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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Space Technol.
Sec. Advanced Space Engineering
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frspt.2024.1448787
This article is part of the Research Topic Next generation of materials for space applications View all 3 articles

Tensile Strength and Porosity of Regolith-based Cement with Human Hair

Provisionally accepted
Mohammad Tarikuzzaman Mohammad Tarikuzzaman Audrey M. Shank Audrey M. Shank Emma G. Agan Emma G. Agan Viral Sagar Viral Sagar Joan G. Lynam Joan G. Lynam *Stephan T. Gordon, II Stephan T. Gordon, II Shaurav Alam Shaurav Alam
  • Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Sustainable structures are an important area of research, particularly for anticipated extended human presence on the Moon or Mars. Persistent human presence on the Moon will require building materials that are already present at the site to construct bases. The high cost associated with reinforcing metal (rebar) in mission payloads necessitates the exploration of alternative reinforcement methods for sustained lunar bases. Human hair is strong in tensile strength and will become available in any long-term mission. By using otherwise wasted hair instead of heavy metal, mission payloads and costs could be lowered. Concrete workability, compressive strength, and porosity were measured for a series of different cement compositions. These compositions consisted of combinations of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), lunar regolith, deionized (DI) water and human hair. Increased workability and porosity were found for increasing hair concentrations. Compressive strength slightly decreased with increased hair concentration.

    Keywords: Moon, Sustainable, Hair, cement, Tensile Strength, Porosity

    Received: 13 Jun 2024; Accepted: 12 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tarikuzzaman, Shank, Agan, Sagar, Lynam, Gordon, II and Alam. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Joan G. Lynam, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, United States

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