A TECHNICAL SEMINAR II REPORT

ON

CIVIL ENGINEERING IN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A LUNAR BASE

A project report Submitted in partial fulfillment the academic requirements for the award of degree
of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
In

CIVIL ENGINEERING
Submitted by

J.KEERTHANA 18H51A0174

Under the Guidance of

Mr. Ravichandra. AP
(Civil. Associate professor)

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

CMR COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

An Autonomous Institution with NAAC Accreditation (A+ Grade)

(Approved by AICTE Permanently Affiliated to JNTUH).

NBA Accredited Institution
Kandlakoya, Medchal Road, Hyderabad -501401.
 CMR COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
An Autonomous Institution with NAAC Accreditation (A+ Grade)

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

(Approved by AICTE Permanently Affiliated to JNTUH).

NBA Accredited Institution.

Kandlakoya, Medchal Road, Hyderabad - 501401.

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE
Certified that this technical seminar report entitled “ANALYSIS OF CONCRETE MIX BY USING
WASTE PLASTIC MATERIALS” is a bonafide record of work done by
J.KEERTHANA(18H51A0174)
who carried out the project work under my supervision. Certified further, that to the best of my knowledge
the work reported here does not form part of any other project report or dissertation on the basis of which
degree or award was conferred on an earlier occasion or any other candidate.

Signature of the Guide Signature of HOD

Mr. A.P. Ravichandra Dr. K. Suresh
(Associate professor) Professor & Head
Department of Civil Engineering Department of Civil Engineering

ii
 CMR COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

DECLARATION

We hereby declare that the work describes in the project report “Analysis of concrete mix by using waste
plastic materials” has been carried under the guidance and supervision of Mr.A.P.Ravichandra ,Associate
professor, CMR College of Engineering & Technology towards the partial fulfillment of the award of the
degree of Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering from CMR College of Engineering and Technology,
Hyderabad. This work is the original and has not been submitted either in part or in full for the award of
any other degree or diploma of any other university.

Name of The Student Roll Number Signature

J.KEERTHANA 18H51A0174

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to my guide Mr.A.P.Ravichandra, Associate Professor, whose
help, stimulating suggestions and encouragement helped us all the time for writing this report.

We are happy to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to Dr.K. SURESH, Professor and head of the
department of civil engineering, for his valuable suggestions and advice carrying out these works.

We would like to thank our faculty members of the department of civil engineering for their positive and
helpful approaches for our engineering education and also the non-teaching staff for their assistance.

We are grateful and thankful to the principal Major Dr.V.A. NARAYANA, CMR COLLEGE OF
ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY and the management, CH. GOPAL REDDY, correspondent and
secretary for providing all the necessary facilities for carrying out this project.

Finally, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to our parents whose patience and love enabled us
to complete this work. And at last, but not least we would like to thank god for the successful completion
of the project.

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 ABSTRACT
Civil engineering has served humanity for about four millenniums with obvious interaction between other
professions and other sciences. It has dealt with so many diverse subjects that it is difficult to give a short
definition of it. The definition, which suits the contents of this paper best is the one given by Thomas
Tredgold in 1828: "… the art of directing great sources of power in Nature for the use and convenience of
man, as the means of production and of traffic in States both for external and internal trade, as applied in
the construction of roads, bridges, aqueducts, canals, river navigation and docks, for internal intercourse
and exchange; and in the construction of ports, harbors, moles, breakwaters and lighthouses, and in the art
of navigation by artificial power for the purpose of commerce; and in the construction and adaptation of
machinery; and in the drainage of cities and towns." Although this definition lacks many aspects of civil
engineering, it is important for its emphasis on “… directing great sources of Nature for the use and
convenience of man…”. In fact for more than 4000 years, men and women in increasing numbers,
belonging to the profession of civil engineering, worked to direct great sources of Nature on Earth for the
use and convenience of human beings on Earth. In doing so civil engineers have accumulated an important
amount of knowledge and experience in many aspects of civil engineering.

Civil Engineering is getting prepared for operations in space. The Moon will presumably be the focal point
in this new era. Civil Engineering professionals, in close cooperation with other scientists and engineers are
in the phase of planning operations on the Moon. The experience gained on the Earth through four
millenniums is now on the eve of being applied in a new environment. In this paper, an assessment is aimed
to show the new challenges of Civil Engineering in front of this new Nature, and the necessary
considerations for surpassing the difficulties.

Different aspects of the problems, with similarities and differences as compared to applications on the Earth,
like choice and design of the structures, methods of construction, project management and cost engineering,
use of imported and local materials, mounting and fabrication on the moon are studied.

