On the Erosivity of Stick and Granular Propellant

Abstract

An interior ballistic scheme devised by Nordheim during World War II claimed the distribution of unburned propellant would significantly affect heat transfer to a gun in the commencement of rifling region where wear is most severe. Heat transfer would be greatest when the unburned propellant stayed in the chamber; heat transfer would be least when the unburned propellant was evenly distributed throughout the gun. Such a hypothesis implies stick propellant, which is likely to stay in the chamber, will be more erosive than granular propellant which is likely to be spread throughout the chamber. Nordheim's hypothesis was tested with the zone 85 charge for the 155mm M199 towed howitzer. Heat inputs were computed assuming the stick propellant (XM208) remained in the chamber while granular propellant (XM203E2) was distributed throughout the gun. The stick propellant proved to cause eighteen percent higher heat input. (etc....)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1982
Accession Number
ADA114964

Entities

People

  • J. Richard Ward

Organizations

  • Ballistic Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Additives (Chemicals)
  • Aerial Warfare
  • Artillery
  • Engineering
  • Gun Barrels
  • Guns
  • Heat Transfer
  • Howitzers
  • Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Physical Properties
  • Projectiles
  • Propellants
  • Propelling Charges
  • Rifling
  • Second World War
  • Weapons

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Statistical inference.
  • Thermal Physics or Thermal Science.
  • ballistics.