Class

Article

College

College of Engineering

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department

Faculty Mentor

Nadia Kouraytem

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM), colloquially known as 3D Printing, is a manufacturing process in which a component is fabricated layer-by-layer. For metallic materials, the most common AM methods use powders as feedstock materials. To print in space, one abundantly available material is the loose powder covering the moon, i.e., lunar regolith. However, past research has shown that regolith does not have ideal properties for AM.

There are two main material properties that affect AM performance: (1) powder flowability, and (2) packing density. Powders must be able to flow over the print bed, otherwise the printer will jam. When powders naturally pack together, the material becomes denser, which is not ideal for the printing process.

Location

Logan, UT

Start Date

4-9-2024 11:30 AM

End Date

4-9-2024 12:20 PM

Included in

Engineering Commons

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Apr 9th, 11:30 AM Apr 9th, 12:20 PM

Characterization of Functionally Graded Regolith-Metal Powder Mixtures for Additive Manufacturing in Space

Logan, UT

Additive manufacturing (AM), colloquially known as 3D Printing, is a manufacturing process in which a component is fabricated layer-by-layer. For metallic materials, the most common AM methods use powders as feedstock materials. To print in space, one abundantly available material is the loose powder covering the moon, i.e., lunar regolith. However, past research has shown that regolith does not have ideal properties for AM.

There are two main material properties that affect AM performance: (1) powder flowability, and (2) packing density. Powders must be able to flow over the print bed, otherwise the printer will jam. When powders naturally pack together, the material becomes denser, which is not ideal for the printing process.