Theoretical trafficability criterion and diagrammatic analysis based on rheological property of sea-floor sediment and topography

Abstract

Trafficability criterion of a tracked miner is investigated when walking across deep-sea floor with obstacles by analyzing the mechanical property of deep-sea sediment and geometrical conditions of obstacles. Trafficability criterion can help predict and estimate the mining efficiency and working safety of the tracked miner on the deep-sea sediment. Deep-sea sediment has an obvious rheological property and its compression-sinkage-time relationship was adopted to describe the sinkage shape of track under different grounding pressure distributions. The area of the sinkage shape was classified and redefined according to the relationships with different traction forces based on work-energy theorem concept. A new trafficability criterion is then established based on the areas of sinkage shapes and the physical meaning of parameters in the criterion was explained diagrammatically in detail. As an application, a trafficable deep-sea ditch width and slope angle were calculated theoretically by combining the trafficability criterion and sinkage shapes analyses. The trafficability criterion is proved to be convenient and intuitive for quickly judging the trafficability problem of deep-sea tracked miner for common obstacles.