DEVELOPMENT OF A LUNAR AGGLUTINATE SIMULANT. 1 2 3 …Importance of a Lunar Agglutinates:...
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DEVELOPMENT OF A LUNAR AGGLUTINATE SIMULANT. Robert Gustafson 1 , Brant White 1 , Marty Gustafson 2 , and Dr. John Fournelle 3 1 Orbital Technologies Corporation (ORBITEC), 1212 Fourier Drive, Madison, WI 53717, [email protected], 2 PLANET LLC, 3 University of Wisconsin-Madison. Introduction: ORBITEC is developing a process to create agglutinate-like particles from various materials, including JSC-1 lunar regolith simulant. The ultimate objective of this work is to develop a large-scale production process that can be applied any lunar regolith simulant material to create agglutinate- particles that exhibit many of the unique features of lunar agglutinates. If successful, this process will significantly increase the fidelity of the existing and future lunar regolith simulants. Definition of Lunar Agglutinates: Agglutinates are individual particles that are aggregates of smaller lunar regolith particles (mineral grains, glasses, and even older agglutinates) bonded together by vesicular, flow-banded glass. Lunar agglutinates have many unique properties, including: (1) a highly irregular shape, (2) presence of trapped bubbles of solar wind gases (primarily hydrogen) that are released when the agglutinates are crushed, (3) heterogeneous composition (due to the presence of individual regolith particles), and (4) the presence of metallic iron (Fe 0 ) droplets that are often very fine grained [1]. Importance of a Lunar Agglutinates: Agglutinates, shown in Figure 2, make up a high proportion of lunar regolith, about 50%wt on average, although their abundances may range from a rare 5%wt to about 65%wt. Agglutinates contain an appreciable amount of metallic Fe 0 in their glass. Two competing hypotheses regarding the mechanism of formation of Fe 0 are currently being debated. The prevalent hypothesis holds that Fe-bearing phases (e.g., ilmenite) in the agglutinitic melt are reduced by the solar wind hydrogen implanted in soil grains [2]. The other hypothesis contends that the Fe 0 forms from dissociation of Fe-bearing phases in a high- temperature (e.g., >3000 C) vapor produced by impacts followed by condensation of Fe 0 globules on the surfaces of exposed grains in lunar soils [3]. Currently, the only widely available lunar regolith simulants (JSC-1 and JSC-1A) contains few particles that match the shapes and morphologies of lunar agglutinates [4]. The presence of agglutinate particles will have a significant impact on the mechanical properties of the lunar regolith/simulant. The geotechnical properties that are most affected by the agglutinate particles include: Figure 1. Examples of Lunar Agglutinates Shear Strength: The particle shape and intragranular porosisty have a profound influence on the shear strength of the lunar regolith. Under the low confining pressures found on the surface of the Moon, the highly irregular and reentrant agglutinate particles tend to interlock and produce unusually high shear strength [1]. Compressibility: Lunar regolith is more compressible than current simulants due to the crushing of agglutinate particles under load [1]. The compression index and recompression index can be used to measure this property. The mechanical properties of the lunar regolith change significantly based on the history of the regolith. High applied loads can cause many of the agglutinate particles to be broken into smaller particles. This is not true of current lunar regolith simulants. In addition, the presence of agglutinate-like particles with “nanophase” Fe 0 globules will significantly affect some of the thermo-physical properties of the simulant (including the absorption of microwave energy). Current Status of the Lunar Agglutinate Simulant Development: Past efforts at producing synthetic agglutinates included plasma melting of MLS-1 lunar regolith simulant. This technique was evaluated using an in-flight sustained shockwave plasma (ISSP) reactor at the Mineral Resources NASA Photo S87-38811 NASA Photo S87-38812
Transcript of DEVELOPMENT OF A LUNAR AGGLUTINATE SIMULANT. 1 2 3 …Importance of a Lunar Agglutinates:...
DEVELOPMENT OF A LUNAR AGGLUTINATE SIMULANT. Robert Gustafson1, Brant White1, Marty Gustafson2, and Dr. John Fournelle3 1Orbital Technologies Corporation (ORBITEC), 1212 Fourier Drive, Madison, WI 53717, [email protected], 2PLANET LLC, 3University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Introduction: ORBITEC is developing a process
to create agglutinate-like particles from various materials, including JSC-1 lunar regolith simulant. The ultimate objective of this work is to develop a large-scale production process that can be applied any lunar regolith simulant material to create agglutinate-particles that exhibit many of the unique features of lunar agglutinates. If successful, this process will significantly increase the fidelity of the existing and future lunar regolith simulants.
Definition of Lunar Agglutinates: Agglutinates are individual particles that are aggregates of smaller lunar regolith particles (mineral grains, glasses, and even older agglutinates) bonded together by vesicular, flow-banded glass. Lunar agglutinates have many unique properties, including: (1) a highly irregular shape, (2) presence of trapped bubbles of solar wind gases (primarily hydrogen) that are released when the agglutinates are crushed, (3) heterogeneous composition (due to the presence of individual regolith particles), and (4) the presence of metallic iron (Fe0) droplets that are often very fine grained [1]. Importance of a Lunar Agglutinates: Agglutinates, shown in Figure 2, make up a high proportion of lunar regolith, about 50%wt on average, although their abundances may range from a rare 5%wt to about 65%wt. Agglutinates contain an appreciable amount of metallic Fe0 in their glass. Two competing hypotheses regarding the mechanism of formation of Fe0 are currently being debated. The prevalent hypothesis holds that Fe-bearing phases (e.g., ilmenite) in the agglutinitic melt are reduced by the solar wind hydrogen implanted in soil grains [2]. The other hypothesis contends that the Fe0 forms from dissociation of Fe-bearing phases in a high-temperature (e.g., >3000 C) vapor produced by impacts followed by condensation of Fe0 globules on the surfaces of exposed grains in lunar soils [3].
