The Measurement of Wear from Steel Using the Radioisotope 56Co.

Abstract

A technique, based on producing a well-defined layer of the radioisotope 56Co in a steel surface, has been developed for measuring wear loss from steel surfaces. In order to achieve localized wear measurements, in situ, to better than 0.25 micrometer accuracies, the depth profile for producing the 56Co isotope in an iron matrix has been measured to a relative accuracy of 3%. A gun steel sample has been exposed to burning propellant environments in an experimental gun chamber and the loss of steel from its surface has been monitored for three shots. Using this technique, it is expected that the absolute erosivity of a given propellant/gun-barrel system may be evaluated on the basis of only a few shots, leading to a substantial savings in time and resources.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1976
Accession Number
ADA030262

Entities

People

  • Andrus Niiler
  • Stephen E. Caldwell

Organizations

  • Ballistic Research Laboratory

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Environment
  • Gun Barrels
  • Gun Chambers
  • Gun Components
  • Guns
  • Isotopes
  • Measurement
  • Measuring Instruments
  • Micrometers
  • Propellants
  • Weapons

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Nuclear and Radiation Engineering.
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.
  • ballistics.