Keywords: Lunar base, design, construction, civil engineering, Moon, lunar regolit

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 LIST OF CONTENTS

Chapter No Titles Page No

Certificate ii

Acknowledgement iii

Abstract iv

1. INTRODUCTION

1.2 General 1

1.2 Scope 3

2. UNDERSTANDING CIVIL ENGINEERING

LUNAR NATURE

2.1 Lunar Nature 4

2.2 Soils and Foundation Engineering 7

2.3 Choice and Design Of Structures 8

2.4 Site Planning and Site Choice 12

2.5 Materials Of Construction 13

2.5.1 Concrete and Lunar Materials 14

6
 2.5.2 Lava Tubes 14

2.6 Transport Engineering 15

2.7 Construction Equipment 15

2.8 Construction Management 16

3. Conclusions 18

References 20

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 CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 GENERAL
Civil Engineering is one of the oldest professions with written rules and regulations. At the times as early
as 1700 BC, in Hammurabi's Code, there were regulations about the works of men who could be classified
as constructors, or civil engineers of our times. This code shows very clearly that 4000 years ago, there
were people that we now call civil engineers, and a profession which is now known as civil engineering
and topics like construction, quality in construction, repair, retrofit, maintenance, operation, responsibility,
structural works, hydraulic works etc.

This profession has served humanity for about four millenniums with obvious interaction between other
professions and other sciences. It has dealt with so many diverse subjects that it is difficult to give a short
definition of it. The definition, which suits the contents of this paper best is the one given by Thomas
Tredgold in 1828: "… the art of directing great sources of power in Nature for the use and convenience of
man, as the means of production and of traffic in States both for external and internal trade, as applied in
the construction of roads, bridges, aqueducts, canals, river navigation and docks, for internal intercourse
and exchange; and in the construction of ports, harbors, moles, breakwaters and lighthouses, and in the art
of navigation by artificial power for the purpose of commerce; and in the construction and adaptation of
machinery; and in the drainage of cities and towns." Although this definition lacks many aspects of civil
engineering, it is important for its emphasis on “… directing great sources of Nature for the use and
convenience of man…”. In fact for more than 4000 years, men and women in increasing numbers,
belonging to the profession of civil engineering, worked to direct great sources of Nature on Earth for the
use and convenience of human beings on Earth. In doing so civil engineers have accumulated an important
amount of knowledge and experience in many aspects of civil engineering.

It now seems that it is time to direct great sources of Nature on Earth, Moon, Mars and in space for the
use and convenience of humanity on Earth and elsewhere.Even this simple statement is sufficient for
making any experienced civil engineer both scared and excited of the future waiting for him. Anybody
who has been involved in taming Nature has certainly learned how difficult it is to deal with it. And now

1
Nature is a new, unaccustomed one, different from the one that prevails on Earth with which we have lived
together from the beginning and still we could not understand and direct sufficiently.

The concepts of lunar base structures have been proposed since long before the dawn of the space age.
We will abstract suggestions generated during the past quarter century, as these are likely to form the pool
from which eventual lunar base designs will evolve also, the concept will be suggested that has particularly
attractive qualifications for the surface lunar base. Significant studies have been made since the days of
the Apollo program, when it appeared likely that the moon would become a second home to humans. For
an early example of the gearing up of R&D efforts, see the Army Corps of Engineers study ( Department
of the Army 1963). During the decade between the late 1980s to mid 1990s, these studies intensified, both
within NASA and outside the government in industry and academe. Many references like Benaroya and
Ettouney (1989,1990), Benaroya (1993a, 1995), Duke and Benaroya (1993), Ettouney and
Benaroya(1992), Galloway and Lokaj(1994,1998), Johnson and Wetzel(1998, 1990a), Johnson (1996),
Mendell(1985), Sadeh et al (1992). Numerous other references discuss science on the moon, the economics
of the lunar development and human physiology in space and on planetary bodies. An equally large
literature exists about related policy issues. These topics are outside the scope of this paper.

In the following sections, first a short description of the new Nature is given. Then an attempt has been
made to list and discuss the works of a civil engineer in this new environment.

It is to be noted that, because of the unaccustomed and unknown properties of this Nature, civil engineers
have to work in closer cooperation with other engineers and scientists, and the work suddenly becomes
completely an interdisciplinary one. This means that most of the problems will be solved together and in
very close cooperation with the other disciplines

2
1.2 OBJECTIVE & SCOPE:

● To find and learn the various applications of civil engineering in the new nature of the lunar surface.
● To learn necessary considerations for overcoming the difficulties and different aspects of the
problem with similarities and differences as compared to that of the earth like choice and design of
the structures, methods of construction, project management and cost engineering, use of imported
and local materials, mounting and fabrication on the moon.
● To understand the lunar nature and also the properties of regolith.
● To learn about the implementation of various theoretical plans that are to be implemented on the
moon surface.
● To discuss the possible structural concepts about lunar construction.
● To understand the design variation of terrestrial and lunar construction.
It is a concept to understand the various subjects of civil engineering involved in the constructions
on the lunar surface.

