Modern battle tanks are equipped with gun stabilization systems using gyro and encoder data to stabilize the gun barrel, although these systems are very sensitive and reliable, these systems assume the gun barrel as a rigid beam, and do not use information from

In this study the effects of different austempering times and temperatures on impact toughness, hardness and fracture toughness properties of 35NiCrMoV12.5 gun barrel steel are investigated. 300 &deg / C, 325 &deg / C and 350 &deg / C were chosen as austempering temperatures. Isothermal holding times at these temperatures were chosen as 1 minute, 10 minutes, 1 hour and 10 hours. It was found that, 350 &deg / C being an exception, austempering temperature and impact toughness has an inverse relationship and impact toughness increases as isothermal holding time increases. However this behavior is valid until some point. Prolonged transformation times causes toughness to decrease. Hardness measurements revealed that, as isothermal holding time increases, hardness decreases. In order to compare the mechanical properties obtained by austempering with that of conventional cooling and tempering, 400 &deg / C was chosen as the tempering temperature and applied to both charpy impact and fracture toughness specimens. It was found that conventional cooling and tempering produced tougher structures. Size of the fracture toughness specimens might have caused an undesired situation such as incomplete transformation to bainite. Optical and scanning electron microscopy was used in order to analyze the microstructures obtained after each treatment. It was observed that the majority of the morphologies occurred is lower bainite. On the other hand, martensitic structures were observed almost at every temperature.

The gun barrel is one of the most important parts of the whole artillery system. During firing, the wear leads to reduced performance and availability. Wear in gun barrels has different types of erosion mechanisms, in particular chemical-, thermal- and mechanical erosion. This takes place in the internal ballistic process when the projectile is fired from the gun barrel and it will affect the external ballistic parameters. Therefore, an equipment is needed to monitor and measure the wear inside different calibre gun barrels. Wear in gun barrels takes place under extreme conditions during firing due tohigh gas pressures and high temperatures arise as propellant burns. The present thesis aims to develop a type of measuring equipment that should be able to measure and monitor wear inside gun barrels between the diameter ranges of A-C mm. In this master thesis, the product development process has been adapted in order to reach the following goal which is to accomplish a technical solution for the problem associated with wear in gun barrels. The product development process is a systematical approach of developing new products. The different steps that have been evaluated are the product specification, generation of concepts, selection of concepts and layout- and detail design. Before these steps where performed, a project plan was done in order to organize the project. This was then followed by a literature review to obtain information about the problems in the project and to find inspiration from similar applications. The results of the product development process led to a concept of a moveable measure-head which uses a crawler to move inside the gun barrel and adapters to be able to use inside different calibre gun barrels. Then a rotating 3D-laser scanner to measure the change in diameter of the bore. A laser distance sensor and a receiver in order to measure the straightness and to be able to know the position of the moving measure-head in the gun barrel. At last, a wireless camera to monitor the wear inside the gun barrel. The selected concept has been developed and potential solutions for the problem have been described and formed. For the next phase of the project, the concept needs to be developed into a complete model. The next phase of the project is the prototype testing phase.

Gun barrels are an important component in advanced defence systems. The gun barrels are used for direct and indirect fire and the material of the gun barrel is exposed to great strains and high temperatures. This sets high demands on the material of the gun barrel. During firing the gun barrel can be damaged. The first damage in gun barrels is the wear of the rifling followed by fatigue. When fatigue occurs cracks can propagate downwards into the bore and could result in catastrophic failure. Therefore investigation regarding the wear, the mechanisms and the underlying factors causing the damage will be performed. How and where the wear in gun barrels occur and also which wear mechanisms causing the wear. Wear in gun barrels involves extreme conditions during firing such as high gas pressure and high temperature from the burning propellant. This thesis work aims to understand how and why wear and damaging mechanisms in gun barrels occurs. Moreover how other ballistic factors influences have on the wear. The wear in gun barrels is caused by erosion from the combustion gases or/and sliding wear caused by the high-speed projectile. The phenomena of wear are complicated and factors like deformation state, types of wear, environment and process are interrelated with each other. These give the rise of wear. In this thesis, samples from three gun barrels were analysed. A new unworn gun barrel, a medium worn gun barrel and a severely worn gun barrel. From the used gun barrels 4 critical positions were identified, then samples from both surface and cross-section were obtained from the gun barrels. The surface and cross-section were analysed using different methods including optical light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to characterise the surface damage and wear mechanisms. The results from the investigation revealed the dominating wear mechanism to be thermal and chemical erosion at the positions closest to the combustion chamber with heat checks as its signature feature. The heat checks are associated with fatigue cracks developed at the surface and during thermo-mechanical loading, allows it to propagate down into the surface. For both samples at position 2, after the start of the rifling, adhesive wear was obtained too. The adhesive wear was induced by material pick-up from the driving band of the projectile during sliding. In other meaning, the material is transferred from the counter-face to the bore surface. The severely worn gun barrel had been subjected to sliding wear at the muzzle end compared to the medium worn gun barrel which hadn’t experience the same wear rate at the same position. The analysis of the cross-section examination revealed information about the structure and condition of the material. To obtain more information about mechanical properties, a hardness test was performed. The hardness test revealed a hard but brittle surface which can be sheared by the frictional force caused by the sliding projectile. The analysis of the gun barrels revealed information about wear mechanisms and damages in medium and severely worn gun barrels. The detected wear mechanism was thermal erosion, chemical erosion, mechanical erosion and sliding wear.

