Shear Properties of Lunar Regolith Simulants

The accuracy of lunar regolith simulants for lunar drilling and sampling is mainly based on their particle shape and grain size distribution. To determine the grain-size distribution and shear strength parameters, grain-size distribution tests and conventional tri-axial compression experiments were conducted on the lunar regolith simulants. A new sample preparation apparatus was designed to obtain the shear strength of lunar regolith simulants under high and low confining pressures respectively. Grain-size distribution, cohesion and friction angle of lunar regolith simulants in this paper were compared with lunar regolith and other simulants to illustrate that the strength parameters of the lunar regolith simulants can be applied to the development of lunar drilling and sampling apparatus and other lunar engineering applications.