Effects of Temperature Gradients on the Design of a Frame-Membrane Lunar Habitat

摘要

The extreme hot and cold temperatures present on the surface of the Moon bring about one of the most important design challenges when considering a lunar habitat for use in a long-term colonization mission. Within this paper, the analytical determination of the lunar surface temperature within a one-meter regolith shield is presented. It was found that the surface temperature on the structure built at the lunar Equatorial surface could reach temperatures as high as 457 K (183.85℃) during the day while dropping to 183 K (-90.15℃) at night. Secondly, the initial static analysis, including the determination of both member stresses and nodal deflections due to the applied internal pressure and the aforementioned temperature profile, is presented. The added mass of the regolith shield helped to reduce both the stress and deflection magnitudes throughout the structure. The high daytime temperatures resulted in increased nodal deflections due to thermal expansion, while the cold nighttime temperatures had an inverse effect. This same design process can also be used to consider other locations on the surface of the Moon or for different habitat structural concepts.