New study lays foundation for building on the moon

To build a structure anywhere, testing the nature of its foundation is of utmost importance, but it is difficult to test some building sites in advance such as those on the moon.

New research from North Carolina State University is helping to resolve the problem by using computer models. These models can use a small sample of soil to answer fundamental questions about how soil at a building site will interact with foundations.

"If you are going to build a large structure, you have to run a lot of tests on the building site, to learn how the soil will behave in relation to the building's foundation," said Matt Evans, assistant professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, NC State University.

"How stable is it? How much might the foundation settle over time? Traditionally, that testing process involves a great deal of equipments, time and money," he said.

In some situations, the equipment, time and money are not available. "It is cost-prohibitive to do traditional testing on lunar sites, so we developed a technique for applying computer models that can use a tiny sample to tell us about the potential interface between moon soil and anything we might build," he said.

Back home, the model could potentially be used to assess soil conditions for remote building sites where traditional testing is impractical or unduly expensive. For example, it could be useful for military applications or for installing remote research facilities.