Influence of lunar soil parameters on the lunar landing airbag cushioning performance

To study the influence of lunar soil parameters on the airbag buffer performance, a lunar landing airbag was designed according to the landing conditions of Chang'e 3 probe, and then an airbag dynamic model considering the characteristics of lunar soil was established based on the crushable foam model. The airbag cushioning process under different lunar soils was analyzed, and it is found that the softer the lunar soil, the smaller the payload impact acceleration, but the airbag will sink into the lunar soil, which is not conducive to venting and affects its cushioning effect. Therefore, three indicators of airbag peak pressure, payload maximum acceleration, and payload maximum drop height were used to evaluate the airbag cushioning performance comprehensively, and the influence law of lunar soil parameters was quantitatively studied. Results show that the lunar soil density and shear modulus, as well as the yield parameters a0and a1, have a significant influence on the cushioning performance, with a positive effect on the first two indicators and a negative effect on the latter one. Further research reveals that the relationship between each of the four lunar soil parameters and the three cushioning performance indicators is an exponential function. © 2022 National University of Defense Technology. All rights reserved.