Abstract: A tubular weapon with a weapon tube (1) guided inside a cradle tube (2) which is mounted stationary in axial direction. In order to provide such a tubular weapon with a cooling system (12) between the weapon tube and the cradle tube (1, 2) and to avoid the occurrence of sealing problems in the transition region between the weapon tube and the cradle tube, the cooling system (12) has at least one cooling line (11), which is positioned spirally around the weapon tube (1), and which is connected rigidly to the cradle tube (2).

Abstract: A launcher is disclosed having means for directing and concentrically spreading, as well as dispersing, exhaust gases created by an internal combustion of an object, such as a missile, that is operatively launchable therefrom. The concentric duct provides the directing, spreading and dispersing means and cooperates with a cup having means to arrange a port in operative relationship with an exhaust outlet of the object being launched. The cup which mates with the concentric duct has one of its ends open to the ambient so that the exhaust gases are lead into and out of the concentric duct so as to be concentrically dispersed into the atmosphere.

Abstract: The present invention is a metallic composite which is resistant to erosion and corrosion at the high temperatures and pressures which are encountered in gun tubes, including projectile launchers. This composite comprises a ductile layer of rhenium or a rhenium alloy containing more than 20 percent rhenium, and a layer of a lower cost high strength material such as steel, nickel, nickel alloy, cobalt, or cobalt alloy. A solid solution of the two metals is formed between the two layers making a metallurgical bond. The metallurgical bond may be enhanced through the use of a bond promoter having solubility with both metallic layers.

Abstract: A substantially nonbonded composite/metallic gun barrel is disclosed. The gun barrel has a metallic liner and a composite casing disposed thereabout. Unlike composite/metallic gun barrels of the prior art, the embodiments of the present invention provide little if any bonding between the composite casing and the metallic liner so as to decrease the warping of the gun barrel caused by the differing thermal expansion coefficients of the composite material and the metallic liner. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a short binding layer is used to hold the composite casing to the metallic liner adjacent the chamber which holds a cartridge to be fired. The short layer prevents rotation of the casing and the liner with respect to one another, while preventing little risk of warping. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a holding pin is inserted in the gun barrel to prevent the metallic liner and the composite casing from rotating relative one another.

Abstract: A gun barrel for a gun has an elongated tube with an axial bore extending completely through the tube from the breech end to the muzzle end. The tube and the contact surface in the axial bore, which contains propellant gasses behind the projectile and engages the projectile while guiding it toward the target, are made of Nitinol having a transition temperature lower than the lowest ambient temperature at which a gun with the barrel is designed to be operated, or of a Nitinol formulation consisting essentially of 60% nickel and 40% titanium. A first sleeve may be mechanically coupled to the barrel tube by shape memory contraction thereon to prestress the barrel tube in compression.

Abstract: A composite gun barrel 10 with active cooling having a breech end and a dharge end. The barrel includes an outer jacket 11 having radially inwardly projecting ports 15 proximate the breech end 25 extending inwardly from the outer diameter of the jacket, and an inner liner 13 inside the jacket and extending beyond the discharge end of the jacket prestressed by autofrettage to form a permanent integral assembly. The inner liner has a circumferentially located annular space 17, the ports being in operable communication with the annular space. A plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinal channels 19 on the liner extend from the annular space to a location 21 beyond the discharge end of the jacket. The liner includes a shoulder 23 located between the breech end of the barrel and the inwardly projecting ports for locating the jacket on the liner.

Abstract: A composite/metallic gun barrel is disclosed having a metallic liner and alternating first and second groups of fibers wrapped about the liner, the first groups being disposed in a first orientation generally perpendicular to the long axis of the liner, and the second groups including one or more layers disposed generally parallel with the long axis of the metallic liner. By controlling the amount of fibers in each group relative to the other group, the coefficients of thermal expansion in the radial direction can be matched to provide a gun barrel having desirable firing characteristics.

Abstract: A substantially nonbonded composite/metallic gun barrel is disclosed. The gun barrel has a metallic liner and a composite casing disposed thereabout. Unlike composite/metallic gun barrels of the prior art, the embodiments of the present invention provide little if any bonding between the composite casing and the metallic liner so as to decrease the warping of the gun barrel caused by the differing thermal expansion coefficients of the composite material and the metallic liner. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a short binding layer is used to hold the composite casing to the metallic liner adjacent the chamber which holds a cartridge to be fired. The short layer prevents rotation of the casing and the liner with respect to one another, while preventing little risk of warping. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a holding pin is inserted in the gun barrel to prevent the metallic liner and the composite casing from rotating relative one another.

Abstract: A composite/metallic gun barrel is disclosed having a metallic liner and alternating first and second groups of fibers wrapped about the liner, the first groups being disposed in a first orientation generally perpendicular to the long axis of the liner, and the second groups including one or more layers disposed generally parallel with the long axis of the metallic liner. By controlling the amount of fibers in each group relative to the other group, the coefficients of thermal expansion in the radial direction can be regulated to provide a gun barrel having desired firing characteristics.

