Analysis of Structural Stiffness Indicators of Manned Lunar Vehicles

The structural stiffness of a manned lunar vehicle is a core indicator ensuring its stable operation in the complex lunar environment. The vehicle’s body structure must meet multiple requirements, including high stiffness, lightweight design, and adaptability to lunar surface conditions. Since lunar gravity is only 1/6 of Earth’s and the terrain is rugged and dusty, the body structure must employ a high-stiffness design to withstand driving impacts and resist deformation, thereby preventing mechanical failures or safety hazards for crew members caused by excessive structural distortion. However, excessive structural stiffness would result in an overweight vehicle body, conflicting with the spacecraft’s lightweight requirements. Thus, the structural stiffness index should be optimized to a lower value while ensuring safe operation during lunar surface driving without compromising performance. This paper calculates and determines the structural bending and torsional stiffness indicators for the manned lunar vehicle’s body through simplified model calculation and the FEA method.