Drilling forces model for lunar regolith exploration and experimental validation

China's Chang'e lunar exploration project aims to sample and return lunar regolith samples at a minimum penetration depth of 2 m in 2017. Unlike such tasks on the Earth, automated drilling and sampling missions on the Moon are more complicated. Therefore, a delicately designed drill tool is required to minimize operational cost and enhance reliability. Penetration force and rotational torque are two critical parameters in designing the drill tool. In this paper, a novel numerical model for predicting penetration force and rotational torque in the drilling of lunar regolith is proposed. The model is based on quasi-static Mohr-Coulomb soil mechanics and explicitly describes the interaction between drill tool and lunar regolith. Geometric features of drill tool, mechanical properties of lunar regolith, and drilling parameters are taken into consideration in the model. Consequently, a drilling test bed was developed, and experimental penetration force and rotational torque were obtained in penetrating a lunar regolith simulant with different drilling parameters. Finally, theoretical and experimental results were compared to validate the proposed model. Experimental results indicated that the numerical model had good accuracy and was effective in predicting the penetration force and rotational torque in drilling the lunar regolith simulant.