Caroline O'Connell
Academic and research departments
Surrey Space Centre, Lunar Construction and In-Situ Resource Utilisation Group.About
My research project
To improve the heating of lunar regolith simulants with microwave energy by utilising the dielectric properties of regolith as a function of temperature.To establish a permanent human presence on the moon, we need to build infrastructure using lunar resources that are readily available and sustainable and to use these efficiently. Processing lunar regolith using microwave energy is an efficient means of building components such as landing pads, roads and bricks, as well as more complex construction components using 3D printing techniques. Microwave heating efficiency is determined by the dielectric properties of the material being heated. Research has shown that the dielectric constant and dielectric loss of lunar regolith change with temperature. The objective of this research is to measure the dielectric properties of lunar regolith simulants as a function of temperature up to melting point, and to improve the accuracy of current Multiphysics simulations of the heating of lunar regolith simulants by using temperature-dependent measurements. This will lead to more efficient processing of lunar regolith using microwave energy.
Supervisors
To establish a permanent human presence on the moon, we need to build infrastructure using lunar resources that are readily available and sustainable and to use these efficiently. Processing lunar regolith using microwave energy is an efficient means of building components such as landing pads, roads and bricks, as well as more complex construction components using 3D printing techniques. Microwave heating efficiency is determined by the dielectric properties of the material being heated. Research has shown that the dielectric constant and dielectric loss of lunar regolith change with temperature. The objective of this research is to measure the dielectric properties of lunar regolith simulants as a function of temperature up to melting point, and to improve the accuracy of current Multiphysics simulations of the heating of lunar regolith simulants by using temperature-dependent measurements. This will lead to more efficient processing of lunar regolith using microwave energy.
Publications
Lunar regolith is a dielectric material which can be efficiently heated to melting temperature using microwave energy [1]. Sintered or melted regolith can then be used as feedstock to construct infrastructure on the Moon, including landing pads, roadways and habitats. Additionally, it can be used to produce more complex components using additive manufacturing.A material’s permittivity, (with the real part or dielectric constant ε’, and imaginary part or loss factor, ε’’), is the factor governing the behaviour of materials under electromagnetic fields, and thus, determining the efficiency of microwave heating. For lunar regolith, permittivity increases with temperature [2].Temperature-dependent measurements of permittivity in lunar regolith simulants, up to their melting temperature, are crucial for enhancing computational models and increasing the accuracy of numerical simulations related to the microwave heating process. This will facilitate improved modelling for the design and optimisation of regolith melting using microwave heating.