| タイトル | Granular Flow and Dynamics of Lunar Simulants in Excavating Implements |
| 著者（英） | Agui, Juan H.; Wilkinson, R. Allen |
| 著者所属（英） | NASA Glenn Research Center |
| 発行日 | 2010-03-14 |
| 言語 | eng |
| 内容記述 | The exploration of the lunar surface will rely on properly designed excavation equipment for surface preparations and for collection of lunar regolith in In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) processes. Performance efficiency, i.e minimizing loading forces while maximizing material collection, and mass and volume reductions are major design goals. The NASA Glenn Research Center has embarked on an experimental program to determine the flow characteristics and dynamic forces produced by excavation operations using various excavator bucket designs. A new large scale soil bin facility, 2.27 m x 5.94 m x 0.76 m (nominally 8 ft. x 20 ft. x 27 in.) in size, capable of accommodating moderately large test implements was used for the simulations of lunar operations. The soil bin is filled with GRC-3simulant (a mixture of industrial sands and silt with a particle size distribution and the bulk mechanical (shear) strength representative of an average of lunar regolith from different regions) and uses motorized horizontal rails and a vertical actuator to drive the implement through the lunar simulant soil. A six-axis load cell and encoders provide well resolved measurements of the three dimensional forces and torques and motion of the bucket. In addition, simultaneous video allows for the analysis of the flow behavior and structure formation of the regolith during excavation. The data may be useful in anchoring soil mechanic models and to provide engineering data for design consideration. |
| NASA分類 | Lunar and Planetary Science and Exploration |
| レポートNO | E-17937 |
| 権利 | Copyright |
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