Design and Implementation Tools for Lunar Surface Regolith Structure Construction

The proposed and executed innovation is a software analysis toolset that can inform basic structural archetype requirements and construction methods and their quantitative capabilities. This tool considers a variety of design requirements including surface flatness, obstacle mitigation, relative density (compaction), gradient, size, location/orientation, expected loads, minimal energy consumption, etc. There is an inherent need for analysis tools like this to advance the infrastructure development and overall capability set of lunar surface exploration. These infrastructure features include foundations, landing pads, roadbeds, berms, ramps, trenches, excavations, and protected compaction structures. These structures are analyzed using designs and design methodologies for selecting and building necessary bulk regolith structures; test results informing the decisions and assumptions within the methodologies; and a construction system plan and concept of operations (CONOPS). Following completion of the REGOWORKS 2.0 in Phase II and its calibration with certain experimental compaction and other data, the tool will be used to simulate the preparation of a lunar landing pad construction CONOPS which will be compared to the lunar surface site preparation experimental work that is being performed for the LuSTR21 grant by LO and MTU. REGOWORKS 2.0 data will be validated against real-world performance tests that will complete hardware-in-the-loop tests for regolith compaction. Once the tool is validated and grounded from these tests, it will be used for design and analysis in CAD and later prototyped to interface with existing Lunar Outpost robotic systems to test the capabilities to create compacted layers of regolith needed for all the site preparation structures.