Rheological Lunar Regolith Simulants

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Gasteiner, Léonie, Glazyrina, Alyona, Murdoch, Naomi, D'Angelo, Olfa
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866912672883146752
author Gasteiner, Léonie
Glazyrina, Alyona
Murdoch, Naomi
D'Angelo, Olfa
author_facet Gasteiner, Léonie
Glazyrina, Alyona
Murdoch, Naomi
D'Angelo, Olfa
contents Regolith simulants are essential for space research and technology development. Yet, their physical properties often differ from those of true planetary soil, particularly when compared to regolith properties in-situ, that experience notably reduced gravity. We focus on lunar regolith simulants and explore various techniques to modify existing simulants to replicate the mechanical/rheological behavior of Moon regolith in true lunar conditions. Our results are validated against data from in-situ tests conducted during the Luna and Apollo missions, enabling a direct comparison of physical properties of our enhanced simulants to true Lunar regolith, on the Moon. Analyzed in the Mohr-Coulomb model framework, the friction angle of most simulants is generally close to that of true regolith, but the measured cohesion is often higher on the Moon, notably due to the reduced gravity environment. We propose a method to increase the cohesion of an existing simulant and assess the mechanical behavior of our rheological regolith simulant using a standardized geotechnical, shear test. The experimental results are then directly compared to in-situ data, providing a quantitative basis for evaluating the fidelity of the enhanced simulants.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_23680
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Rheological Lunar Regolith Simulants
Gasteiner, Léonie
Glazyrina, Alyona
Murdoch, Naomi
D'Angelo, Olfa
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Soft Condensed Matter
Regolith simulants are essential for space research and technology development. Yet, their physical properties often differ from those of true planetary soil, particularly when compared to regolith properties in-situ, that experience notably reduced gravity. We focus on lunar regolith simulants and explore various techniques to modify existing simulants to replicate the mechanical/rheological behavior of Moon regolith in true lunar conditions. Our results are validated against data from in-situ tests conducted during the Luna and Apollo missions, enabling a direct comparison of physical properties of our enhanced simulants to true Lunar regolith, on the Moon. Analyzed in the Mohr-Coulomb model framework, the friction angle of most simulants is generally close to that of true regolith, but the measured cohesion is often higher on the Moon, notably due to the reduced gravity environment. We propose a method to increase the cohesion of an existing simulant and assess the mechanical behavior of our rheological regolith simulant using a standardized geotechnical, shear test. The experimental results are then directly compared to in-situ data, providing a quantitative basis for evaluating the fidelity of the enhanced simulants.
title Rheological Lunar Regolith Simulants
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.23680