Challenges in transporting, handling and processing regolith in the lunar environment

Abstract

Introduction: It is well known that powders become more 'cohesive' as their mean particulate size decreases. This phenomenon is evidenced by such characteristics as poor flowability, clumping, avalanching, difficulty in fluidizing, and formation of quasi-stable, low-density configurations that are easily compacted. Gravity is often the primary driving force for powder movement in common powder processing and transfer operations. Because of this, gravity plays a role in how the flow behavior of powders is typically characterized. As a result, the 'cohesiveness' of a powder varies with gravity-level, with a powder appearing more 'cohesive' as the effective gravity level is decreased.