Shear properties of LHS-1 and LMS-1 Lunar regolith simulants

Lunar exploration and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) activities need a better understanding of the geotechnical properties of the Lunar regolith. However, due to the Lunar regolith specimens brought from the Moon are scarce on the Earth, a lot of Lunar regolith simulants have been produced by using terrestrial-based materials for experiments. This study reports the shear characterization of two new Lunar regolith simulants named LHS-1 and LMS-1. Direct shear tests were carried out on the two simulants to characterize their shear properties, the results show that the cohesion and internal friction angles of LHS-1 and LMS-1 are similar to actual Lunar regolith and other existing simulants. Additionally, a series of direct shear tests were performed on the interface between LHS1/LMS-1 and steel plates. Surface roughness was varied to investigate the interfacial shear behavior of the two Lunar simulants at both peak and residual conditions.