Research on key components of the anchoring mechanism of the pipeline intelligent sealing robot

As a critical component of the pipeline intelligent plugging robot, the anchor sealing mechanism often encounters challenges, including interference between anchoring and plugging operations and significant pipe wall damage caused by slips. To address these issues, this study proposes a novel double hydraulic cylinder anchor sealing mechanism for pipeline intelligent plugging robots and develops a corresponding finite element simulation model. Based on the motion model and analysis of the anchoring mechanism, the key influencing parameters during the anchoring stage are identified. The effects of the cone angle and slope on anchoring performance and pipe wall damage are analyzed, with the optimal values identified as a cone angle of 15° and a slope of 20°. An indoor anchoring simulation experiment is conducted to further validate the rationality and reliability of the proposed design. The results indicate that at a cone angle of 15° and a slope of 20°, the von Mises stresses in both the pipe wall and the slip are minimized, and pipe wall damage is reduced to the lowest level. Under a working pressure of 10 MPa, the thrust generated by the anchoring hydraulic cylinder is 252.5 kN. Experimental results show zero displacement change, confirming the effective anchoring performance of the mechanism.