Currently, the only widely available lunar regolith simulants (JSC-1 and JSC-1A) contains few particles that match the shapes and morphologies of lunar agglutinates [4]. The presence of agglutinate particles will have a significant impact on the mechanical properties of the lunar regolith/simulant. The geotechnical properties that are most affected by the agglutinate particles include:
Figure 1. Examples of Lunar Agglutinates
Shear Strength: The particle shape and intragranular porosisty have a profound influence on the shear strength of the lunar regolith. Under the low confining pressures found on the surface of the Moon, the highly irregular and reentrant agglutinate particles tend to interlock and produce unusually high shear strength [1].
Compressibility: Lunar regolith is more compressible than current simulants due to the crushing of agglutinate particles under load [1]. The compression index and recompression index can be used to measure this property.
The mechanical properties of the lunar regolith change significantly based on the history of the regolith. High applied loads can cause many of the agglutinate particles to be broken into smaller particles. This is not true of current lunar regolith simulants. In addition, the presence of agglutinate-like particles with “nanophase” Fe0 globules will significantly affect some of the thermo-physical properties of the simulant (including the absorption of microwave energy).
Current Status of the Lunar Agglutinate Simulant Development: Past efforts at producing synthetic agglutinates included plasma melting of MLS-1 lunar regolith simulant. This technique was evaluated using an in-flight sustained shockwave plasma (ISSP) reactor at the Mineral Resources
NASA Photo S87-38811NASA Photo S87-38811
NASA Photo S87-38812NASA Photo S87-38812
Research Center at the University of Minnesota. This testing concluded in products with unreacted mineral fragments, massive globular glass, and vesicular glass in a variety of textures that resemble some of the glassy components of lunar regolith. However, it failed to produce analogs of lunar agglutinates [5].
ORBITEC is currently developing two different methods to create agglutinate-like particles. Both methods attempt to mimic the fusion of individual grains that is observed in lunar agglutinates. The goal is to produce agglutinate-like particles that exhibit as many of the unique properties of lunar agglutinates as possible. Preliminary results are very promising, with the agglutinate-like particles having the same general size and shape as lunar agglutinates. Figure 2 shows some examples of the agglutinate-like particles produced by ORBITEC using JSC-1 lunar regolith simulant. Note how individual grains are bonded by in glassy melt regions.
When the surfaces of the agglutinate-like particles are examined closely, numerous “nanophase” Fe0 globules can be seen (see the bright spots in Figure 3). Note how the Fe0 globules tend to form in “trains” in both lunar agglutinates and the agglutinate-like particles. At least 50% of the Fe0 globules in lunar agglutinitic glass are entrained in flow lines and many smaller globules occur in clusters. Approximately 99% of the Fe0 globules in lunar agglutinates have a diameter of 1 µm or less [6]. In the agglutinate-like particles analyzed so far, the Fe0 globules range is size from 10’s of nanometers up to about 2 µm in diameter. The same Fe0 globules have been found extending into the glassy melt regions. Energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and wavelength dispersive spectrometry (WDS) have verified that the iron globules are nearly pure Fe0 and not iron oxide.
References: [1] G. Heiken, D. Vaniman, and B.M. French
(1991), Lunar Sourcebook- A User’s Guide to the Moon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[2] Morris R V (1980) Origins and size distribution of metallic iron particles in the lunar regolith; Proc. Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf. 11th, Pp. 1697–1712.
[3] Christofferson R, Keller L P and McKay D S (1996) Microstructure, chemistry, and origin of grain rims on ilmenite from the lunar soil finest fraction; Meteoritics Planet. Sci. 31 835–848.
[4] McKay, D., J.L. Carter, W.W. Boles, C.C. Allen, and J.H. Allton. (1994) “JSC-1: A New Lunar Soil Simulant.” Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Space IV. American Society of Civil Engineers, pp. 857-866.
[5] Weiblen, Paul, Marian Murawa, and Kenneth Reid. (1990) “Preparation of Simulants for Lunar Surface Materials,” Engineering, Construction and
Operations in Space II, ASCE Space 1990, pp. 98-106.
[6] Basu, Abhijit, Susan Wentworth, and David McKay (2001) “Occurrence and Distribution of Fe0-Globules in Lunar Agglutinates,” Lunar and Planetary Science XXXII.
Figure 2. Examples of Agglutinate-Like Particles
Produced by ORBITEC
Figure 3. Nanophase Iron Globules on the Surface
of an Agglutinate-Like Particle
Figure 4. Comparison of Iron Globules on the Surface of a Lunar Agglutinate (left) with an ORBITEC Agglutinate-Like Particle (right) [Note that images are sized to the same scale]
