Evaluation of Bosch Process–Sourced Carbon in Low-Carbon Steel and Gray Iron Casting for Martian Surface Manufacturing
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 35, Issue 2
Abstract
As research continues for the first crewed missions to and the eventual colonization of Mars, the need for materials for construction of structural and mechanical components remains paramount. The use of in situ resource utilization (ISRU) techniques is critical due to the financial and physical burdens of sending supplies beyond low-Earth orbit. The Bosch process is currently in development as a life-support system at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to regenerate oxygen () from metabolic carbon dioxide () with the by-product of elemental carbon (C). In this study, the use of this novel C source for alloying with iron (Fe) to produce ferrous alloys was studied to determine if the Bosch-sourced C could provide similar metallurgical results to a traditional C source. The Bosch C was produced by MSFC through their C-formation reactor (C-Fr) using mill scale () as the reaction catalyst. Two types of ferrous alloys were manufactured using the Bosch-sourced C and a control source C. Mechanical and microstructural properties obtained from each equivalent grade revealed comparable metallurgical results.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, including raw material, charge calculations, castings compositions, micrographs, hardness, SEM and XRD, and mechanical testing data.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the engineers at ECLSS, MSFC for manufacturing and providing the carbon used in this study. The authors also thank Dr. Shane Brauer for his useful guidance pertaining to this work. The authors would like to thank the NASA Technology Transfer Office for the grant (NASA Cooperative Agreement No. NNX17AB32G) that made this research possible. Portions of this study have been presented at the 2019 Materials Science & Technology conference on October 2, 2019, in Portland, Oregon.
References
Abney M. B., T. Komas, and J. Alleman. 2016. “Using NASA life support technology to reduce cement industry CO2 emissions and explore improvements to concrete durability.” In Proc., ACI Strategic Development Council #40. Salt Lake City: American Concrete Institute.
Abney, M. B., J. Mansell, C. Stanley, J. Edmunson, S. DuMez, and K. Chen. 2013. “Ongoing development of a series Bosch reactor system.” In Proc., 43rd Int. Conf. on Environmental Systems. Portland, OR: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Abney, M. B., and J. M. Mansell. 2011. “Evaluation of Bosch-based systems using non-traditional catalysts at reduced temperatures.” In Proc., 41st Int. Conf. on Environmental Systems. Portland, OR: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
ASTM. 2013. Standard test methods for determining average grain size. ASTM E112-13. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2016. Standard test methods for tension testing of metallic materials. ASTM E8/E8M-16a. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2018. Standard specification for plates, carbon steel, structural quality, furnished to chemical composition requirements. A830/A830M-18. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2019a. Standard test method for evaluating the microstructure of graphite in iron castings. ASTM A247-19. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2019b. Standard test methods of compression testing of metallic materials at room temperature. ASTM E9-19. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Atanda, P., G. Oluwadare, and L. Oluwole. 2011. “Effect of silicon content and shake-out time on hardness and grain size properties of GL 250 cast iron.” J. Miner. Mater. Charact. Eng. 10 (3): 257–266. https://doi.org/10.4236/jmmce.2011.103017.
Avcı, A., N. İlkaya, M. Şimşir, and A. Akdemir. 2009. “Mechanical and microstructural properties of low-carbon steel-plate-reinforced gray cast iron.” J. Mater. Process. Technol. 209 (3): 1410–1416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2008.03.052.
Behnam, M. J., and P. Davami, and N. Varahram. 2010. “Effect of cooling rate on microstructure and mechanical properties of gray cast iron.” J. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 528 (2): 583–588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2010.09.087.
Bermont, V., and R. Castillo. 2003. “Qualitative and quantitative studies of fracture surfaces in ductile and grey cast irons.” Int. J. Cast Met. Res. 16 (1–3): 257–262. https://doi.org/10.1080/13640461.2003.11819592.
Collini, L., G. Nicoletto, and R. Koecna. 2008. “Microstructure and mechanical properties of pearlitic gray cast iron. J. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 488 (1–2): 529–539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2007.11.070.
Cullity, B. D., and S. R. Stock. 1978. Elements of X-ray diffraction. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Davis, J. R. 1996. ASM specialty handbook—Cast irons. Materials Park, OH: ASM International.
Devi, T., and M. Kannan. 2007. “X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies on the chemical states of some metal species in cellulosic chars and the Ellingham diagrams.” Energy Fuels 21 (2): 596–601. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef060395t.
Dieter, G. E. 1986. Mechanical metallurgy: Strengthening mechanisms, 197–201. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
El-Sawy, E., M. El-Hebeary, and I. El Mahallawi. 2017. “Effect of manganese, silicon and chromium additions on microstructure and wear characteristics of grey cast iron for sugar industries applications.” Wear 390–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2017.07.007.
Erickson, K., and H. Doyle. 2019. “How far away is the Moon?” Accessed May 17, 2021. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/moon-distance/en/.
Esrafilzadeh, D., et al. 2019. “Room temperature reduction to solid carbon species on liquid metals featuring atomically thin ceria interfaces.” Nat. Commun. 10 (1): 1–8.
Kramer, S., and D. Mosher. 2016. “Here’s how much money it actually costs to launch stuff into space.” Insider, July 20, 2016.
Mahaffy, P., et al. 2013. “Abundance and isotopic composition of gases in the Martian atmosphere from the Curiosity rover.” Science 341 (1): 263–266. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1237966.
Matweb. 2019a. “AISI 1020 Steel, hot rolled, 19-32 mm (0.75-1.25 in) round.” Accessed September 10, 2019. http://www.matweb.com/search/DataSheet.aspx?MatGUID=b58ee61a3745453a9232f7864abba74f.
Matweb. 2019b. “SAE J431 automotive gray cast iron, SAE grade G1800.” Accessed September 10, 2019. http://www.matweb.com/search/DataSheet.aspx?MatGUID=7fb051b85b4c4b5295e6a6a45bf6fa33.
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). 2020. “Mars in our night sky.” Accessed May 17, 2021. https://mars.nasa.gov/all-about-mars/night-sky/close-approach/.
Radzikowska, J. M. 2004. “ASM handbook.” In Vol. 9 of Metallography and Microstructures of cast iron. Materials Park, OH: ASM International.
Smith, W. F., and J. Hashemi. 2006. Foundations of materials science and engineering: Mechanical properties of metals I, 254–255. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Zafar, R. 2020. SpaceX could bring starship launch costs down to $10/kg believes Musk. London: Wccftech.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 35 • Issue 2 • March 2022
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 3, 2021
Accepted: Nov 10, 2021
Published online: Dec 21, 2021
Published in print: Mar 1, 2022
Discussion open until: May 21, 2022
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Cited by
- Blake C. Stewart, Haley R. Doude, Shiraz Mujahid, Morgan B. Abney, Eric T. Fox, Jennifer E. Edmunson, Jeffrey J. Mehan, Christopher R. Henry, Phillip B. Hall, Haitham El Kadiri, Hongjoo Rhee, Comparison study of ductile iron produced with Martian regolith harvested iron from ionic liquids and Bosch byproduct carbon for in-situ resource utilization versus commercially available 65-45-12 ductile iron, Advances in Space Research, 10.1016/j.asr.2022.10.060, 71, 5, (2175-2185), (2023).