Performance of Boeing LRV Wheels in a Lunar Soil Simulant. Report 1. Effect of Wheel Design and Soil,
Abstract
Six versions of the Boeing-GM wire-mesh wheel were laboratory tested in a lunar soil simulant, consisting of a crushed basalt with a grain-size distribution similar to that of samples collected during Apollo 11 and 12 flights, to determine their relative performance. The consistency of the soil was varied to cover a range of cohesive and frictional properties to simulate soil conditions assumed to exist on the moon. Programmed-slip and constant-slip tests were conducted with the U. S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station single-wheel dynamometer system. The performance of the wheel covered with a metal chevron tread over 50 percent of its contact surface was slightly superior to that of other tread designs. The amount of soil accumulated in the wheels during the tests varied linearly with slip. Less soil accumulated in the 50 and 75 percent chevron-covered wheels than in the open-mesh one. Pull/load increased rapidly with increasing slip to a near maximum at 15 to 25% slip for all wheels, then increased slowly with increasing wheel slip to 100% slip. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1971
- Accession Number
- AD0756213
Entities
People
- Andrew J. Green
- Klaus-jurgen Melzer