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. 2023 Jul 21;9(1):57.
doi: 10.1038/s41526-023-00304-0.

Space hardware for concrete sample production on ISS "MASON concrete mixer"

J T I Müller  1 , B Rattenbacher  2 , K Tell  3 , C Rösch  2 , T Welsch  4 , M Maurer  5 , M Sperl  3   6 , M Schnellenbach-Held  4
Affiliations

Space hardware for concrete sample production on ISS "MASON concrete mixer"

J T I Müller et al. NPJ Microgravity. .

Abstract

Advances in space flight technology will enable the construction of Moon or even Mars bases in the not-too-distant future. Thus, materials will be needed that are suitable for building in microgravity environments. One idea is to use concrete, the most used construction material on Earth, for these challenging tasks. The hardening and the properties of concrete under the boundary conditions prevailing on Earth are well understood, but there is only limited research on concrete produced in microgravity. Hence, a research project called MASON was established, which aims to mix and harden concrete on the ISS and to investigate the properties of the specimens made in microgravity extensively. Since a defined geometry of the specimens would be favorable for these investigations, a special hardware was developed, called the MASON Concrete Mixer (MCM), which allows the production of concrete specimens fulfilling the requirements on the geometry as well as the safety requirements. Subsequently, the development, design, tests, and qualification of the MCM as well as its usage are presented.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funder of the project and the providers of materials had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Items of a MASON Kit.
a MASON Concrete Mixer, b syringe and c crank.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Design of the Mason Concrete Mixer (MCM).
a overview, b cross section view and c exploded drawing.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. LOC philosophy and details of the MCM.
Side and front view of the MCM with display of the LOC (LOC 1 = blue, LOC 2 = red). Close-ups of the construction details of the four circled areas are shown.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Qualification tests for the MCM.
a vacuum leak test, b bonding test, c airflow test, d test of connection filter/tube, e vibration test.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5. MCM samples.
a shape, b cross and c longitudinal section (ct-scans), d 3d air pore distribution (ct-scan), e standard sand and f Regolith cross section scans.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6. Bulk density and ultrasound results.
a Bulk density and standard deviation of different MASON mixtures (24 samples produced in MCM; the error bars indicate the maximum and minimum of measured values from 3 individual measurements for each sample composition), b ultrasound results for samples of cement paste N (see Table 3), produced in the MCM in upright (vertical, indicated as N-V) orientation, for transmission directed either along the cylinder axis or radially, with opposite emitter-receiver directions identified and averaged.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7. Handling of the MCM.
a, b Use of the MCM on the ISS by Matthias Maurer during “Concrete Hardening” experiment [ESA/DLR], c major steps of the mixing process. The authors affirm that human research participants provided informed consent for publication of the images in Fig. 7.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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