3
 CHAPTER 2
UNDERSTANDING CIVIL ENGINEERING ON LUNAR
SURFACE

2.1 LUNAR NATURE

The conditions that prevail on the Moon are noted elsewhere [Johnson et al., 1991], [Criswell,
Sadeh, 1991] [Lajpat, 1993]. From the civil engineering point of view, the following properties
are to be specifically noted:
- Lunar gravitation is 1/6 of that on Earth - There is no atmosphere on the Moon - There is no
global magnetic field on the Moon.
- The same side is always facing the Earth
- 1 lunar day is equivalent to 27.3 terrestrial days, half with sunlight, half with darkness on the
lunar equator.
- The lunar surface temperature is predicted to show a fluctuation such that the range is
(between –1700C and +1200C on the equator) 3 times greater than that on the Earth, with a
minimum of approximately -2500C at the poles. It has also been measured that temperatures
30cm below ground surfaces remained relatively constant at –56 0C with a slight variation of
only 20 to 40C. [Lin et al, 1991]
- The surface of the moon is continuously exposed to a flux of cosmic radiation. This effect
considerably increases during daytime, due to solar radiation.
- The thin atmosphere of the Moon allows even the smallest micrometeorites to impact with
their full cosmic velocities. This bombardment poses a hazard to all surfaces exposed on the
lunar surface, especially to delicate materials like telescope mirrors and coatings.
- Seismic activity on the Moon is very low, basically insignificant. The largest recorded seismic
activities in eight years are approximately equivalent to a 4 on the Richter scale, with 1-2 being
typical.
- Until very recently (October 1999), research has indicated water ice presence at both the north
and south lunar poles [NASA2]. Data from Lunar Prospector was indicating the possible
presence of discrete, confined, near-pure water ice deposits buried beneath as much as 400 mm
of dry regolith, with the water signature being stronger at the Moon's north pole than at the
south. The related analyses had given the result that the water might be concentrated in

4
localized areas (roughly 1850 square km, at each pole). The estimated total volume of ice was
6.6 billion tons. Uncertainties in the models were obliging the scientists to state that this
estimate could be off considerably. Effectively, a very recent (July 31, 1999) and on purpose
impact of Lunar Prospector “produced no observable signature of water” [NASA3]. Thus the
question of the existence of water or ice on the Moon remains open.
The Nature defined above is quite different from the one accustomed on the Earth. To these
differences, one has to add the difficulty of transport from the Earth of the manpower and of
other resources, the difficulty of maintenance and the degree of low efficiency of the
workmanship on the Moon, and a different level of risk, safety, and reliability in this hostile
environment. These factors will open new horizons to civil engineers. The basic idea of
working in these new horizons should be that local resources would be used to a maximum
extent, effectively using the local environment. A simple example may be given in producing
lunar concrete. For producing this basic structural material, lunar resources can be used with
no important contribution coming from the Earth. That is one thing. But on the other hand,
thermal extremes could be used for crushing lunar rocks to obtain cementitious material and
aggregates, thus effectively using the local environment [Matsumoto et al., 1991]. The basic
considerations related to different branches of civil engineering are summarized below.

The problem of designing a structure to build on the lunar surface is a difficult one, discussed
here in a cursory way. MAny issues are not discussed, but will need to be tackled eventually.
Some important topics not discussed here but necessary in a detailed study, include the
following:
● Relationships between severe lunar temperature cycles and structural and material
fatigue, a problem for exposed structures;
● Structural sensitivity to temperature differentials between different sections of the same
component;
● Very low temperature effects and the possibility of brittle fractures;
● Outgassing for exposed steels and other effects of high vacuum on steel, alloys, and
advanced materials;
● Factors of safety, originally developed to account for uncertainties in the Earth design
and construction process, undoubtedly need adjustment for the lunar environment,
either up or down, depending on one’s perspective and tolerance for risk;
● Reliability and risk must be major components of lunar structures, just as they are of