This thesis is focused for manufacturing of a gun barrels and his issues. In thesis is involved introducing of the company Česká zbrojovka a.s. and definition of hand fired guns. Written analysis present the state of a technological process and describe an individual phase of manufacturing of the semi-finished product of gun barrel and the following conclusion of a complex manufacturing of a gun barrel from the semi-finished product to the stand, when the gun barrel installed into the gun is. Subsequently are suggested possibly solutions of manufacturing rationalization and possibly purchasing of a new modern CNC machines. In the end is accomplished a technical-economic evaluation, which compares existing and suggesting of the technology.

A gun barrels performance can only be considered satisfactory provided there is sufficient heat-dissipation, thus not hindering the tactical use of the unit and the weapon itself. The added energy to the barrel can potentially permanently change the material structure of the steel and create a hazard.The thesis evaluates air cooling concepts relative to a barrel blank to assess its ability to handle heat flow and heat flux. The concepts have been designed in such a way that the ergonomic and practical weight limitations of a soldier have been taken into account. The results will provide a basis for future product development.The scientific work was limited to the section of the barrel nearest to the bore where the majority of the heat will be concentrated, hence that section with the biggest need for heat dissipation. For this to be done an assumption was made that the heat can only dissipate radially. The metal in this short section of the barrel is assumed to be heated equally along the barrel axis relative to the surrounding sections. The thesis was divided in two parts, a literature study and one with a deductive approach, where the research resulted in calculations in an iterative process.The calculations determined the cooling and heating time for each concept. Finally, the heat flow in and out was calculated.Based on the information that the calculations provided, a comparison could be done and an assessment for each concept to be a potential solution if it were to be applied in a sustained fire role. The conclusion was that an air cooled concept could never provide the heat flux needed to sufficiently cool a barrel in a sustained fire role due to all the thermal energy added for each shot fired.The composite concept that was evaluated has great potential in a lightweight weapon system. It provides quadruple cooling capability with no additional weight. It also has good potential for future development of the concept.

La précision de tir d’une arme dépend de nombreux facteurs intervenant aux différentes étapes du parcours de la munition (balistique intérieure, intermédiaire et extérieure). Certains travaux ont démontré l’importance de l’influence de la phase de balistique intérieure, pendant laquelle la munition traverse le tube, sur les résultats à la cible. En effet, c’est cette phase qui détermine les conditions de sortie du tube de la munition et par conséquent son comportement au cours du vol. Les conditions d’entrée du projectile, la géométrie du tube et de l’arme, et les mouvements de ces derniers au cours du tir, sont autant de paramètres pouvant modifier l’interaction tube/projectile et ainsi entraîner un changement des vitesses angulaires et de translation de la munition au moment du largage. Cette étude a donc pour but de mettre en exergue les paramètres géométriques de l’arme et du tube qui influencent la justesse et la dispersion. Une analyse statistique a été réalisée à partir de la base de données des résultats de tir du 25 mm. Elle a permis de mettre en évidence l’influence de plusieurs paramètres dont la rectitude du tube. Par la suite, des essais ont été conduits en appareil de tir dans le but d’isoler la part de la géométrie du tube sur les écarts à la cible et ainsi de confirmer la contribution de la rectitude. Un modèle numérique tridimensionnel a été développé afin de faire varier ce paramètre et d’étudier son influence sur le comportement de la munition en phase de balistique intérieure. La représentativité du modèle a été vérifiée à l’aide d’accéléromètres embarqués dans la munition. Ces tirs ont nécessité le développement d’une solution innovante optoélectronique afin de transmettre les accélérations en temps réel. Les résultats expérimentaux obtenus ont permis de constater que les accélérations de la munition modélisée étaient représentatives. Le modèle permet maintenant de réaliser des études paramétriques et de déterminer les profils de tube les plus pénalisants pour la précision de tir. / Gun accuracy is influenced by several factors during the stages of the ammunition course (internal, intermediate and external ballistics). According to previous studies, internal ballistics are the major contributor to deviations from target. Indeed, this phase determines projectile exit conditions and, consequently, his behavior during the flight. The projectile entry conditions, the weapon and barrel geometry and their movements during firing, can modify the interaction tube / projectile and change ammunition angular rates and its transversal velocities. The purpose of this thesis is to determine the parameters related to barrel and gun geometry, which influence the bias and the dispersion. A statistical analysis was led thanks to the data base of the 25 mm firing results. It was found that some parameters, including barrel straightness, affect accuracy. Subsequently, tests were conducted with a firing appliance in order to isolate the barrel geometry influence on the deviations from the target and to confirm the straightness impact. A tridimensional numerical model was created in order to vary this parameter and to study its influence on the ammunition behavior during internal ballistics. The representativeness of the model was validated using accelerometers embedded in the ammunitions. The firing of these ammunitions has required the development of an optoelectronic system to transmit accelerations in real time. The comparison between experimental and numerical results has shown close amplitudes and similar shapes curves that proves the representativeness of the model. The model can be used now to lead parametric analysis and to determine the straightness shapes the most penalizing for gun accuracy.

The effects of a composite overwrapped gun barrel with viscoelastic damping layers are investigated. Interlaminar stresses and constrained layer damping effects are described. The Modal Strain Energy method is developed for measuring the extent to which the barrel is damped. The equations of motion used in the finite element analysis are derived. The transient solution process is outlined. Decisions for selected parameters are discussed. The results of the finite element analyses are presented using the program written in FORTRAN. The static solution is solved with a constant internal pressure resulting in a calculated loss factor from the Modal Strain Energy Method. The transient solution is solved using the Newmark-Beta method and a variable internal pressure. The analyses conclude that strategically placed viscoelastic layers dissipate strain energy more effectively than a thick single viscoelastic layer. The optimal angle for maximizing the coefficient of mutual influence in a composite cylinder is not necessarily the optimal angle when viscoelastic layers are introduced between layers.