Portable Bevameter Design for Geotechnical Characterization on Planetary Surfaces

The Artemis program’s plan to establish scientific lunar habitats has underscored the critical need to characterize material composition and geotechnical properties at potential landing and building sites. This paper assesses a crucial geotechnical parameter, sinkage, which is traditionally measured by bulky and massive equipment confined to laboratory settings. Current practices involve transporting field samples for controlled testing, often lacking assessment of sinkage in lunar regolith and simulants. To bridge these gaps, particularly in situ, a novel portable bevameter design is proposed, operable by a single operator in the field. The accompanying procedure outlines the operation of the bevameter in situ and processing of raw data into geotechnical properties. The proposed bevameter measurements have been verified against the NASA COLDArm measurements, aligning with the error margins of the reference data for sinkage parameters. Additionally, the geotechnical characterization of lunar simulants LHS-1 and real analogue terrain samples is presented. This innovative design holds significant potential for advancing technologies crucial to both robotic and crewed lunar missions. Applications include in-situ terramechanics characterization affecting rover dynamics and mobile geotechnical surveying for habitat foundations, launch and landing pads, and large vehicle maneuverability.