Zhuque Base for Martian Habitation: Conceptual Design and Performance Analysis of Cave Dwellings and In Situ Construction

Sustainable habitation systems are critical to enabling deep-space exploration on Mars, where challenges such as low gravity, extreme thermal fluctuations, and resource constraints demand advanced structural innovations. This study introduces Zhuque Base, a habitat concept inspired by terrestrial cave-dwelling principles, optimized through finite element analysis via COMSOL Multiphysics. Three arch-based configurations-the eggshell, catenary, and 2-centered arch-were systematically evaluated by parameterizing geometric variables. The study demonstrated that eggshell arches significantly outperformed 2-centered and catenary arches in mechanical properties, reducing vertical displacement of critical points such as sidewalls by 53% and 44%, respectively. In terms of thermal efficiency, the optimal catenary arch showed 5.5% and 6.7% lower heat loss than eggshell and 2-centered arches. Furthermore, the implementation of optimal parameters (span: 3.2 m, height: 1.25 or 1.45 m) limits the peak compressive stress to 195.72 to 203.38 kPa, while the cross-sectional area can be increased by 14% to maximize the available internal space. These findings establish a parameter-driven framework for in situ Mars habitat optimization, emphasizing the trade-off between mechanical robustness and thermal efficiency in extraterrestrial structural design.