Structural Stability Analysis of Lunar Lava Tubes for Habitat Location on the Moon

The Moon has been a symbol of exploration that has fascinated humanity for centuries. Establishing lunar settlements could revolutionize space exploration, offering new opportunities for research and the development of technologies for future manned missions to other celestial bodies. However, the extreme lunar conditions pose great challenges and risks to human life, requiring innovative solutions. Research suggests that underground habitats are less exposed to these dangers; in this context, lunar lava tubes emerge as ideal shelters, although their structural stability is not fully understood, which underscores the need for more research in this field. Therefore, this study proposes an analytical and numerical approach to estimate the stability of lunar lava tubes. Specifically, cavity expansion and compression theory are used to analyze how stress and deformations are distributed within the elastic range of the surrounding material under in-situ pressure conditions. This theory helps us to understand how the tube walls respond to external pressures, helping to predict critical points where structural failures could occur. A comparison between lunar and terrestrial lava tubes is carried out in order to fully understand he advantages of lunar ones.