Enhancement of inertial mechanical reamer for borehole 5G conditioning to penetrate into subglacial lake Vostok

Abstract

The paper reviews challenges associated with designing of equipment required to implement the selected technology of penetration into Subglacial Lake Vostok in Antarctica. It describes the design process of inertial mechanical reamer, which is required for one of the stages of the proposed penetration technology. The initial design of the reamer was developed, manufactured and tested in Borehole 5G during the seasonal shift period of the 62nd Russian Antarctic Expedition (December 2016 – January 2017). Based on the test results the reamer design was critically reviewed, enhanced and subsequently tested in Borehole 5G during the seasonal shift period of the 63rd Russian Antarctic Expedition (December 2017 – January 2018). Tests of the improved design of the mechanical reamer confirmed that the adopted design solutions are correct.