TITLE:
Fundamental Study on Response Properties of Structures Constructed on Lunar Regolith
AUTHORS:
Yuji Miyamoto, Takaharu Nakano, Toshio Kobayashi
KEYWORDS:
Lunar Development, Regolith, Soil-Structure Interaction, Triaxial Compression Test, Shaking Table Test
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Earthquake Research,
Vol.13 No.1,
February
9,
2024
ABSTRACT: The Artemis Program, for constructing the lunar
base, is in progress. How to design and construct architectural and civil
engineering structures in the lunar environment has become an important issue.
The lunar surface is covered with soft sand, called regolith, and it is
required to protect lunar bases and structures, as well as internal precision
equipment, against vibrational disturbances such as moonquakes and meteorite
collisions. Therefore, in this study, the static and cyclic triaxial
compression tests of the regolith simulant were conducted. The reference strain
and equivalent damping factor of the regolith simulant were smaller compared to
sandy soil on Earth. In addition, a shaking table test using model specimens
was conducted on the response properties of regolith ground alone and
structures set on regolith ground. The buried foundation and pile foundation
notably suppressed the horizontal response attributed to the rocking component
compared to a direct foundation.