Passability and Internode Mechanics Analysis of a Multisection Micro Pipeline Robot

In submarine oil and gas pipelines, the movement of a differential pressure multisection pipeline robot mainly relies on the front and rear driving pressure difference of the fluid and the friction between the cup and the pipe wall. The passability of the pipeline is a key point to guarantee success in scanning and detecting the inner wall of a pipeline by robot. When the multisection pipeline robot moves, the force of the internode connection points changes the degree of freedom of the robot. The existence of the connection points causes speed fluctuations in the robot during the movement process which, in turn, affects the detection accuracy of the pipeline. Consequently, a systematic analysis of the connection point movement is of great importance. In this paper, a rigid–flexible, coupled, multibody, dynamic motion system is established, where a multisection micro pipeline robot is built. The cup of the robot is set as a flexible body. The motion law of the differential pressure multisection pipeline robot is analyzed through simulation, and the robot’s motion speed and internode stress of the different cabin sections are explored jointly in practice. Taking the transportation of an oil and gas pipeline into full consideration, the motion law and force of the multisection pipeline robot are analyzed by changing the bulge and turning the radius of the inner wall of the pipeline. A corresponding experimental bench is built to explore the effects of different numbers of cups and lengths of the cabin sections on the turning characteristics of the robot. Simulations and experiments results are highly similar and within the error range. To this end, the presented work provides significant information for the model selection of multisection micro pipeline robots in the fields of submarine oil and gas pipelines.