STM Article Repository

Martian dust particles lifted by dust storms can cause adhesion and cumulative effect on the spacecraft and lead to many adverse effects. Among these effects, the significant decrease of power output of solar panels will cause power shortage of the Mars probe and eventually lead to failing due to lack of power. Therefore, it is necessary to simulate the dust storm environment of Mars surface and analyze the adhesion and accumulation effect between Mars dust and the spacecraft. In this paper, EDEM and Fluent are used for the simulation of adhesion characteristics of Martian dust in the Martian atmosphere. Simulation results reflect the tangential force condition and the motion of the Martian particle in different wind speeds. These simulation results lay the foundation for China’s Martian exploration in the future.