Suspension Principle of Deep-Sea Miner and Drag Tests

摘要

Suspension principle of deep-sea miner is proposed to make sure thatrnthe miner can walk on the soft sediments of seafloor effectively. Thernsupporting mechanism and the driving mechanism are separated tornavoid sinking. The supporting mechanism is a streamlined baseboardrnwith large and smooth supporting area. The driving tracks serve as therndriving mechanism to supply enough driving power. The heightrnbetween driving track and the frame can be adjusted according to thernoperating condition to decrease the walking friction and to increaserndriving efficiency. Drag tests were carried out and the results indicaternthat the slipping friction is influenced by water film under the bottom ofrnthe baseboard, the shape of baseboard and the miner velocity. Thernwater film works as lubrication to decrease the friction. The slimrnbaseboard can also reduce the friction and the optimum length-widthrnratio of the baseboard should be obtained.