A study of the kinematic characteristic of a coupling device between the buffer system and the flexible pipe of a deep-seabed mining system

This paper concerns the kinematic characteristics of a coupling device in a deep-seabed mining system. This coupling device connects the buffer system and the flexible pipe. The motion of the buffer system, flexible pipe and mining robot are affected by the coupling device. So the coupling device should be considered as a major factor when this device is designed. Therefore, we find a stable kinematic device, and apply it to the design coupling device through this study The kinematic characteristics of the coupling device are analyzed by multi-body dynamics simulation method, and finite element method The dynamic analysis model was built in the commercial software DAFUL. The Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) method is applied to build the deep-seabed environment. Hydrodynamic force and moment are applied in the dynamic model for the FSI method The loads and deformation of flexible pipe are estimated for analysis results of the kinematic characteristics.This study was initiated by an R&D Project, "Technology Development of Deep-Seabed Mining System for Manganese Nodules", sponsored by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of Korea. The authors are grateful for the full support shown for this research work