Performance-Based Engineering Framework to Quantify Micrometeoroid Damage to Lunar Surface Structures
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 34, Issue 5
Abstract
Extended-duration missions to the Moon require the construction of long-term infrastructure that protects inhabitants and protects life-support systems from the Moon’s hazardous environment. Notable hazards of the lunar environment include ionizing radiation, extreme thermal cycles, and hypervelocity micrometeoroid impacts. Of these hazards, micrometeoroids are a top research priority because they are stochastic in nature and arrive without warning. To design structures that will be impacted by randomly distributed micrometeoroids, a risk-based approach should be used. This paper describes the development of a risk-based design framework termed performance-based impact engineering. This proposed framework allows the risk of micrometeoroid impact to be considered in the design of lunar infrastructure by developing site-specific hazard models and material-specific damage models. The methodologies for micrometeoroid hazard estimation on the lunar surface and material damage prediction are described. A case study for the design of a tiled lunar landing pad using the performance-based impact engineering framework is demonstrated.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, and code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship. We thank the technical contributions from the Engineering Risk Assessment group at NASA Ames Research Center. We also thank the Lepech Group, Dr. Luis Ceferino, and Dr. Maryia Markhvida for their support and feedback.
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Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 34 • Issue 5 • September 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 18, 2019
Accepted: Mar 9, 2021
Published online: Jun 3, 2021
Published in print: Sep 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Nov 3, 2021
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