Diurnal Temperature Variation on an Intact and Damaged Lunar Habitat Structure
Publication: Earth and Space 2022
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the surface temperature and temperature through thickness profile of a monolithic concrete dome habitat structure in the intact and damaged condition on the Moon. Due to long duration days and nights in the lunar environment, a habitat built on the Moon is subjected to extreme temperature fluctuations. The three-dimensional thermodynamics heat balance equation was solved using the explicit finite difference method. While the direct solar radiation and lunar albedo were used as the heat sources, non-blackbody radiation and habitat albedo were taken as heat sinks. The convective boundary condition with the constant interior air temperature of 293.15 K was used for the temperature calculation. In the intact condition, the maximum temperature of around 365 K was found at the external wall surface on crown (apex) of dome during the solar noon and the minimum temperature of around 222 K was determined during the night time irrespective of the location on the dome. For the damaged condition, the difference between daytime high and nighttime low temperature at the interior wall surface of the lunar structure can be as large as 57 K.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this chapter.
REFERENCES
Akisheva, Y., and Gourinat, Y. (2021). “Utilisation of moon regolith for radiation protection and thermal insulation in permanent lunar habitats.” Applied Sciences, 11.9, 3853.
ASCE Task Committee (1992). “Overview of existing lunar base structural concepts,” J. of Aerospace Engineering, 5 (2), April, 159–174. <Online – >.
Benaroya, H., Bernold, L., and Chua, K.M. (2006). “Engineering, design, and construction of the lunar bases.” J. Aerospace Engineering, 19, 133–157.
Benaroya, H. (2017). “Lunar habitats: A brief overview of issues and concepts.” Reach, 7, 14–33.
Christie, R. J., Plachta, D. W., and Hasan, M. M. (2008). “Transient Thermal Model and Analysis of the Lunar Surface and Regolith for Cryogenic Fluid Storage.” NASA/TM-2008-215300. NASA, Washington, D.C. 1–12.
Incropera, F., and DeWitt, D. (1990). Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, 3rd Ed., Wiley, New York.
Kodur, V. (2014). “Properties of concrete at elevated temperatures.” ISRN Civil Engineering 2014. 1–15.
Malla, R. B., Adib-Jahromi, H., and Accorsi, M. L (1995). “A simplified design method for braced double-skinned structure in lunar application.” J. of Aerospace Engineering, 8(4), Oct., 189–195. <Online– >.
Malla, R. B. and Brown, K. (2015). “Determination of temperature variation on lunar surface and subsurface for habitat analysis and design,” Acta Astronautica, 107, Feb-Mar, 196–207 (Online: )
Schonberg, W. P., Schäfer, F., and Putzar, R. (2010). “Some comments on the protection of lunar habitats against damage from meteoroid impacts.” J. of Aerospace Engineering, 23.1, 90–97.
Schmitt, H. (2007). “Return to the moon: exploration, enterprise, and energy in the human settlement of space.” Springer Science and Business Media, New York City, NY, 89–92.
Steiner, J. T., and Malla, R. B. (2021). “A study of layered structural configurations as thermal and impact shielding of lunar habitats.” Procs., Earth and Space 2021 conference, ASCE, Reston, VA, 1285–1296.
Tripathi, S., Steiner, J. T., and Malla, R. B. (2021). “Temperature profile on the surface and through the thickness of a dome habitat structure on the moon.” Procs., 72nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC), IAF, Dubai, UAE, IAC-21-A5.1.17.
Vaniman, D., Reddy, R., Heiken, G., Olhoeft, G., and Mendell, W. (1991). “The lunar environment.” Lunar Sourcebook: A User’s Guide to the Moon (G. Heiken, D. Vaniman, B. French, eds). Cambridge University Press, New York City, NY, 27–60.
Vasavada, A. R., Paige, D. A., and Wood, S. E. (1999). “Near surface temperatures on mercury and the moon and the stability of polar ice deposits.” Icarus, 141, 179–193.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
History
Published online: Jan 5, 2023
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.