material can solidify at low temperatures and has good chemical stability and mechanical properties.
Cement-based composite materials are building materials that are improved by referring to the traditional cement concrete preparation process and combining the characteristics of lunar soil. In theory, the water resource problem can be solved by extracting water ice from the lunar polar regions.
Polymer composite materials are building materials formed by mixing thermoplastic polymers, bio-organic polymers, etc. as binders with simulated lunar soil. This material has good formability and plasticity and is suitable for various complex building structures.
Fiber-reinforced composite materials are fiber materials (such as basalt fiber, carbon fiber, etc.) added to simulated lunar soil-based composite materials to significantly improve the mechanical properties and crack resistance of the materials. Its mechanical properties are very excellent, and its compressive strength, tensile strength and flexural strength are significantly improved compared to composite materials without fiber addition.
Special treatment and protection of building materials are required to ensure their stable existence and performance on the moon. Mixing and molding building materials in a microgravity environment is also a technical challenge. The service performance of the lunar base includes thermal performance, radiation shielding and impact resistance. In order to ensure the structural availability of the lunar base, it needs to be fully tested and evaluated. Including mechanical performance testing, durability testing, environmental adaptability testing, etc.
