Researchselective laser meltingin situ resource utilizationadditive manufacturingcarbon dioxide
Mars Atmosphere Enables CO2 Shielding For SLM
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Relevance Score
Researchers at the University of Arkansas published a preprint on arXiv showing Mars' CO2-rich atmosphere can substitute for argon as a shield gas in selective laser melting (SLM) of 316L stainless steel, testing argon, CO2, and ambient air. They report argon achieved 98% area retention, CO2 85%, and ambient air under 50%, with CO2 parts containing about 1.6× more oxygen than argon; this suggests feasible in‑situ metal printing on Mars and lower terrestrial costs, though surface finish is degraded.
