The sampling auger used in lunar sampling and return mission is to transmit power and convey soil, and its performance is the key factor of the whole mission. However, there is currently a lack of the optimization res...The sampling auger used in lunar sampling and return mission is to transmit power and convey soil, and its performance is the key factor of the whole mission. However, there is currently a lack of the optimization research on soil conveying volume and power consumption models in auger structure design. To provide the drilled object, the simulation lunar soil, whose physical and mechanical property is the same as the real soil, is made by reducing soil void ratio. The models are formulated to analyze the influence of auger structure parameters on power consumption and soil conveying volume. To obtain the optimized structure parameters of auger, the multi-objective optimization functions of the maximum soil conveying volume and minimum power consumption are developed. To verify the correctness of the models, the performances of different augers drilling simulation soil are tested. The test results demonstrate that the power consumption of optimized auger is the lowest both in theory and test, and the experimental results of soil conveying volume are in agreement with theoretical analysis. Consequently, a new method for designing a lunar sampling auger is proposed which includes the models of soil conveying volume and transportation power consumption, the optimization of structure parameters and the comparison tests. This method provides a reference for sampling auger designing of the Chinese Lunar Sample Mission.展开更多
A 2 m class robotic drill was sent to the Moon and successfully collected and returned regolith samples in late 2020 by China.It was a typical thick wall spiral drill(TWSD)with a hollow auger containing a complex cori...A 2 m class robotic drill was sent to the Moon and successfully collected and returned regolith samples in late 2020 by China.It was a typical thick wall spiral drill(TWSD)with a hollow auger containing a complex coring system to retain subsurface regolith samples.Before the robotic drill was launched,a series of laboratory tests were carried out to investigate and predict the possible drilling loads it may encounter in the lunar environment.This work presents how the sampling performance of the TWSD is affected by the regolith compressibility.Experiments and analysis during the drilling and sampling process in a simulated lunar regolith environment were conducted.The compressibility of a typical lunar regolith simulant(LRS)was measured through unidirectional compression tests to study the relationship between its inner regolith stress and bulk density.A theoretical model was established to elucidate the cutting discharge behavior by auger flights based on the aforementioned relationship.Experiments were conducted with the LRS,and the results show that the sampling performance is greatly affected by the flux of the drilled cuttings into the spiral flight channels.This work helped in scheduling reasonable drilling parameters to promote the sampling performance of the robotic drill in the Chinese Chang’E 5 mission.展开更多
基金Supported by National Defense Science and Technology Major Project(Grant Nos.TY3Q20110001,TY3Q20110005)College Discipline Innovation Wisdom Plan of China(111 Project,Grant No.B07018)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.51105092)
文摘The sampling auger used in lunar sampling and return mission is to transmit power and convey soil, and its performance is the key factor of the whole mission. However, there is currently a lack of the optimization research on soil conveying volume and power consumption models in auger structure design. To provide the drilled object, the simulation lunar soil, whose physical and mechanical property is the same as the real soil, is made by reducing soil void ratio. The models are formulated to analyze the influence of auger structure parameters on power consumption and soil conveying volume. To obtain the optimized structure parameters of auger, the multi-objective optimization functions of the maximum soil conveying volume and minimum power consumption are developed. To verify the correctness of the models, the performances of different augers drilling simulation soil are tested. The test results demonstrate that the power consumption of optimized auger is the lowest both in theory and test, and the experimental results of soil conveying volume are in agreement with theoretical analysis. Consequently, a new method for designing a lunar sampling auger is proposed which includes the models of soil conveying volume and transportation power consumption, the optimization of structure parameters and the comparison tests. This method provides a reference for sampling auger designing of the Chinese Lunar Sample Mission.
基金financially supported in-part by the Pre-research project on Civil Aerospace Technologies by CNSA(No.D020201)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51905105,51775011,11932001,51635002,and U2013603)+2 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province(No.2020A1515011262)the State Key Laboratory of Robotics and Systems(HIT)(No.SKLRS-2020-KF12)the Technology Innovation Strategic Special Funds of Guangdong Province(No.2019A050503011)。
文摘A 2 m class robotic drill was sent to the Moon and successfully collected and returned regolith samples in late 2020 by China.It was a typical thick wall spiral drill(TWSD)with a hollow auger containing a complex coring system to retain subsurface regolith samples.Before the robotic drill was launched,a series of laboratory tests were carried out to investigate and predict the possible drilling loads it may encounter in the lunar environment.This work presents how the sampling performance of the TWSD is affected by the regolith compressibility.Experiments and analysis during the drilling and sampling process in a simulated lunar regolith environment were conducted.The compressibility of a typical lunar regolith simulant(LRS)was measured through unidirectional compression tests to study the relationship between its inner regolith stress and bulk density.A theoretical model was established to elucidate the cutting discharge behavior by auger flights based on the aforementioned relationship.Experiments were conducted with the LRS,and the results show that the sampling performance is greatly affected by the flux of the drilled cuttings into the spiral flight channels.This work helped in scheduling reasonable drilling parameters to promote the sampling performance of the robotic drill in the Chinese Chang’E 5 mission.