What keeps lunar dust from fusing together if there’s no atmosphere to form an oxidisation layer?

Question

I learnt how cold welding happens in space, but how do dust particles on the moon not fuse together at the atomic level in a similar way if there’s no oxidisation layer to keep them separated? Is there some other stand-in layer keeping them apart?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Cold welding happens with relatively smooth metal surfaces. Regolith is neither smooth nor metal.