Advanced Propulsion Concept: Step Chamber for Bulk-Loaded Gun.

Abstract

The military gun community throughout the world has tried to develop bulk-loaded liquid propellant (LP) gun systems because they offer conceptually a great advantage over solid propellant guns. Until now, bulk-loaded guns have not been fielded because of ballistic problems attributed to a combination of combustion instabilities and fluid dynamics. A new chamber concept, step chamber, was developed at ARDEC to control the combustion instabilities and fluid dynamics. This report describes the design of the step chamber and also presents comparative ballistic data obtained from both normal straight chambers and step chambers. The step chambers tested include 1, 2, and 3-step configurations. The data suggest that the incorporation of steps in the combustion chamber wall does, indeed, correct the ballistic problems associated with bulk-loaded LP guns. An explanation is proffered for the efficacy of the step chamber. (KAR) P. 3

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1995
Accession Number
ADA296691

Entities

People

  • A. J. Bracuti
  • A. K. Macpherson
  • D. S. Chiu

Organizations

  • United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Chambers
  • Combustion
  • Combustion Chambers
  • Dynamics
  • Engineering
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Ignition
  • Instability
  • Liquid Propellant Guns
  • Liquid Propellants
  • Materials
  • Muzzle Velocity
  • Otto Fuels
  • Projectiles
  • Propellants
  • Propelling Charges

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • ballistics.