Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Sintering Regolith with Solar Light

Objective

Future human activity on the lunar surface will use 3D printing to build infrastructure from lunar soil using the Sun as the only source of energy. Today this technology is considered disruptive; tomorrow it will be the standard. The RegoLight project will investigate the sintering process of lunar regolith simulants by means of concentrated sun light in order to prepare for future lunar missions for building infrastructure (leveled terrain, dust shelters, launch pads etc.) and structural components for lunar habitats.
Solar sintering of regolith is currently at TRL3 , being able to build a regolith ‘brick’ in a laboratory set-up with a moving table in a solar furnace. RegoLight aims at enhancing this specific additive layer manufacturing technique –which seems very promising for lunar applications since it does not involve any consumables– by further characterizing the parameters for sintering different types of regolith and by developing a movable printing head capable both of pointing the concentrated solar beam at the required spot and of deploying incrementally additional layers of regolith in order to continue with the additive building process.
Based on the mechanical properties of solar sintered regolith architectural scenarios and applications will be developed, taking into account the benefits of additive layer manufacturing and novel construction concepts for lunar gravity. This detailed Finite Element Modeling will provide a first insight into lunar architectural scenarios using this technology: With a concurrent engineering approach sample structures will be printed having been derived from ‘big picture’ scenarios and bottom up approaches at the same time.
The project objective is the development of a regolith solar sintering device breadboard which will be validated in a relevant environment (TRL5). The parts printed in a thermal vacuum chamber will undergo mechanical properties tests to build a database and FEM analysis for validation of the concepts.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

RIA - Research and Innovation action

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-COMPET-2015

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

DEUTSCHES ZENTRUM FUR LUFT - UND RAUMFAHRT EV
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 348 962,50
Address
LINDER HOHE
51147 KOLN
Germany

See on map

Region
Nordrhein-Westfalen Köln Köln, Kreisfreie Stadt
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 348 962,50

Participants (4)

My booklet 0 0