Lunar habitat design using interlocking sintered regolith blocks
A pyramidal ISRU lunar habitat design based on topological interlocking of sintered regolith blocks
Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Summary
Building habitats on the Moon is challenging because traditional materials and fasteners aren’t practical to bring from Earth. This paper presents a new design where moon soil blocks are shaped to lock together without glue or connectors, forming a strong pyramid shape. The blocks are made by heating lunar soil to fuse it together, and the shape keeps the structure stable even if some blocks break or go missing. The authors also show with computer simulations that this design can handle stress well and suggest ways to improve the block shapes further.
What this means in practice
- •For space habitat designers: Design stable lunar habitats using sintered regolith blocks with interlocking shapes that eliminate the need for binders or connectors.
- •For civil engineers: Incorporate block geometries allowing interlocking without adhesives to improve construction resilience under partial block failures.
Authors
Lukas Schnelle, Kai-Uwe Schröder, Alice C. Niemeyer, Yuri Estrin
Abstract
In this framing study, we propose a new lunar-habitat design based on topological interlocking of the building blocks. The design combines block geometries that permit interlocking without binders or connectors with a pyramidal overall structure. This approach is well suited for ISRU-enabled extraterrestrial construction. Finite element simulations employing the Drucker-Prager model confirm that habitats manufactured from lunar regolith using this concept are tolerant to local failures or missing blocks. We further suggest that this approach can be extended and improved by optimising the geometry of the interlockable building blocks.