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Novel Selective Laser Printing Via Powder Bed Fusion of Ionic Liquid Harvested Iron for Martian Additive Manufacturing

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Abstract

As the race to colonize Mars continues, the need for energy efficient, low waste manufacturing techniques remains as a major hurdle. Launching building materials from Earth is not feasible logistically or financially; therefore, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) methods are required to ensure the success and longevity of these Martian colonies. Ionic liquids (ILs) are currently studied at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) as a means to harvest metallic elements from regolith oxides and meteorites. IL technology provides an energy efficient method to extracting critical manufacturing materials, such as iron (Fe), that can be used for structures, plumbing, and tools. In this study, IL-sourced Fe (IL-Fe) was used as feedstock for laser-based powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) to obtain a baseline of material characteristics for additive manufacturing. Samples were then investigated to determine microstructure, hardness, and chemical composition. IL-Fe showed potential as a feedstock for the production of metallic materials via laser-based additive manufacturing techniques.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the staff of Marshall Space Flight’s EM22 department for providing the raw material used in this document. Additionally, we thank MSFC and the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems for the funding of this project under Cont. No. 80NSSC20M0239 that made this research possible.

Funding

The authors would like to thank NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center [NASA Cont.: 80NSSC20M0239] and the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems for their funding which made this research possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, United States

    Blake C. Stewart, Haley R. Doude, Shiraz Mujahid & Hongjoo Rhee

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, United States

    Blake C. Stewart & Hongjoo Rhee

  3. Marshall Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Huntsville, AL, 35812, United States

    Eric T. Fox & Jennifer E. Edmunson

  4. Langely Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Hampton, VA, 23666, United States

    Morgan B. Abney

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  1. Blake C. Stewart
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Correspondence to Hongjoo Rhee.

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This invited article is part of a special issue in the Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance entitled “Space and Aerospace Exploration Revolution: Metal Additive Manufacturing.” The issue was organized by Shahrooz Nafisi, Relativity Space; Paul Gradl, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; Douglas Hofmann, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology; and Reza Ghomashchi, The University of Adelaide, Australia.

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Stewart, B.C., Doude, H.R., Mujahid, S. et al. Novel Selective Laser Printing Via Powder Bed Fusion of Ionic Liquid Harvested Iron for Martian Additive Manufacturing. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 31, 6060–6068 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-022-06730-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-022-06730-7

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