Structural design and driving force analysis of the nuclear pipeline robot
HAN Meng, ZHAO Feng, SANG Di, ZHAI Kedong, WANG Ding, ZHOU Jun
(School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China)


Abstract: Aiming at the problems of the low efficiency of nuclear power pipeline detection and maintenance in artificial way, the pipeline robot technology was applied to plant pipeline maintenance to complete onsite fault monitoring, foreign matter detecting and clearing instead of manual work. The mechanical structure of a 300 mm diameter pipe robot was designed, and the force situation of the robot in the pipeline and driving characteristics was analyzed. A new kind of all wheel drive mechanism with single motor was designed, which makes the overall structure of the pipe robot compact, and improves the speed and driving load capacity of the robot. ADAMS simulation software was used to research and analyze the driving characteristics of the robot. The results indicate that the demand of practical work could be met by the driving ability of the designed robot, and that the driving ability is related to the friction coefficient, slope degree; specifically, the driving force is proportional to the coefficient of friction, that is, the bigger the coefficient of friction, the bigger driving force of the robot; while the driving force is inversely proportional to the slope degree, that is, the bigger the slope, the smaller the driving force. Due to the results, the theoretical basis for subsequent robot optimization design can be provided.

Key words: pipeline robot; driving force; ADAMS; structure design