Optimized design of high-efficiency lunar soil sampling tube structure based on stress–strain law

Abstract

Understanding the influence of the sampling apparatus on in-situ lunar soil lamination information during the sampling process of the direct push-through lunar weathering layer is of great importance. This paper develops a discrete element model for direct push-through lunar weathering layer sampling using the CUG-1A simulated lunar soil developed by the China University of Geosciences as a simulation object and determines the stress–strain law of the inner wall of a sampling tube. A method for optimizing the inner wall structure of a sampling tube based on the stress–strain law is proposed. The structural disturbance of the marker layer and the lunar soil disturbance rate evaluation function are used to assess the degree of disturbance of the laminar information during the sampling process. The results show that the proposed method can effectively reduce the structural disturbance of the lunar soil in-situ laminar information. In addition, it can also optimize the structural information disturbance of the marker layer. The proposed method can decrease the simulated lunar soil disturbance rate from 0.31 to 0.251 and effectively reduce the penetration force load by 15–20% in the direct push-through sampling process.