Regolith-PLA composite filament for Fused Deposition Modelling

In this project started during my traineeship at the European Space Agency in 2019, I studied the effect of regolith simulant concentration on mechanical properties of PLA filament. This project aimed to study the possibility of using this mix of plastic and regolith to manufacture custom tools on-demand in a remote environment, i.e. the Moon. This technology has the potential to greatly reduce the mass of necessary payload compared to standard plastic AM. Several iterations of simulant-enriched filament were extruded and several mechanical samples were successfully printed with various simulant concentrations, a very promising result. This project was continued by subsequent students and trainees.