Mechanical Analysis and Performance Optimization for the Lunar Rover’s Vane-Telescopic Walking Wheel

It is well-known that optimizing the wheel system of lunar rovers is essential.However,this is a difficult task due to the complex terrain of the moon and limited resources onboard lunar rovers.In this study,an experimental prototype was set up to analyze the existing mechanical design of a lunar rover and improve its performance.First,a new vane-telescopic walking wheel was proposed for the lunar rover with a positive and negative quadrangle suspension,considering the complex terrain of the moon.Next,the performance was optimized under the limitations of preserving the slope passage and minimizing power consumption.This was achieved via analysis of the wheel force during movement.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed method was demonstrated by several simulation experiments.The newly designed wheel can protrude on demand and reduce energy consumption;it can be used as a reference for lunar rover development engineering in China.

A Unified Dimensionless Parameter for Finite Element Mesh for Beams Resting on Elastic Foundation

Discretising a structure into elements is a key step in finite element(FE)analysis.The discretised geometry used to formulate an FE model can greatly affect accuracy and validity.This paper presents a unified dimensionless parameter to generate a mesh of cubic FEs for the analysis of very long beams resting on an elastic foundation.A uniform beam resting on elastic foundation with various values of flexural stiffness and elastic supporting coefficients subject to static load and moving load is used to illustrate the application of the proposed parameter.The numerical results show that(a)Even if the values of the flexural stiffness of the beam and elastic supporting coefficient of the elastic foundation are different,the same proposed parameter“s”can ensure the same accuracy of the FE solution,but the accuracy may differ for use of the same element length;(b)The proposed dimensionless parameter“s”can indeed be used as a unified index to generate the mesh for a beam resting on elastic foundation,whereas the use of the same element length as a criterion may be misleading;(c)The errors between the FE and analytical solutions for the maximum vertical displacement,shear force and bending moment of the beam increase with the dimensionless parameter“s”;and(d)For the given allowable errors for the vertical displacement,shear force and bending moment of the beam under static load and moving load,the corresponding values of the proposed parameter are provided to guide the mesh generation.