LSU Engineering is working on several research projects involving 3D construction printing, one of which is in partnership with NASA to help build bases on the moon. 

“We are working with a few NASA scientists to use the material which is already available on the Moon and Mars to turn these into printable construction materials,” said Ali Kazemian, of LSU Bert S. Turner Department of Construction Management who is leading LSU’s 3D construction projects.

Kazemian’s projects are funded by the Louisiana Space Grant Consortium and the Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (U.S. Department of Transportation). 

By using a construction robot to harvest the material already present on the moon and Mars, NASA will be able to build infrastructure necessary for sustaining life on the red planet and the moon more efficiently and at a cheaper cost, such as landing pads, habitats and research labs.

“Other proposals were basically about the idea of shipping material from the Earth or shipping smaller structures from the Earth and assembling them together on the moon which is super expensive,” Kazemian said. “It is estimated that shipping one kilogram of material from the Earth would at least cost $100,000.”

NASA hopes to use 3D printers to build structures for their upcoming mission in 2024, “The Artemis Mission,” which will aim to set up a permanent base on the moon. The technology that Kazemian is working on will assist in building these moon bases by lowering costs substantially.  

The prospects for 3D printing technology doesn’t stop there. 3D printing can significantly reduce the time and money required to build various structures here on Earth.

“On average, it takes five to six months to build a house, but with this technology we’re talking about a few days,” Kazemian said.

This technology has numerous applications, such as in disaster relief where 3D printed shelters can be manufactured within hours and days for people who have lost their homes. This technology can also be used to build low-income housing at even cheaper rates and with dramatically reduced construction times.

There are still certain challenges that still need to be overcome to see this technology used more widely in construction, on Earth and beyond.

One of the largest barriers to the broader adoption of concrete [3D printing] of civil infrastructure is the difficulty of providing printed structural components with reinforcement to achieve sound structural performance, explained construction management professor Gabriel Arce, who is working with Kazemian and Professor Marwa Hassan to develop materials and reinforcement techniques tailored to 3D printed infrastructure. 

Further research will still be required to see this technology used in construction on Earth or in the building of bases on the moon and Mars.