Alloy regolith
Engineers from the University of Washington conducted a series of experiments which proved the possibility of creating durable and reliable metal-ceramic products from regolith. In this case, the "regolith" – is a reference substance, simulated lunar soil and Martian dust. During the development of the moon and Mars this material should be a key raw material for the production, as a lot of products from the Ground to bring will not work.
The researchers studied a combination of regolith and titanium powder in the search of the optimal combination. They used a powerful laser that heated the mixture up to 2000 ℃ to melt together, then cast it in various forms. The obtained products were tested for the presence of cracks, voids, strength, hardness and durability. It turned out that the net regolith almost unusable for anything — he quickly cracks and falls apart after casting. However, when the content of the regolith in the alloy in the amount of 5% of the material is close to ideal – he has not formed any internal defects and was twice stronger than the product of pure titanium. This means that for the development of the moon and Mars there will still need to bring a huge amount of metal, but the colonists still able to use local resources.
