Ohio State laser 3D-prints lunar regolith simulant into heat-resistant structures

Researchers at The Ohio State University demonstrated that laser-directed energy deposition, or LDED, can convert lunar highland regolith simulant LHS-1 into layered, heat-resistant components, a result reported in Acta Astronautica and framed as a step toward in-situ resource utilization for NASA’s Artemis ambitions. The study lists Sizhe Xu as lead author and Sarah Wolff as senior author and says the team produced small but extremely heat-resistant parts that the authors describe as able to tolerate heat and mechanical stress.

The process fed powdered LHS-1 into a laser-generated melt pool where the powder melted, rapidly cooled, and solidified into layer-by-layer structures. The team varied environmental and process parameters including oxygen concentration, laser strength, printing speed, and feedstock composition to see how those settings changed the printed material. “By combining different feedstocks, like metal and ceramics, in the printing process, we found that the final material is really sensitive to the environment. Different environments lead to different properties, which directly affect the mechanical strength and the thermal shock resistance of certain components,” Sizhe Xu said in the paper’s supporting coverage.

Substrate tests identified adhesion differences across base materials. DiscoverMagazine’s reporting of the experiments notes that stainless steel and glass did not perform particularly well, while an alumina-silicate ceramic substrate showed the strongest adhesion when the regolith layers were printed onto it. The published summaries describe the parts as durable and heat-resistant; UniverseToday adds that, according to the team’s findings, the method can produce durable structures that withstand radiation and other harsh conditions on the lunar surface, and InterestingEngineering reports the outputs could be durable, heat-resistant, and non-toxic.

Authors tempered the lab results with operational cautions about translating simulant success to the Moon. “There are conditions that happen in space that are really hard to emulate in a simulant. It may work in the lab, but in a resource-scarce environment, you have to try everything to maximize the flexibility of a machine for different scenarios,” Sarah Wolff warned. The research notes and press summaries explicitly flag gaps left in the published summaries: numeric laser parameters, exact oxygen partial pressures, thermal cycling limits, mechanical strength numbers, radiation test details, part dimensions, and throughput rates are not provided in the available summaries.

The team frames the work as enabling ISRU applications for tools, landing pads, habitat components, radiation shields, and other base infrastructure that could reduce mass shipped from Earth. NationalToday summarized the applied implication this way: “This research demonstrates a promising approach for using local lunar resources to build structures on the Moon, which could significantly reduce the cost and complexity of future lunar exploration and settlement efforts.”

The Acta Astronautica paper title is reported as “Laser directed energy deposition additive manufacturing of lunar highland regolith simulant.” Publication timing shows a March 2, 2026 report with some outlets posting related coverage March 3, 2026; one image credit in coverage spells the senior author’s name as Sarah Wollf rather than Sarah Wolff. The study is a lab-scale demonstration that highlights feedstock and environment sensitivity and points toward next steps: publish full experimental parameters, test in vacuum and lunar-analog conditions, and evaluate scalability for real on-Moon ISRU systems.