5
 significant Earth structures(Benaroya 1994);
● Dead/live loads under lunar gravity;
● Buckling, stiffening, and bracing requirements for lunar structures, which will be
internally pressurized; and
● Consideration of new failure modes such as those due to high velocity micrometeorite
impacts.
In a light, flexible structural system in low gravity, light structural members (for example,
composite cylinders that have a wall thickness of only a few 1/1,000th of an inch) are
sometimes designed to limit their load-carrying capacity by buckling when that limit is met. In
turn, the load would have to be redistributed to other, less-loaded structural members. Such an
approach offers possibilities for inflatable and other lunar surface structures where it would be
simpler and less costly to include limit-state and sacrificial structural elements. Some of these
discussions are underway Benaroya and Ettouney 1992a, in particular regarding the design
process for an extraterrestrial structure. Our purpose in this paper is to discuss the technical
issues and provide some historical context. Important issues such as financing the return to the
Moon, enhancing human physiological understanding, and many others are beyond the scope
here. The focus for us, again, is to provide the reader with a brief glimpse of the structural and
structural-related engineering issues for human habitation on the Moon. Important components
in a design process are the creation of a detailed design and prototyping. For a structure in the
lunar environment, such building and realistic testing cannot be performed on the Earth or even
in orbit. It is not currently possible, for example, to experimentally assess the effect of
suspended (due to 1/6g) lunar regolith lunar soil fines on lunar machinery. Apollo experience
may be extrapolated, but only to a boundary beyond which new information is necessary.
Another crucial aspect of a lunar structural design involves an evaluation of the total life cycle,
that is, taking a system from conception through retirement and disposition, or the recycling of
the system and its components. Many factors affecting system life cannot be predicted due to
the nature of the lunar environment and the inability to realistically assess the system before it
is built and utilized.

Finally, it appears that concurrent engineering will be a by-word for lunar structural analysis,
design, and erection. Concur-rent engineering simultaneously considers system design, manu-
facturing, and construction, moving major items in the cycle to as early a stage as possible in
order to anticipate potential problems.Here, another dimension is added to this definition.
Given the extreme nature of the environment contemplated for the structure,concurrency must
imply flexibility of design and construction.Parallelism in the design space must be maintained
so that at each juncture alternate solutions exist that will permit continuation of construction,
even in the face of completely unanticipated diffi-culties. This factor needs to be further
addressed and its implica-tions clearly explored. A discussion of lunar design codes has already
started (Benaroya and Ettouney 1992a,b)

6
2.2 SOILS AND FOUNDATION ENGINEERING

Lunar regolith is a very important input to the civil engineer on the Moon. It is the soil formed
by the continual bombardment of the lunar rocks by micrometeorites which covers the surface
of the Moon and its basic characteristics are as follows [Schmitt, 1988], [Lajpat, 1993],
[Johnson, Chua, 1993], [Johnson et al. 1995]: - Grain size: mean grain size of mature lunar soil
or regolith is less than 100 micrometers, more than 50% by weight is less than 100 micrometers,
and more than 25 % is less than 20 micrometers. In summary, the construction and operational
environment is very dusty. - Bulk density: the bulk density of the regolith ranges from 0.9 to
1.1 g/cm3 near the surface and reaches a maximum of 1.9 g/cm3 below about 20 cm. In
summary, with repeated use, traffic ways may have increasing depths of uncompacted regolith.
- Porosity: the porosity of the regolith surface is about 45. - Surface area: the average specific
surface area of the regolith is about 0.5 m2 /g for sub-50 micron material. - Shear strength: the
shear strength of the undisturbed regolith is measured such that cohesion c=0.1 to 1 kN/m2 and
the friction angle is about 30 to 50 degrees [Kanamori et al., 1998]. In summary, shearing at a
mine or trench face is relatively easy. - Modulus: the regolith’s modulus of subgrade reaction
is typically 1000 kN/m2 /m and a footing pressure of 10 kN/m2 would settle about 1 cm [Lin
et al., 1988]. “Typically, astronaut boots and the Lunar Rover's wheels only penetrated 1 to 2
centimeters into the surface, with penetration reaching five centimeters in some places. The
lunar module footpads sank 2 to 20 centimeters into the soil. When astronauts inserted sampling
tubes into the soil, they typically found penetration was easy for the first 10 to 20 centimeters
and increasingly difficult below that depth. The deepest penetration achieved on a hand-driven
core tube was 70 centimeters, which required about 50 blows with a hammer. For sampling at
greater depths, the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 crews used a battery-powered drill. This allowed
sampling to depths of 1.5 to 3 meters, which was achieved easily on Apollo 16 but with much
more difficulty on Apollos 15 and 17.” [NASA1] - Adhesion: the interparticle adhesion in the
regolith is high. The regolith clumps together like damp beach sand. - Thickness: the average
thickness of the regolith is 4-5m ranging from a few centimeters to some tens of meters. At the
Apollo 17 site the range of thickness is 6.2 to 36.9 m due to numerous local ejecta deposits.

