Determining the Mechanical Property of Martian Rocks Using Accurate Grain-Based Model

ABSTRACT: In the future, the extraterrestrial human activities, such as resources exploitation and base construction on Mars needs the aid of geotechnical engineering technology. Currently, there are only two approaches to obtain the Martian rock samples: sample-return activities by spacecraft and the collection of meteorites. However, meteorites are rare, expensive, arbitrarily sized and shaped, so it is difficult to process them into standard rock samples required by the traditional macroscale rock mechanics experiments (macro-RME). In the present work, the mechanical property of small-sized Martian meteorites was obtained by Accurate Grain-Based Modelling (AGBM) based on the microscale rock mechanics experiments (micro-RME). Firstly, the mineral composition and microstructure of NWA12564 Martian meteorites are achieved by the TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyzer (TIMA). Secondly, the micromechanical properties of rock-forming minerals in meteorites was measured using nanoindentation tests. Thirdly, with the combination of micro-RME results and AGBM, the macroscale mechanical property of Martian rocks was able to be achieved using small and any-shaped meteorites. The present methodology is potential useful to estimate the mechanical property of Martian rocks using only arbitrarily shaped samples. 1. INTRODUCTION Mars shares many similarities with Earth: hard crust, dense cores and similar materials composition, which is also most likely to be the second home of individuals living in Earth (Horne, 2015). Study of rock samples from the Mars provides useful information for the future human activities on Mars, such as resources exploitation and base construction (Steele, 2007). Now, many countries and organizations are working on geological exploration of Mars (Changela et al., 2021). The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Perseverance rover is paving the way for the first Mars-sample return (Farley et al., 2020; Witze, 2021). The China National Space Administration’s (CNSA)’s Zhurong rover (Wan et al., 2020) also focus on investigating the geology of Mars. SpaceX has an ambitious program for human settlement on Mars (Bramson et al., 2021). The use of resources on the Mars may provide a means of reducing the cost and risk of Martian exploration (Sanders and Duke, 2005). Understanding and controlling the mechanical behavior of Martian raw material (e.g. rocks and soil) is critical for the construction and expand colonization on the Mars.