Trade-Offs in Performance Enhancement of Solid-Propellant (SP) Electrothermal-Chemical Guns.

Abstract

The design of a solid-propellant electrothermal-chemical (SPETC) gun includes a number of choices for propellant and electrical energy. The trade-offs inherent in the choices affect the maximum pressure and muzzle velocity as well as pulse power size. Three questions of interest are addressed theoretically in this paper: (1) Is the optimal web determined from a conventional, optimal, solid-propellant (SP) calculation altered by the addition of electrical energy? (2) Are there trade-offs between power and energy, and, hence, pulse power size, to attain equivalent performance? (3) Can grain progressivity and post-maximum-pressure (post-Pmax) plasma energy injection work together to optimize gun performance at higher loading densities?

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 1995
Accession Number
ADA291265

Entities

People

  • Gloria Wren
  • Phuong Tran

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ballistics
  • Capacitors
  • Combustion
  • Combustion Chambers
  • Electric Power
  • Electrothermal Chemical Guns
  • Energy
  • Geometry
  • Interior Ballistics
  • Materials
  • Military Research
  • Munitions
  • Muzzle Velocity
  • Power
  • Power Supplies
  • Propellants
  • Solid Propellants

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

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  • Systems Analysis and Design