Missions

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) is a key concept for lunar and Martian exploration, enabling the establishment of autonomous bases and the realization of long-term stays where energy and raw materials will be major concerns for astronauts. One resource is lunar regolith, composed of oxides that can be used to extract oxygen or metallic/metalloid elements, for the construction of permanent shelters using additive manufacturing. With the aim of manufacturing structures and technical objects from regolith and a solar source, the fundamental steps are to study the properties of the regolith, the proofs of concept for manufacturing these technical objects from this regolith, the available energy sources and the determination of the performance, particularly mechanical, of the manufactured parts.
As part of the ISRU theme, and the CNES and ESA Spaceship.fr programs, whose objectives are to prepare for exploration and manned flights to the Moon and Mars, the ICA is tackling the theme of lunar additive manufacturing using only its soil, regolith, and energy from the sun.

Activities

The person recruited will take part in the collaborative project with CNES to carry out actions around indirect additive manufacturing. In this context, he/she will be required to:
- Help set up the indirect additive manufacturing process,
- Define and produce a printable filament for indirect additive manufacturing from a regolith analog and PLA (PolyLactic Acid) binder additives,
- Print a part using the developed filament,
- Carry out and interpret microstructural characterizations of manufactured parts.
- Perform and interpret mechanical tests on manufactured specimens,
- Disseminate results obtained through conferences and journal articles.
- Produce summaries of work carried out.

Skills

The candidate should have research experience in the fields of Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering, with particular emphasis on additive manufacturing. The candidate should have knowledge and skills in :
- characterizing the physical properties (mineral, optical, thermal, thermo-optical) and physico-chemical transformations of materials, and the associated equipment,
- additive manufacturing processes, including process modeling and instrumentation,
- mechanical testing (indentation, compression, bending), microstructural characterization and analysis of the results obtained.

Work Context

The Institut Clément ADER (ICA) - UMR CNRS 5312 is a research laboratory specializing in mechanical engineering of materials. It focuses on the study of materials, structures, systems and associated processes. Research work is carried out by four research groups dealing with behavioral modeling, instrumentation and the study of the behavior and durability of materials and structures.
Through its cross-disciplinary “additive manufacturing” axis, ICA contributes its expertise in additive manufacturing processes and understanding the physical phenomena involved. Thanks to its various technical platforms, the laboratory is able to develop manufacturing processes, particularly for heterogeneous ceramics, to carry out microstructural, thermal and thermo-optical characterizations of materials such as regolith analogues, and to conduct mechanical tests on manufactured parts (indentation, compression, bending, etc.) over a wide temperature range.
The laboratory therefore boasts a range of equipment and multidisciplinary scientific and technical skills to tackle the manufacture of a part with a complex geometry using an indirect additive process of the Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) type and from a regolith analogue which is a Basalte du Pic d'Ysson (known as BPY), an analogue on which the ICA has five years' experience, notably in its preparation for additive manufacturing processes.

The position is located in a sector covered by the protection of scientific and technical potential (PSTP), and therefore requires, in accordance with the regulations, that your arrival be authorised by the competent authority of the MESR.

The position is located in a sector under the protection of scientific and technical potential (PPST), and therefore requires, in accordance with the regulations, that your arrival is authorized by the competent authority of the MESR.

Constraints and risks

No job-related constraints

Additional Information

N/A