Drilling at High Temperatures Using Ultrasonic/Sonic Actuated Mechanism

In-situ planetary exploration of the solar system is one of the key objectives of NASA future missions and Venus is one of the significant scientific targets in the NASA plans. However, the extreme environment on Venus of high temperature (460°C) and high pressure (∼91 atm) poses enormous challenges. Tools are needed that can be operated at these conditions and acquire subsurface samples for analyzers. Potentially, piezoelectric materials can be made to actuate samplers and be operational over a wide range of temperatures. In this reported study, the development of a piezoelectric actuated drill is underway for operation at temperatures as high as 500°C is investigated. Several prototypes of Ultrasonic/Sonic Drill/Corers (USDC) were made with actuators consisting of high temperate piezoelectric ceramics as well as single crystals of LiNbO3. The results of this study are reported and discussed in this manuscript.