Energy criteria for combustion control in a large caliber gun

Abstract

The potential for improvement of the characteristics of large caliber guns has not reached its limit. Some of the problems still to be solved are the varying velocity of rounds st different temperatures and the tailoring of the pressure profile, The limiting case is a "constant pressure" approximation. Combustion control can be applied for solving these problems, A direct input of electrical energy in the form of an electrical are in a combustion chamber is considered. For a realization of an effective combustion control this kind of energy input seems to be the favorable method in comparison to the indirect input of electrical energy e,g, plasma injection from a capillary discharge. As a baseline case a 120 mm gun and JA2 propellant are considered, The effect of radiation on the JA2 propellant, screening the radiation by the propellant grains are the key points investigated and discussed, The energy criteria for combustion control and influence of radiation an the combustion process are defined

In-Depth Chemistry in Plasma-Exposed M30 and JA2 Gun Propellants

“…Estimation of temperature increases possible assuming black body absorption by the graphite (given the specific heat, density of graphite, and radius of a graphite particle or agglomeration and given the heat flux produced by the plasma and heat loss terms) are well in excess of the temperatures necessary for denitration of the nitrate esters immediately surrounding the graphite particle (Miller 2000). The importance of graphite in the absorption of plasma radiation by JA2 propellant has been reported previously by German researchers (Voronov et al 2000;Kappan and Bauder 2000) and was speculated to result in in-depth decomposition of nitrate ester groups, but was not associated with the "spotty" degradation of plasma-exposed JA2, nor was any chemical analysis performed to confirm in-depth chemical (as opposed to purely morphological) changes.…”