A new ECST project titled "Additive Manufacturing on the Moon: Exploring the Potential of Laser Wire Directed Energy Deposition for Metallic Component Fabrication" has been selected to receive $900K from NASA's MUREP Space Technology Artemis Research (M-STAR) program to pursue research, educational, and outreach activities on Metal 3D Printing for potential implementation on the Moon.
Dr. Mohsen Eshraghi from ECST's Mechanical Engineering Department is the project's principal investigator, together with co-investigators Dr. Chris Bachman from Mechanical Engineering and Dr. Doug Hofmann from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This work will utilize both experiments and simulations to advance our understanding of lunar manufacturing, contribute to the development of a sustainable lunar economy, and work towards a thriving and diverse manufacturing workforce.
Photo (credit Dr. Eshraghi): (a) Laser Wire Directed Energy Deposition (LW-DED) 3D printing process, (b) prototype wheel for lunar vehicles, 3D printed using the LW-DED process, (c) crystallographic texture of the 3D printed stainless steel analyzed using electron backscattered spectroscopy.
The project aims to build NASA's capability for manufacturing on the Moon using laser wire-directed energy deposition (LW-DED) for additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing. The team will study the behavior and properties of printed samples contaminated/mixed with lunar dust, model the 3D printing process under terrestrial and reduced gravity conditions to evaluate the behavior and microstructure of the 3D printed materials, and create a design process to build and test 3D printed components of lunar vehicles such as wheels and suspension components.
The project will also develop hands-on activities for ECST's LAunchPad summer program for rising high school seniors, develop collaborative curricula with community colleges, expand our material science and engineering program, and implement an internship program for undergraduate and graduate students between Cal State LA and JPL.