Experimental study and analysis of the wheel’s stiffness characteristics for China’s Mars exploration rovers

The wheels are the key component of planetary exploration rovers. This paper focuses on analyzing and testing mechanical properties of two kinds of wheels for China’s Mars rover. The wheels are same in configurations and different in materials. Based on the stress state of the wheel in the mission, it is decided to use radial stiffness, axial stiffness, torsional stiffness and deflection stiffness to describe the performance of the wheel. The experiments are designed and carried out. Experimental results show that the aluminum-based silicon carbide particle wheel has better stiffness characteristics than the aluminum-based titanium fiber wheel except the axial stiffness. Results of this study can optimize wheel designing and help to select the material of the Mars rover wheels.