Development of Lunar Soil Simulant for Sintering Experiments

Lunar regolith is considered as a primary raw material for potential infrastructure construction on the Moon. To test additive manufacturing methods, it is necessary to create lunar regolith simulants that replicate its chemical and mineralogical composition. Among terrestrial materials, volcanic ash shows the closest resemblance to regolith. The ash from the Tolbachik volcano possesses chemical and mineral composition similar to lunar regolith. A soil simulant has been developed, featuring a chemical and mineralogical composition that combines both mare and highland characteristics of lunar regolith. Testing of this simulant was performed using laser sintering technology. Successful sintering experiments with Tolbachik volcano tephra enabled production of a component with an average microhardness value of 630 HV.