Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the European Space Agency have published a paper in in the November 2018 Acta Astronautica demonstrating the feasibility of using solar energy to sinter lunar regolith in additive manufacturing. The in-situ resource utilization technique can be used to automate building roads and shielding lunar habitats prior to arrival of astronauts. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576518303874
Lunar settlement design – engineering solutions for environmental challenges
Dr. Haym Benaroya summarizes some of the key concerns in a paper published in the journal Reviews in Human Space Exploration (REACH). For initial outposts and eventual permanent lunar settlements the important factors to be addressed for dwellings on the Moon include radiation mitigation, micrometeoroid protection, hazards from lunar dust toxicity and psychological well-being. The paper was published in December of 2017 and is provided by the author’s permission.
The paper provides an introduction to these concerns, but a more thorough treatment of all of the engineering challenges can be found in Dr. Benaroya’s book “Building Habitats on the Moon: Engineering Approaches to Lunar Settlements.”
https://www.amazon.com/Building-Habitats-Moon-Engineering-Settlements/dp/3319682423