Regolith provides a good protection medium against radiation and micrometeorites. It has been

7
estimated that about two meters of regolith is sufficient to reduce radiation to the level we
experience on the surface of the Earth and to eliminate the hazardous effects of
micrometeorites. This depth could be decreased using pressed regolith or prefabricated blocks
of regolith. For protection purposes, regolith can be used as a cover, or relatively large
underground facilities can be constructed in the regolith without excavating to or in bedrock.
Jacket type regolith shield, or regolith shield over a canopy are measures proposed for more
effective use of this type of protection [Okumura et al., 1998], [Bennett]. In forming the shields,
or in constructing walls, abutments etc., another technique, which can be applied, is the one,
which is more generally called, reinforced earth, or in a lesser way, reinforced soil. It could be
better perhaps to name this technique on the Moon as reinforced regolith and to use the
abbreviation re-re. Re-re could be used very effectively on the Moon due to low gravity loads,
thus making side elements to be very thin and less resistant. These elements can be made of
plastics or some plastic containers filled again with regolith. The reinforcement for re-re can
also be plastic, thus with a minimum weight, creating fewer problems for the transport from
the Earth at the beginning. As far as the foundations are concerned, it has been noted that
“conventional compaction, piling, and mat foundation /shall be/ impractical for construction
on the /Moon/” [Lin et al., 1988]. Therefore a rigidly assembled substructure has been proposed
for the prevention of differential settlements.

2.3 CHOICE AND DESIGN OF STRUCTURES

Due to the problems cited and not cited above, in the first stages of colonization of the Moon,
small habitats will be erected as imported from the Earth. Gradually, the material use from the
Earth and the utilization of plants on the Earth will leave their places to lunar resources and
lunar plants. In general, one can assume that, there will be five types of habitats as shown in
Table I, classified according to origin of resources and the manufacturing place, the final
mounting place being on the Moon. For example, habitats numbered as (5) will be made of
parts which are constructed on the Earth using Earth sources, and with parts constructed on the
Moon using terrestrial and lunar resources.

As time passes, terrestrial resources and terrestrial plants will leave their places to lunar
resources and lunar process plants. Referring to the simple tabular form on Table I, there will
be a reduction trend of habitats constructed on the Earth using earth resources only (1), and an
increase in the habitats using large amounts of lunar resources and fabricated on the Moon (4),

8
as shown in Figure 1.

RESOURCES MANUFACTURING PLANT

HABITATS

EARTH MOON EARTH MOON

(1) X X

(2) X X

(3) X X X

(4) X X

(5) X X X X

Table I: Use of Terrestrial and Lunar Resources and Plants in Lunar Constructions.
The proportion of lunar materials in these structures will certainly show a continuous increase
as shown in Fig.2. Noting the lunar conditions, it seems that the first structures will be directly
imported from the Earth, as parts of the vehicles between Earth and the Moon, and these
structures will be covered by regolith in order to provide safety against radiation,
micrometeorites and also, to some extent, for their temperature isolation. Later, some
prefabricated elements will be imported from the Earth, and then these elements will be
assembled in place, and again covered by regolith. So, at this stage, assembly workmanship
would be necessary. In the third phase, some manufacturing plants will be constructed on the
Moon, thus enabling production of constructional pieces, like prefabricated elements, or
building blocks, starting perhaps by the production of sacks full of regolith. With the use of
these elements, larger and more efficient buildings will be constructed, which will result in the
reduction of import of materials and prefabricated elements from the Earth. This process will
continue until the phase where only some essential resources and manufactured elements will
be imported, and a very high percentage of inputs will be gathered from the Moon. The basic
structural difference between a terrestrial and a lunar structure will be in the basic concept of

9
transfer of the loads. On the Earth, the fundamental problem is the transfer of the loads, dead
or live, which are mainly gravitational loads and loads induced by the masses due to seismic
movements. To these, are added loads due to environmental effects like wind and snow.
Typically, in a one-storey building, a column will carry a surface of 30 m2 , the vertical load
on that surface being 5kN/m2 ; the column will be under the effect of a compressive load of
150 kN. Therefore, if the column is made of steel with allowable stress 200MPa, a cross section
of 750mm2 , or a square section of 27 mm x 27 mm, would be sufficient to transfer that load
to the foundations, if the bending and buckling effects are let aside.

When the same structure is considered on the Moon, the first difference will come from the
loads. In this case there will be no lateral forces like earthquake and wind forces. There will be
no snow loads etc., and the gravity loads will be one sixth of the one acting on the Earth, thus
if the same mass is used in our hypothetical structure, instead of 150 kN, the downward force
will be 25 kN only. If the structure is under protection of 2m of regolith, there will be an
additional downward distributed load of 1500 kg/m3 x 10/6 x 2 m = 5000 N/m2 , which will
add 150 kN to the compressive load of the sample column, thus bringing the column
compressive load to 175 kN. This will be the loading if the inside of the building is
unpressurized. In case a pressure of 1x105 Pa=100kPa, equivalent to 1 atmosphere is applied
inside the building, there will be a tensile force of 3000 kN applied on the column. Thus the
hypothetical column will be under the effect of, say, 200 kN compressive load and 2800 kN
tensile load. In that case, again with an allowable stress of 200 MPa, the minimum cross section
of the column would be 14000 mm², or a steel square section of 118 mm x 118 mm would be
necessary.

