In light of the Artemis 2024 mission, and in preparation for crewed missions to Mars, additive manufacturing has gathered momentum for building construction on other celestial bodies due to the potential for reduced material transport costs and high complexity of printed structures. Direct ink write of simulant Martian regolith, suspended in a polymer binder and solidified by UV curing, offers a solution to the challenges encountered by traditional AM methods in outer space, namely low atmospheres and low gravity. Herein, I propose a comprehensive study for formulating regolith simulant-dense DIW inks and optimizing their processing and weatherability at low temperatures. Rheological characterization and 3 Interval Thixotropy Testing will be employed to assess the effects of regolith particles’ nonuniformity on the suspension’s stability during printing. DMA and TGA will be used to study the effects of monomer crosslinking and particle loading on the binder’s ability to retain a low Tg, preventing brittle mechanical failure. Print performance and adhesion failure through thermal cycling will be assessed through SEM and microCT. A 2-level factorial design of experiments will serve to determine the strongest contributing factors in adhesion failure of 3D printed granular matter. Larger concentrations of smaller particles are expected to yield lower phase stability during printing, while monomers resulting in rapid and tight crosslinking will result in a brittle binder prone to failure. Loss of adhesion due to thermal cycling is anticipated to be the result of differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion of the binder and particles. A successful conclusion of this work will demonstrate new application methods for 3D printing of high solids materials, expand the range of possible printing materials to maximize in-situ resource utilization, while also providing knowledge specific challenges for off-Earth construction.

A successful conclusion of this work will demonstrate new application methods for 3D printing of high solids materials, expand the range of possible printing materials to maximize in-situ resource utilization, while also providing knowledge specific challenges for off-Earth construction.