Dataset - Direct Laser Sintering of Lunar Regolith Simulants
Data of trials undertaken to investigate the viability of directly sintering the lunar surface for dust control. Four lunar regolith simulants were sintered using a CO2 laser.
Each row details data of one trial. The unique identifier in column A is in the form XXXX-A##.
XXX gives the simulant type:
- DG2r: air-dried DG-2 simulant (all other simulants were oven dried)
- DG-2: in-house mare simulant. Also includes coarse fractions with the same mineralogy: D03 (0 - 300 um), D7515 (75 - 150 um), D153 (150 - 300 um), D36 (300 - 600 um), D612 (600 um - 1.2 mm), D1224 (1.2 - 2.4 mm), D2448 (2.4 - 4.8 mm)
- AN-1: in-house highland simulant
- LMS-1: Exolith labs mare simulant
- LHS-1: Exolith labs highland simulant
A gives the product type:
- r: tile
- T, LT, LTL, LTT, LTH, Cr, La: Single layer tiles
- 2L: Two-layer tiles
- DLS: Sintered crusts
## is a numerical identifier.
A breif description of the recorded data is given below:
Nom. ring diameter, width, length: Nominal diameter of ring or width/length of tiles and sintered crusts as per vector pattern. Actual dimensions may vary from the nominal value due to melt line thickness.
Power: Nominal laser power in Watts. This is a measure of the power output. The power of a laser may reduce with time, and the machine used for these trials was relatively old. It is possible that actual power output was lower than the nominal value.
Velocity: Laser travel speed.
P/v: Ratio of power to velocity
Frequency: Laser pulse frequency
Standoff: The position of the build plate below the laser focal plane. The standoff can be used to vary the laser beam diameter at the surface of the raw material. Based on measurements of lines engraved on an anodised aluminium plate, the laser spot size varied linearly between 0.4 mm and 0.8 mm for a standoff between 0 and 20 mm.
Simulant / Layer # Simulant: Simulant used to produce the component. Full descriptions of these simulants are available in the referenced paper (to be added after publication of paper).
Precompaction / Layer # Simulant: Level of precompaction applied to raw material prior to direct laser sintering (DLS).
Layer # depth of loose simulant: Depth of loose material added to form layer (prior to compaction, if any).
Layer # vector pattern: Pattern used to create the layer. Details of the vector patterns are given in the referenced paper.
Layer # vector spacing: Spacing between laser runs. This is equivalent to the centre-to-centre spacing of the melt lines.
Layer # no. of vectors T/L: Number of melt lines transverse (T) or longitudinal (L) to the direction of the tile as tested in bending.
Meas. ring section width/depth: Width or depth of ring section measured using digital callipers. Due to the number of trials, each was measured only in one location. Section widths and depths vary around the perimeter of the ring. Therefore scatter in this measurement is high.
Meas. width/length/thickness: Width, length or thickness of tiles measured using digital callipers. Again a single measurement was made for each product so the scatter is high.
Mass: Mass of product measured using digital scales.
Bouyant mass: Mass of product when suspended in water.
Density: Density of product calculated from mass and bouyant mass.
Ultimate flex load: Maximum flexural load as measured in 3- or 4-point bending.
Span: Support span used for flexural strength test
3 or 4 point bending?: Loading arrangement for flexural strength test.
M_ult: Ultimate flexural strength in terms of maximum bending moment per unit width.
State @ 3.3 kN: Observation of condition of DLS crust after applying the serviceability load of 3.3 kN on a 35 mm diameter steel block with an 8 mm thick rubber pad.
Bearing capacity: Ultimate bearing strength of DLS crust when loaded with a 35 mm diameter still block and 8 mm thick bearing pad.
Eγ: Energy area density for tile production based on nominal laser output power.
Es: Specific energy (energy per unit mass) of rings or tiles based on nominal laser output power.
Production rate: Production rate of rings or tiles.