10
 Figure 2. Evolution with time of the use of Lunar and Terrestrial Resources

The above paragraphs show that the “column” element of the structure will normally be under
the effect of a tensile force, but may also be compressed in the case the habitat is
unpressurized, thus the name tensile-compression-column [Lin et al., 1988]. The fact that the
tensile forces are much higher than compressive forces indicate that the type of building
considered would be different on the Moon than on the Earth. The ideal element would be a
sphere, thus the structures would be basically spheres or shapes obtained from spheres by
small distortions and aggregations. In a sphere, with internal pressure of 100 kPa, and a radius
of 4 m, the necessary thickness would be 1 mm, if the allowable stress was taken again as 200
MPa. A structural engineer will know immediately that, if a cylinder is used instead of a
sphere, the thickness should be twice as big, thus 2 mm. These figures are affordable, but it
should be noted that, in case concrete is being used, one has to use pretensioning, in order to
resist these high stresses. And for pre tensioning, imported steel wires can be used, but in later
stages it would be beneficial to use carbon fibers fabricated on the Moon.

In the first stages, as stated above, imported habitats will be used such that they will directly
be carried to the lunar surface, with no manufacturing at all. In the later stages, some mounting
could be done, thus giving way to more complex structures. At this stage another possibility
is to use inflatable structures. This type of structure is investigated elsewhere [Sadeh, Criswell,
1995], [Jenkins et al., 1998].

Comparable to inflatable structures, one can consider the `tensile-integrity” (tensegrity)

structures which are to be composed basically of bars and cables. These self-sustaining

11
structures which are the results of tensile structural concepts, can be designed without
significant foundations and may have the further advantage of being deployable [Benaroya
1993].

It is to be noted that, on the Moon, there is the possibility of another type of structure making
use of the possibility offered by underground lava-tubes. These caves will provide an
environment naturally sheltered from radiation, thermal extremes, and micrometeoroid
impact. They can be made air-tight by using thin-skinned inflatable structures. They can also
serve as unpressurized hangers for garages [Horz, 1984].

The methodology for the reliability and safety analysis of lunar structures are discussed and
critical points of such an analysis are set forth [Benaroya, 1994].

2.4 SITE PLANNING AND SITE CHOICE

The habitats, small and big, will be planned on the Moon. Some of them will be inhabited, in
some others 3-5 people will be living for short periods and in some others there will be
colonies of people living for long periods. The choice of these places, or sites will be very
important. A civil engineer on Earth, when planning his site, takes into consideration many
factors, like resources, wind effects, transport, the necessities of the construction, geotechnical
conditions etc. The problem will have some similarities for the engineer who is planning the
site on the Moon, but again with additional difficulties and importance not comparable to
those on the Earth.

In general, it seems that there are a number of locations on the Moon favorable for scientific
or industrial activity [O’Neill], [Shevchenko, 1995], [Coombs et al., 1998]. The near side of
the Moon has the advantage of being easy for communications with and teleoperation from
Earth, the far side has the advantage of its being radio quiet. The polar sides were believed to
have the advantage of containing water ice and other frozen volatiles. The southern pole seems
particularly advantageous (ice(?)largest impact crater, permanently shadowed crater bottoms,
places with almost continuous sunlight, constant temperature (-30 0C), sky interesting to
astronomers, close to farside) [Spudis, 1997]. When a site is chosen, its preparation will bring
some new aspects as compared to the sites on the Earth. One basic difference will come from

12
the existence of landing areas and their preparations [Graf, 1988].

2.5 MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION

For lunar bases, there is an important task for Civil Engineers dealing with materials of
construction. Their main item will be to make it possible to use lunar resources as inputs for
lunar constructions either as tout-venant material or after some processing [Happel, 1993],
[Blair, 1998]. But, at the beginning, of course, terrestrial materials will be used until some
level of colonization is achieved [Chow, Lin, 1991].

The main resource to be utilized in this scheme is the regolith. Lunar regolith basically can be
used in three different ways:
- As the basic input for production of some elements,
- As the bulk input of cement and concrete production,
- As a cover for habitats.
Effectively, oxygen and silicon can be found in large proportions in regolith. The other
elements that can be found in the regolith are aluminum, iron, chrome, nickel and titanium.
Another resource which can be found in important quantities on the Moon, and which is very
rare on the Earth, is Helium 3, which could be used as a nuclear combustible.

