
Tools and building blocks made by 3D printing with lunar and Martian dust
Printing presents an easy, highly scalable, sustainable manufacturing method for space travelers
When humans begin to colonize the moon and Mars, they will need to be able to make everything from small tools to large buildings using the limited surrounding resources.
Northwestern Engineering’s Ramille Shah and her Tissue Engineering and Additive Manufacturing (TEAM) Laboratory have demonstrated the ability to 3D-print structures with simulants of Martian and lunar dust. This work uses an extension of their “3D-painting process,” a term that Shah and her team use for their novel 3D inks and printing method, which they previously employed to print hyperelastic “bone”, 3D graphene and carbon nanotubes, and metals and alloys.
“For places like other planets and moons, where resources are limited, people would need to use what is available on that planet in order to live,” said Shah, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering and of surgery in the Feinberg School of Medicine. “Our 3D paints really open up the ability to print different functional or structural objects to make habitats beyond Earth.”
Partially supported by a gift from Google and performed at Northwestern’s Simpson Querrey Institute, the research was recently published in Nature Scientific Reports. Adam Jakus, a Hartwell postdoctoral fellow in Shah’s TEAM lab, was the paper’s first author. Two former Northwestern Engineering undergraduates, Katie Koube, who currently works as an engineer for SpaceX, and Nicholas Geisendorfer, who is now a graduate student in Shah’s lab, co-authored the work.
Shah’s research uses NASA-approved lunar and Martian dust simulants, which have similar compositions, particle shapes, and sizes to the dusts found on lunar and Martian surfaces. Shah’s team created the lunar and Martian 3D paints using the respective dusts, a series of simple solvents, and biopolymer, then 3D printed them with a simple extrusion process. The resulting structures are over 90 percent dust by weight.
Despite being made of rigid micro-rocks, the resulting 3D-painted material is flexible, elastic, and tough — similar to rubber. This is the first example of rubber-like or soft materials resulting from lunar and Martian simulant materials. The material can be cut, rolled, folded, and otherwise shaped after being 3D painted, if desired.
“We even 3D-printed interlocking bricks, similar to Legos, that can be used as building blocks,” Shah said.
Learn more: New Method for 3D Printing Extraterrestrial Materials
[osd_subscribe categories=’3D Printing-5′ placeholder=’Email Address’ button_text=’Subscribe Now for any new posts on the topic “3D PRINTING”‘]
The Latest on: 3D Printing
[google_news title=”” keyword=”3D Printing” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: 3D Printing
- 3D printer that can watch itself manufacture objectson November 28, 2023 at 11:00 am
MIT's autonomous 3D printer, with real-time monitoring and adaptive capabilities, is set to transform manufacturing by increasing efficiency and precision.
- Plug-And-Play 3D Printing Is Here: Hands-On With The Form 3 3D Printeron November 28, 2023 at 8:26 am
The Form 3 from Formlabs proves to be a very user friendly and capable 3D printer for manufacturers and makers alike.
- The American Manufacturers of FDM 3D Printers Under $5000on November 28, 2023 at 6:59 am
Where can you find US FDM 3D printers for under five grand? We compiled a list of manufacturers who can help you out!
- 3D Printing in Healthcare Market to Reach Value of $7.47 Billion by 2030: Coherent Market Insightson November 28, 2023 at 6:30 am
D printing in healthcare offers rapid manufacturing of customized medical products such as surgical equipment, external prosthetics, implants, tissue replacement structures and patient-specific ...
- Steakholder’s (NASDAQ: STKH) New Beef Ink Is Helping Make Commercial-Scale Steak Printing A Realityon November 28, 2023 at 1:55 am
At the heart of the B2B-focused company’s offering is the 3D printing technology designed to realistically mimic the texture of different cuts of meat. While researchers have been experimenting with ...
- Robot hand exceptionally 'human-like' thanks to new 3D printing techniqueon November 28, 2023 at 1:30 am
The hand was printed using a technique called slow-curing, which gives plastics more time to set and makes them more durable.
- German Health Firm Enlists Israeli 3D Printer To Boost CT Imagingon November 28, 2023 at 1:07 am
Stratasys will produce tailored CT phantoms - specialized models simulating areas of the human body used to ensure CT scanner efficacy.
- High-Quality 3D Printing with the LOOP PRO X+’s Innovative H-Bot Designon November 27, 2023 at 9:30 am
The PRO X+ FFF 3D printer has a large build volume of 500 x 350 x 500 mm, and it’s designed to produce very high quality parts. The system uses an unusual H-Bot mechatronic design, unlike the ...
- 3D printing helps save woman's lifeon November 27, 2023 at 5:08 am
Surgeons have used 3D printing to help save the life of a woman with a cancerous tumour in her nose. Alison Hough, from Staffordshire, was given only two weeks to live when she was diagnosed with a ...
via Bing News