Design of nodule-lifting apparatus of seabed mining electric vehicle considering physical properties of polymetallic nodules

Abstract

Seabed mining is a potential solution for diversifying the supply chains of various raw materials required for zero-emission industrial products. The design of a nodule-lifting apparatus in a seabed mining electric vehicle is a crucial step because it significantly affects the mining efficiency of the entire system. Although the physical properties of polymetallic nodules are vital external parameters, little attention has been paid to their effect on the design of nodule-lifting apparatuses. This study aims to analyze and model the physical properties of the polymetallic nodules, expand the conventional numerical model to deal with more diverse physical properties of the nodules, apply probabilistic analysis to evaluate the harvesting rate, and establish a design methodology to efficiently determine the best feasible design. The advantages of the proposed framework are that it enables: (1) quantification of the physical properties of the seabed polymetallic nodules, (2) consideration of these physical properties in the computational simulation of the nodule-lifting apparatus, (3) efficient evaluation of the harvesting performance of the nodule-lifting apparatus through an information criterion-based probabilistic analysis, and (4) effective design of the nodule-lifting apparatus with an orthogonal array and rule-based decision-making strategy.