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High-Temperature Vacuum Furnace Aids Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Simulating Lunar Soil Sintering—Paving the Way for the Construction of China's Lunar Base

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1. Client Introduction

Client Name: Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST)

Core Demand: To simulate the high-vacuum lunar environment in a laboratory, conduct high-temperature hot-press sintering on lunar soil simulant, and develop high-strength, high thermal stability and radiation-resistant lunar soil bricks. The research provides critical material data support for the in-situ construction of future lunar bases.

As a key comprehensive university directly under the Ministry of Education, HUST is listed as a national “Double First-Class” Class A University. Its School of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering and School of Materials Science and Engineering boast strong research capabilities in advanced material forming, powder metallurgy, and high-temperature heat treatment.

HUST is one of the earliest domestic research institutions engaged in lunar in-situ construction studies. After repeated experiments, the research team developed China’s first vacuum-sintered and printed lunar soil simulant sample, with relevant findings published in the SCI journal Automation in Construction in March 2019.
In 2021, the team was authorized to use real lunar soil samples brought back by the Chang’e-5 mission. To achieve precise condition control for ground-based lunar soil sintering experiments, the team urgently required a vacuum sintering furnace capable of long-term stable operation under high vacuum and high temperature, to fabricate high-strength and high-density lunar soil brick samples.

2. Equipment Overview

Equipment Name: High-Temperature Vacuum Fiber Sintering Furnace

Model: PT-V1600-36LW

Working Chamber Size: 400×300×300 mm (L×W×H), custom dimensions available

Max. Temperature: 1600℃; continuous operating temperature ≤ 1500℃

Furnace Liner: High-purity alumina polycrystalline fiber, featuring high temperature & corrosion resistance, high cleanliness and superior thermal insulation

Heating Elements: High-temperature molybdenum disilicide rods, with excellent temperature resistance and uniform stable heating performance

Vacuum System: Two-stage vacuum system composed of mechanical pump + oil diffusion pump; ultimate vacuum: up to 6.7×10⁻³ Pa (cold empty furnace, after purification)

Temperature Control System: Intelligent PID controller with Type B thermocouple; temperature accuracy: ±1℃; over-temperature and thermocouple break dual protection

Furnace Structure: Double-layer high-quality carbon steel structure, equipped with external vacuum exhaust ports and inflation/deflation valves for excellent sealing; double water-cooled shell design with circulating cooling system for furnace door and main body

Atmosphere Control: Reserved gas inlet for filling inert gas such as argon or high-purity nitrogen to realize protective atmosphere sintering

Control System: Integrated control of touch screen, programmable controller and temperature meter, supporting power management, process recording, real-time monitoring and alarm protection

Safety Protection: Water pressure alarm system; automatic protection and standby water supply activation in case of water cutoff
Integrating vacuum, atmosphere and high-temperature heating functions, this equipment is widely applied in high-temperature thermoforming of new materials including powder metallurgy, functional ceramics, silicon carbide and alumina. It also performs vacuum bright annealing for high-speed steel, die steel, tool steel, alloy steel, titanium alloy and other metals, to eliminate residual internal stress and prevent deformation & cracking.
For the lunar soil research project of HUST, this furnace is adopted for hot-press sintering molding of lunar soil simulant under simulated high-vacuum lunar conditions, delivering core equipment support for lunar soil brick manufacturing.

High-temperature vacuum fiber sintering furnace

3. Equipment Application

Process: High-temperature vacuum hot-press sintering of lunar soil simulant

Raw Material: Lunar soil simulant powder developed by HUST research team based on the composition analysis of real Chang’e-5 lunar soil, with highly consistent chemical components, mineral composition and particle size.

Process Principle: Load lunar soil simulant powder into cylindrical graphite molds (inner diameter: approx. 18 mm) and compact with graphite indenter. Place the assembled graphite mold into the vacuum sintering furnace. After reaching high vacuum inside the chamber, heating elements generate heat and warm the mold and materials via thermal radiation. Under vacuum conditions, lunar soil particles are sintered and densified to form high-strength lunar soil bricks.

Core Contributions in the Project

1. High-Vacuum Environment Simulation Stably achieves vacuum level at 10⁻² Pa, accurately simulating the extreme vacuum on the lunar surface and restoring real space sintering conditions.

2. Stable High-Temperature Heating Molybdenum disilicide heating elements ensure stable operation up to 1500 ℃, fully meeting the high-temperature sintering requirements of lunar soil simulant. After vacuum pumping, materials are heated evenly through thermal radiation.

3. Integrated Hot-Press Sintering Combined with graphite molds and indenters, the equipment realizes synchronous high-temperature heating and uniaxial pressure loading, replicating the densification process of lunar soil under vacuum hot pressing — the core forming technology for lunar soil brick production.

4. High-Performance Lunar Soil Brick Fabrication With this furnace, the team successfully produced lunar soil bricks with compressive strength exceeding 100 MPa, far higher than ordinary building materials, providing high-quality samples for future extravehicular exposure experiments on space stations.

5. Support for National Aerospace Projects A total of 74 lunar soil bricks fabricated by this equipment were delivered to China’s Tiangong Space Station aboard the Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft on November 15, 2024, for 1-year, 2-year and 3-year extravehicular exposure tests.In November 2025, the first batch of samples returned safely to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft after one year of space exposure, maintaining intact condition. Preliminary research verified that the lunar soil bricks remained stable after enduring extreme space environments including drastic temperature differences.

4. Client Feedback

"We adopt vacuum hot-press sintering to shape lunar soil simulant. Firstly, we fill lunar soil powder into graphite molds and compact it with graphite indenters, then place the whole assembly into the vacuum sintering furnace.This furnace can reach a vacuum degree of 10⁻² Pa, equipped with molybdenum disilicide heating rods. After vacuumization, materials are heated steadily by thermal radiation. With this equipment, we can increase the compressive strength of lunar soil bricks to over 100 MPa, much harder than ordinary concrete.”
“Currently, we can manufacture lunar soil bricks with strength above 100 MPa. However, the terrestrial environment differs greatly from the lunar surface. As on-site firing on the Moon is not feasible for now, we adopt vacuum sintering to replicate the lunar vacuum environment.The PT-V1600-36LW vacuum fiber sintering furnace delivers outstanding vacuum performance and temperature stability, fully satisfying our experimental demands. It runs stably with precise temperature control and user-friendly operation interface, acting as reliable core equipment for high-quality lunar soil brick preparation."

"Our team has explored more than ten forming technologies for lunar soil building materials, including spark plasma sintering, vacuum hot-press sintering and solar concentrating sintering, with over ten million RMB invested in professional equipment.Relying on the PT-V1600-36LW vacuum fiber sintering furnace, we successfully manufactured 74 lunar soil brick samples, which were sent to the space station for long-term extravehicular exposure experiments.The returned samples after one-year space mission are in good condition. This research will lay a solid scientific foundation for future lunar base construction."

— Team of Academician Ding LinyunNational Innovation Center of Digital Construction Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

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