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Numerical simulation and experimental research on the wheel brush sampling process of an asteroid sampler

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Abstract

To examine the environmental characteristics of the microgravity force and the weathered layer on an asteroid surface, a symmetric wheel brush asteroid sampler is proposed for the collection of particles on the asteroid surface. To study the influence of the wheel brush rotation speed on the sampling efficiency and the driving torque required for the wheel brush, the contact dynamics model between particles and sampling wheel brushes is established and a simulation and experimental verification of the sampling process are conducted. The parameter calibration of the sampled particles is studied first, and the calibrated particle parameters are used in the numerical simulation of the sampling process. The sampling results and the particle stream curves are obtained for the working conditions of different rotation speeds, and the effects of different parameter settings on the sampling efficiency are analyzed. In addition, a set of rotating symmetrical sampling wheel brush devices is built for the ground test, and the dynamic torque sensor is used to test the torque change of the wheel brush during the sampling process. The relationship between the speed of the wheel brush and the driving torque of the wheel brush motor is determined by comparing the simulation results with the test results. Results indicate that when the rotating speed of the wheel brush is faster, the sampling efficiency is higher, and the driving torque required for the sampling wheel brush is greater. Moreover, a numerical simulation analysis of the sampling process of the wheel brush sampler in a microgravity environment is conducted to determine the optimal speed condition, and the brushing test of the wheel brush sampler in the microgravity environment is verified with the drop tower method. This research proposes the structural optimization design and motor selection of a wheel brush asteroid sampler, which provides important reference value and engineering significance.

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Abbreviations

DEM:

Discrete element method

IMCAS:

Institute of Mechanics of Chinese Academy of Sciences

PMMA:

Polymethyl methacrylate

TAG:

Touch-and-go

d :

Diameter of each cylinder bristle

e :

Restitution coefficient between the particle and the material

E a, E b :

Elastic moduli for particles A and B, respectively

E* :

Equivalent elastic modulus

f :

Shear resistance between cylindrical bristles and particles

f x :

Horizontal component of the shear resistance f

f y :

Vertical component of the shear resistance f

F :

Resultant force

F n :

Normal force

\(F_{\rm{n}}^{\rm{d}}\) :

Normal damping force

F t :

Tangential force

\(F_{\rm{t}}^{\rm{d}}\) :

Tangential damping force

F x :

Resultant force on the sampling bristles in the horizontal direction

F y :

Resultant force on the sampling bristles in the vertical direction

F 1i :

Vector of the resultant force

g :

Gravity acceleration

G :

Gravity of the sampled particles thrown up by the brushing on the cylindrical bristles

G* :

Equivalent shear modulus of the granular material

G a, G b :

Shear modulus of particles A and B, respectively

h :

Intrusion depth of cylindrical bristles contacting particles

h r :

Height of the first bounce after the falling collision of the test particles

H r :

Initial falling height of the test particles

K n :

Normal stiffness

K t :

Tangential stiffness

L :

Half of the distance between the two sampling wheel brushes

m :

Particle mass

m a, m b :

Mass of particles A and B, respectively

m* :

Equivalent mass

M :

Total torque of a single cylindrical bristle

M 1 :

Average torque of the rotation of the cylindrical bristles

M 2 :

Average torque required for the cylindrical bristles to throw the particles

M 1i :

Torque exerted by the external force on the ith bristle of the left sampling wheel brush

n :

Normal unit vector at the time of the collision

R :

Rotation radius with rigid cylinder bristles

R a, R b :

Radii of the particle spheres of particles A and B, respectively

R* :

Equivalent radius

R i :

Distance from the contact point to the center of mass

R :

Rotation radius vector of the cylindrical bristles

R 1i :

Distance vector from the end of the bristles to the rotating shaft

S :

Space area of a single bristle brush

t :

Rotation time of the sampling wheel brush

t 1 :

Moment when cylindrical bristles invade the sampling particle area

t 2 :

Moment when the cylindrical bristles sweep out the sampling particle area

T i :

Rolling friction force among particles

t :

Tangential unit vector at the time of the collision

v :

Descent speed of the sampler

v h :

Rebound speed of the test particle after contact with the material

v H :

Falling speed of a test particle falling to the ground

\(v_{\rm{n}}^{{\rm{rel}}}\) :

Normal component of the relative velocity

\(v_{\rm{t}}^{{\rm{rel}}}\) :

Tangential component of the relative velocity

V :

Particle volume contacted by the single-axis single-row bristles in one sampling period

v 1 :

Velocity of the particles before they are thrown out

v 2 :

Absolute velocity of a particle when it is thrown

v a, v b :

Velocities of particles A and B before collision

β :

Damping coefficient

\(\int {{{\boldsymbol{M}}_{2i}}{\rm{d}}t} \) :

Angular momentum of the external torque applied to the system

δ n :

Normal overlap quantity

δ t :

Tangential overlap

δt :

Each rotation time

δθ :

Rotation angle in each rotation time

θ :

Remaining angle when the wheel brush just touches the particle area

µ :

Friction coefficient between the sampling wheel brush and the particles

µ r :

Rolling friction coefficient

λ a, λ b :

Poisson’s ratios for particles A and B, respectively

ρ :

Particle density

φ :

Included angle when the wheel brush just touches the particle area

ω :

Rotation angular velocity of the left and right wheels of the sampling wheel brush

ω i :

Unit angular velocity vector at the contact point

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51975567), the Strategic Priority Research Program on Space Science, CAS (Grant No. XDA1502030505), the independent project of State Key Laboratory of Robotics, China (Grant Nos. 2022-Z01 and 2019-Z06), the Liaoning Revitalization Talents Program, China (Grant No. XLYC1907152), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS (Grant No. 2018237), the Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province, China (Grant Nos. 2020-MS-029 and 2021-MS-029), and the Development Fund of Space Automation Technology Laboratory, SIA, CAS. We thank LetPub for its linguistic assistance during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China

    Haitao Luo, Qiming Wei, Yuxin Li, Junlin Li, Wei Zhang & Weijia Zhou

  2. Institutes for Robotics and Intelligent Manufacturing, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110169, China

    Haitao Luo, Yuxin Li, Junlin Li, Wei Zhang & Weijia Zhou

  3. School of Mechanical Engineering, Shenyang Ligong University, Shenyang, 110159, China

    Qiming Wei

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  1. Haitao Luo
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Correspondence to Haitao Luo.

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Luo, H., Wei, Q., Li, Y. et al. Numerical simulation and experimental research on the wheel brush sampling process of an asteroid sampler. Front. Mech. Eng. 18, 16 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-022-0732-0

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