Effects of TiO2 content on microstructure, thermal and mechanical properties of microwave sintered lunar regolith simulant

Dense building components can be fabricated using lunar regolith simulants prepared via microwave sintering. In this study, the microstructure and properties of such simulants containing high (14.72%), medium (6.71%), and low (1.7%) TiO2 contents prepared via microwave sintering at different temperatures (1030 degrees C-1070 degrees C) were studied. The sample sintered at 1060 degrees C with 14.72% TiO2 content exhibited the highest compressive strength of (125.2 +/- 22) MPa. This was because high TiO2 content was more conducive to densification due to microwave sintering. The influence of TiO2 content and sintering temperature on the strength of microwave-sintered samples was statistically analyzed, which revealed that sintering temperature was the main influencing factor (F value = 187.3) and TiO2 content was the auxiliary influencing factor (F value = 4.91). Using an enhanced multilayer perceptron model, a continuous surface diagram and prediction model were developed. These were then used to determine the influence of sintering temperature and TiO2 content on the compressive strength as well as to predict compressive strength with comparable accuracy. This study provides insights into microwave sintering of materials for future lunar construction.