Experimental Evaluation of Ice-regolith Mixture Settlement Caused by Lunar Ice Extraction

Jangguen Lee; Zheng Gong; Hyunwoo Jin; Byung Hyun Ryu

doi:10.7843/kgs.2023.39.6.13

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2023 Vol.39, Issue 6 Preview Page Next Page

Experimental Evaluation of Ice-regolith Mixture Settlement Caused by Lunar Ice Extraction 달 얼음-월면토 결합 형태에 따른 얼음 추출로 발생하는 침하량 평가

30 June 2023. pp. 13-19

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Abstract

Lunar ice is a resource available for future human exploration in deep space and long-term extraterrestrial habitat. However, the origin and nature of lunar ice remains unclear. In addition to remote sensing, international space agencies are competitively planning and conducting missions for lunar surface exploration to determine the existence and resource extent of lunar ice. If a sufficient amount of lunar ice is confirmed, its future in-situ resource utilization is expected to be greatly beneficial. However, due to ice extraction, settlement may occur, which should be taken into account from a geotechnical engineering perspective. Herein, experimental investigations of the potential settlement caused by lunar ice extraction were conducted and different textures of lunar ice were simulated. Consequently, it was confirmed that significant settlement occurs even at the initial water content of ~10% in lunar regolith simulant-ice-mixed soil.

Keywords

Extraction

ISRU

Lunar ice

Settlement

Surface mission

Texture

Water content

달 얼음은 향후 인류의 심우주 탐사와 장기 체류를 위한 자원으로 활용될 수 있다. 달 얼음에 대한 기원 및 존재 유형은 여전히 가설로 남아 있다. 최근 세계 우주국에서는 달 얼음에 대한 원격탐사에서 지상탐사를 통해 정량적 매장량과 존재 유형을 밝히고자 경쟁적으로 미션을 계획하여 추진 중에 있다. 달 얼음의 매장량이 충분하다면 향후 얼음을 자원으로 활용하는 현지자원활용 개념이 각광받을 것으로 예상된다. 그러나 현재까지 얼음 추출에 따른 지반공학적 관점에서 유의해야 하는 침하에 대한 검토는 전무한 실정이다. 본 연구에서는 인공월면토-얼음 존재 유형별로 얼음 추출로 인해 발생 가능한 침하량에 대한 실험적 연구결과를 제시하고 있다. 그 결과 초기 함수비 약 10%의 인공월면토-얼음 혼합토에서 상당한 침하가 발생하였다.

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Information

Publisher :The Korean Geotechnical Society
Publisher(Ko) :한국지반공학회
Journal Title :Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
Journal Title(Ko) :한국지반공학회 논문집
Volume : 39
No :6
Pages :13-19
Received Date : 2023-05-19
Revised Date : 2023-06-07
Accepted Date : 2023-06-07
DOI :https://doi.org/10.7843/kgs.2023.39.6.13

Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society ISSN:1229-2427(Print) 2288-646X(Online) 한국지반공학회 논문집

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