A basic structural element to be used on the Moon seems to be concrete made of local material.
This idea is based on the consideration that oxygen and other raw materials used in
manufacturing cement will be extracted from lunar resources and lunar soils and lunar rocks
will be used as aggregates of concrete. [Matsumoto et al., 1991]. Properties of concrete
produced on the Moon have been investigated to a certain extent [Kanamori et al., 1991], and
also the methods for pouring concrete. The analysis of lunar concrete production has been
advanced to the point to give the details of a plant that starts with production of concrete and
ends with a lunar precast concrete plant [Drake, 1991]. The behavior of lunar cement and lunar
concrete is investigated to a really advanced degree.

On the Moon, it seems that concrete will be produced without great difficulty. The same thing
cannot be said about steel bars and wires, in order to obtain the conventional and reliable basic
construction material, reinforced concrete. It is evident that it will not be effective to transport

13
steel bars and wires from Earth to the Moon for producing this basic material. But instead, it
seems that a solution can be obtained using glass-fiber-reinforced-plastic that could be
produced on the Moon using local resources.

2.5.1 CONCRETE AND LUNAR MATERIALS

A structural analysis and preliminary design of a precast, pre-stressed concrete lunar base is
reported by Lin et al. 1989. In order to maintain structural integrity, and thus air tightness, when
differential settlement is possible, a floating foundation is proposed. All materials for such a
lunar concrete structure, except possibly hydrogen for the making of water, may be derivable
from lunar resources. Horiguchi et al. 1998 study simulated lunar cement. The use of
unprocessed or minimally processed lunar materials for base structures, as well as for shielding,
may be made possible Khalili 1989 by adopting and extending terrestrial tech-

niques developed in antiquity for harsh environments. A variety of materials and techniques
discussed are candidates for unpressurized applications. The use of indigenous materials is
considered by Happel 1992a,b for the design of a tied-arch structure. The study is

extensive and detailed and also includes an exposition on lunar materials. Construction of
layered embankments using regolith and filmy materials geotextiles is viewed as an option
using robotic construction (Okumura et al. 1994), as are fabric-confined soil structures Harrison
1992. In order to avoid the difficulties of mixing concrete on the lunar surface due to lack of
water, Gracia and Casanova 1998 have suggested examining use of sulfur concrete because
sulfur is readily available on the Moon.

2.5.2 LAVA TUBES

Ideas regarding the utility of constructing the first outposts under the lunar surface have been
proposed. A Preliminary assessment is provided by Daga et al. 1990. of a lunar outpost situated
in a lava tube. They conclude that an architectural solution is needed to the problems
surrounding the development of a lunar outpost, but that lunar surface structures are not the
best approach. Rather subscene development offers real evolutionary potential for settlement.
In another structural approach, fused regolith structures are suggested by Cliffton 1990 and
Crockett et al. 1994. In this case, the structures are small and many and reside on the surface.
A prime advantage offered for planning numerous smaller structures is safety and reliability.
The premise of this work is to use the sun’s energy to fuse regolith into components.

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2.6 TRANSPORT ENGINEERING
As on the Earth, one of the most important tasks of Civil Engineers will be the provision of
means of transportation in, around, and between different settlements or sites on the Moon. The
experience gained up to now shows that this work is not a surmountable one, since the lunar
ground offers no difficulty for this purpose. “Crew mobility, both on foot and in the Lunar
Rover, 9 9 was affected more by local topography such as craters and ridges than by soil
properties“ [NASA1]. It has also been observed that, after a few passages, the lunar regolith
becomes compacted to a certain degree and enables a better movement of vehicles on it.

Modes of transportation on the surface of the Moon and key lunar vehicle design parameters
are discussed based on the available experience [Wallace, Rao, 1993]. Seeing the favorable
terrain and the ease of production of electric power from solar energy, railroads are proposed
as an effective, efficient, and simple means of long distance transportation on the Moon
[Schrunk et al., 1998]. This project would advance parallel to the construction of an electricity
and communication network over the Moon's surface.

