Approaches for the Design of Ceramic Gun Barrels

Abstract

The Army continues to be challenged to maintain the life of its cannons while introducing more robust propelling charges to provide increased performance. Audino (2004) reported declining cannon life in large caliber cannons with the introduction of each new projectile such that the current M256 cannon can fire less than 300 M829A3 rounds before being condemned. Over the past decade, substantial improvements in the robustness and consistency of quality of structural ceramics and the development of improved predictive methods for the failure of said materials resulted in the Army Research Laboratory investigating the utility of this class of materials for use in modern high velocity cannons. This paper reports on the evaluation of the structural ceramics investigated and the design approaches implemented to utilize them in as a liner material for a gun barrel.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA480918

Entities

People

  • Jeff Swab
  • Larry Burton
  • Robert A. Carter
  • Robert Kaste
  • Ryan Emerson

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ceramic Materials
  • Closed Bomb Tests
  • Energetic Materials
  • Gun Barrels
  • Guns
  • Materials
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Materials Testing
  • Mechanics
  • Military Research
  • Projectiles
  • Propellants
  • Silicon Carbide
  • Structural Ceramics
  • Technical Ceramics

Readers

  • Economics
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • ballistics.