Uploaded May 2018 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
ICRA 2018 Spotlight Video
Interactive Session Wed PM Pod F.4
Authors: Thoesen, Andrew; Marvi, Hamidreza; Ramirez, Sierra
Title: Screw-Powered Propulsion in Granular Media: An Experimental and Computational Study
Abstract:
Screw-Propelled Vehicles (SPV's) have been widely used for terrestrial applications such as transportation over mud, snow, and amphibious environments. Studies have looked at the mobility of SPV's on the surface of granular media but there are not any computational and experimental studies on propulsive buried screws. Understanding the role of screw design and its angular velocity on thrust force is key to the advancement and control of SPVs. This study presents experimental and computational results of a submerged, double-helix Archimedes screw generating propulsive force against a bed of soda-lime glass beads. Thus, this research forms the basis for design of a future miniaturized exploration vehicle for space applications. We used two different screw designs (5 cm radius, 10 cm length, 63 and 44 degrees helix angle corresponding to 4 cm and 8 cm pitch, respectively) submerged in 2mm glass beads (90% roundness with sizes 1.8 mm to 2.2 mm). In our experimental results, a linear trend is observed between rotational speed and thrust force in the 45-120 RPM regime for a 63 degree helix angled screw. For a 44 degree angled screw a quadratic trend is present in experimental data. We used EDEM, a Discrete Element Method (DEM) software for computational studies of the screw interactions with granular media. There is some discrepancy between our computational and experimental results and we will discuss possible sources of error and the potential for using DEM as a design tool.
ICRA 2018 Spotlight Video
Interactive Session Wed PM Pod F.4
Authors: Thoesen, Andrew; Marvi, Hamidreza; Ramirez, Sierra
Title: Screw-Powered Propulsion in Granular Media: An Experimental and Computational Study
Abstract:
Screw-Propelled Vehicles (SPV's) have been widely used for terrestrial applications such as transportation over mud, snow, and amphibious environments. Studies have looked at the mobility of SPV's on the surface of granular media but there are not any computational and experimental studies on propulsive buried screws. Understanding the role of screw design and its angular velocity on thrust force is key to the advancement and control of SPVs. This study presents experimental and computational results of a submerged, double-helix Archimedes screw generating propulsive force against a bed of soda-lime glass beads. Thus, this research forms the basis for design of a future miniaturized exploration vehicle for space applications. We used two different screw designs (5 cm radius, 10 cm length, 63 and 44 degrees helix angle corresponding to 4 cm and 8 cm pitch, respectively) submerged in 2mm glass beads (90% roundness with sizes 1.8 mm to 2.2 mm). In our experimental results, a linear trend is observed between rotational speed and thrust force in the 45-120 RPM regime for a 63 degree helix angled screw. For a 44 degree angled screw a quadratic trend is present in experimental data. We used EDEM, a Discrete Element Method (DEM) software for computational studies of the screw interactions with granular media. There is some discrepancy between our computational and experimental results and we will discuss possible sources of error and the potential for using DEM as a design tool.