2.7 CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT

In the same context, the civil engineers have to analyze the equipment to be used on the Moon,
and they must help the design of these. It seems that the first lunar surface vehicles will include
cranes and other construction equipment [DeNike, Zahn, 1962]. Considering that "hostile
environment 380,000 kilometers from the earth is not the opportune place for innovation where
proven techniques will work", it seems that the valid locomotion system on the Moon will again
be wheels and caterpillar tracks. It should be noted that the lunar and martial vehicles used up
to now were effectively wheeled vehicles. As far as the construction equipment are concerned,
there are two basic differences as compared to world conditions [Brazell, Smith, 1991]. The
first of them is the dusty environment. The lunar construction equipment should be designed
to take into account “abrasive lunar dust [which] can destroy drills and cutting edges, fasteners
(such as bolts), and moving parts in machines, such as bearings, pivot joints, and linkages.”
“Dust can also cover vehicle headlights and camera lenses”, thus this has also to be taken into
consideration. The second problem comes from “Reduced gravity [which] means that
machinery weighs less on the moon, so gaining sufficient traction to conduct scooping and

15
bulldozing operations is a problem. Dropping a wrecking ball is also less effective”. In order
to take this effect into consideration, either very heavy (or to be correct, massive) equipment
will be designed, or some ways of anchoring will be considered. Of course, after some time
has passed on the Moon, more effective equipment will be designed. The fundamentals for the
requirements in the design of these equipment (rover, truck, excavator, bucket wheel excavator,
angle dozer, etc.) have been put forth [Graf, 1988].

2.8 CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

A basic discipline in civil engineering is construction management. In the construction
applications on the Moon, this discipline will certainly take a primordial importance.

In this new environment, labor will be very expensive [Chow, Lin, 1991]. This will come from
the difficulty of transporting qualified labor from the world, and also from limited productivity
and cost of maintenance.

Similar things can be said for materials and equipment also. For materials imported from the
Earth or produced on the Moon, the initial cost will be very high as compared to those on the
Earth. The productivity of the equipment will not be as high as on the Earth and will be full of
unknowns.

These factors will make cost relations of materials, manpower, and equipment for the moon
grossly distorted from what we are here used to on the Earth. The reestablishment of this
relationship will be among the first priorities of engineering investigation for construction on
the moon. It is to be expected that these relations will show a continuous change with time.

Civil engineers are used to planning and scheduling their operations. On Earth, this is done
mostly for allocating sources, like time, labor, finance and equipment. On the Moon the case
will be the same, with the major difference that the plan and schedule has to work with zero
defect or so, since, on the Moon the remedies are much more difficult and much more expensive
to make.
Effectively, “a detailed scheduling process working closely with design data could reduce
costs, minimize risk to human life, and contribute greatly to the success of a space construction

16
project” [Atkins, 1988]. For this purpose a computer program is developed which starting from
3- dimensional data input of the construction to be realized, goes up to the CPM programming
taking into account the resources and the quantities.

It is quite ordinary that for operations on the Moon, every activity is defined and followed
automatically, whether realized by robots, by human beings, or by a combination of them.

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 CHAPTER 3

CONCLUSIONS

Civil engineering is now at the start of being involved in applications in a new Nature, or more
correctly in a new environment. In doing so, civil engineers will use all their knowledge and
experiences gained through 4 millenniums, but they will also have to pass from a phase of
reorientation. In the preceding sections new considerations related to various disciplines of
civil engineering are cited:

- structural engineering
- geotechnical engineering
- transportation engineering
- materials of construction
- construction management
To complete the scheme, one should include waste management, fluid mechanics and space
civil engineering education. With the addition of these branches, one could say that civil
engineering, with all its areas, would be at the center of the lunar works. For 40 or more
centuries, they have worked on the Earth for “directing great sources of power in Nature for
the use and convenience of man” and they were at the center of all the works performed for
this purpose. And now they will continue their work on the Moon and on other space objects,
probably with more interactions with other disciplines.

Besides emphasizing the considerations above, the following ideas are put forth in the present
work:

The lunar structures will be tension-compression structures with tensile behavior prevailing.
Thus for finding an optimum type of lunar structure, studies will be focused on pre- and post
tensioned structures.

A more efficient way of using lunar regolith will probably be reinforced-regolith (re-re), with
most probably side elements made of plastic cages filled with sacks of regolith and with plastic
or carbon-fiber reinforcement. For using earthwork equipment effectively in this low

18
gravitational environment, massive equipment will be preferred with an anchoring system. It
is to be noted that, up to now, the pioneering countries have been extremely successful in their
manned and unmanned operations on the moon and elsewhere in space. It is this success that
gives all mankind the hope and the security that the coming operations also will be successful
and thus the thought that this pioneering work has to be followed. In this context, civil engineers
will continue to do their work adopted for the new Nature.

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1. Atkins, D. C. (1988) “Animation/Simulation for Construction Planning” Engineering,

Construction, and Operations in Space, Proc. Space 88; S. W. Johnson, J. P. Wetzel,
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2. Benaroya, H. (1993) “Tensile-Integrity Structures for the Moon” Applied Mechanics
of a Lunar Base, Applied Mechanics Reviews, Vol.46, No:6, pp.326-335
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