Towards better combustion of lunar regolith with magnesium

It has been shown recently that lunar regolith forms combustible, thermite-type mixtures with magnesium. Combustion of these mixtures could be used for the production of construction materials on the Moon. The present paper focuses on decreasing magnesium content in mixtures based on JSC-1A lunar regolith simulant and increasing the density and strength of the combustion products of these mixtures. Combustion of JSC-1A/Mg mixture pellets was studied in argon gas and in silica powder. Preheating to 100 °C decreased the minimum concentration of magnesium, required for combustion, from 10 wt.% to 8 wt.%. Submerging the pellets into silica increased the product strength. SHS compaction experiments were conducted, which involved quasi-isostatic pressing of the products immediately after the end of the combustion process. This resulted in a significant increase in the product density. The compressive strength exceeded 10 MPa, i.e., was higher than that of common bricks (5 MPa).