Improving the Buffer Energy Absorption Characteristics of Movable Lander-Numerical and Experimental Studies

Abstract

To improve the soft-landing crash performance of the movable lander (ML), this study presents an investigation of a newly designed gradual energy-absorbing structure subjected to impact loads using an ML for theoretical calculation and numerical simulations. In this work, we present a novel computational approach to optimizing the energy absorption (EA) of the ML. Our framework takes as inputting the geometrical parameter (GP) as well as EA. The finite element model of the HB1, HB2, and HB3 was established and effectively verified using numerical simulation and experimental data. The relationship between the GP of the buffer material and the EA was obtained through static experiment and impact experiment, and the cushioning performance of the lander was optimized according to the ML load mass, contact speed, and EA function. According to the optimization results, we chose an outer diameter of 240 mm, an inner diameter of 50 mm, heights of HB1 = 140 mm, HB2 = 110 mm, and HB3 = 225 as the collocation, and completed the numerical simulation of three different cases. By comparing the results of theoretical calculation and numerical simulation experiments, it can be found that the overload response rates of the main body in 4 type landing, 2-2 type landing, and 1-2-1 type landing are 4.72 G, 2.61 G, and 2.33 G, respectively. It also laid the foundation for the theoretical and methodological research of the ML and manned lander in the future.

Dynamic Modeling and Simulation of a Robotic Lander Based on Variable Radius Drums

“…The contact forces implemented in the simulation environment are the forces between each leg and the ratchet next to it, the forces between each leg and the cover next to it, and those between each leg and the soil. Every contact is defined as a solid-to-solid contact force which is composed by a normal contact force following the relation shown in Equation 11, and a frictional force following the Coulomb model Equation (12).…”

“…For example, Wang et al in 2019 studied the use of magnetorheological fluid dampers with semi-active control on damping force in order to adjust to landing conditions [11]. Furthermore, the shock absorber design [12] and the lander stability [13] have been investigated numerically by mean of optimization algorithms. Moreover, legged landers with capabilities of walking on planet surface after the landing have been studied in [14,15].…”

The Impact Modeling and Experimental Verification of a Launch Vehicle with Crushing-Type Landing Gear

“…In the literature [23], scholars established a landing process model of the lunar lander with carbon nanopaper and two-stage aluminum honeycomb as the buffer materials, respectively, and compared the buffering characteristics of the two materials under three extreme landing conditions. Jinhua Zhou [24] and other scholars carried out a parameter optimization design of an aluminum honeycomb buffer, obtaining better landing performance with the lander. In order to optimize the center overload of the lunar lander with inverted-triangle landing gear, scholars proposed a multiobjective optimization method to optimize the material and structural parameters of the three-stage aluminum honeycomb buffer [25].…”

Landing control method of a lightweight four-legged landing and walking robot

“…Movable landers, which can perform a buffer landing and complete walking on the lunar surface, are developed [19]. A legged mobile lander using four identical 2-UPS&UP parallel mechanism was designed by Lin et al [20], which integrated the functions of landing, walking, deploying, and orientation adjusting. To improve the landing impact performance of a movable lander, Zhou et al [21] proposed a newly designed gradual energyabsorbing structure subjected to impact loads.…”