Abstract: An anti-buckle fitting for a large caliber gun barrel, the fitting being constituted by an envelope that surrounds the barrel at a distance therefrom and of a length that is substantially equal to the outside portion of the barrel, the fitting comprising a front ring fixed near the free end of the barrel and a back ring fixed near the fume extractor of the barrel, and wherein the envelope is in the form of two half-shells assembled together by link means.

Abstract: A composite tube for a gun barrel and a method for making the tube are disclosed. The tube includes a plurality of elongate carbon fibers and a resin material surrounding a longitudinal bore axis. The elongate carbon fibers are aligned parallel with the longitudinal bore axis and are under compression along the longitudinal bore axis. Such a tube for a gun barrel may be made by wrapping a tubular metal liner with a resin matrix material containing a plurality of elongate carbon fibers, and aligning the carbon fibers parallel with the longitudinal axis of the liner. The resin matrix material is cured, and the elongate carbon fibers are placed under compression along the longitudinal axis of the liner. Compressing the carbon fibers along the longitudinal axis of the liner produces a tube of surprising stiffness. The tube provides a highly stable gun barrel of reduced weight for good accuracy.

Abstract: The invention provides a rib for a firearm, especially a shotgun, made of a material with poor heat conductivity, for example glass-fiber-reinforced plastic, and, in a method for manufacturing a barrel provided with such a rib, is either manufactured separately from barrel or molded onto the barrel directly.

Abstract: A gun barrel has an erosion-reducing, electrically non-conductive lining extending along a length portion of the gun barrel. The lining is made of a polyimide.

Abstract: A gun barrel for a hybrid propellant/electrothermal gun has a first barrel portion; a second barrel portion axially separated from the first barrel portion; and an insulator unit forming a third barrel portion. The insulator unit connects the first and second barrel portions to one another and defines a plasma path. There is further provided an arrangement for placing the first barrel portion on a first electric potential and for placing the second barrel portion on a second electric potential. The first and second potentials are different from one another for generating, in the plasma path, an electric arc having an orientation parallel to the barrel axis for heating propellant gases which initially accelerate the projectile.

Abstract: A firearm. The rear end of the barrel is directly adjacent to the frontmost point traveled by a slide. The slide travels back and forth inside the weapon's housing. The outside of the barrel is fastened directly or by way of an intermediary to a housing. The area inside the housing (12) and immediately behind the rear end (22) of the barrel (16) communicates with the atmosphere through at least one gas-escape port (26 or 26' & 20).

Abstract: Methods and apparatus related to design and construction of lightweight and mobile railgun barrels having high L' (inductance per unit length). The barrels comprise stacked metallic annular laminations in combination with prestressed tension elements to add radial and longitudinal stiffness. Laminations have elongated annular shapes to accommodate a plurality of longitudinal rails within the barrel, and the lamination shape is optimized to contain radial forces (tending to spread the rails) associated with the launching of railgun projectiles. Longitudinal stiffness is obtained from tension elements spirally wound around the barrel at a preferred angle with the barrel longitudinal axis. Radial stiffness is obtained by injecting a settable plastic fluid between barrel laminations and internal (bore) components, the latter being held as a subassembly with a longitudinal shrink tube.

Abstract: A multi-layer composite gun barrel has an integral metal alloy jacket portion, forming the exterior cylinder of the entire barrel, with a forebarrel interior liner cylinder substantially bonded within the jacket portion, and an unbonded breech portion liner, made from a high melting temperature refractory metal alloy able to resist erosion by hot gun gases in the barrel breech area.

Abstract: A motor case, including an aluminum barrel and a composite overwrap wound around the barrel to form a composite layer, which protects the operator against case failure during motor firing due to thermal effects caused by insulator defects or the like. The overwrap is formed of a fibrous material and a low temperature curable resin, the overwrap being mechanically bonded to the barrel. The method includes the steps of imparting texture to the outer surface of the barrel, wherein the textured surface includes jagged protrusions extending outwardly therefrom, wrapping an strip of fibrous material impregnated with a low temperature curable resin around the barrel, and curing the case.

Abstract: A composite reinforced gun barrel with a composite of a titanium, nickel, FeCrAlY alloy matrix reinforced with round filaments or rectangular ribbons made of molybdenum or tungsten. The composite layer may be bonded directly onto the barrel or it may be bonded to a steel jacket which can then be heat shrunk onto an existing gun barrel.

Abstract: The invention is a nonmetallic gun barrel having a a longitudinally rigid tubular exterior capable of radial elastic deformation upon passage of a projectile therethrough. Liner segments fixed at the inner diameter of the barrel exterior are abutted end to end and form spiraled rifling structures comprised of shallow channels and ridges between the channels. Radial gaps between sides of the liners can be partly filled by radial projections of elastomeric material of the barrel exterior. The radial projections expand inwardly to seal against a projectile bearing against the inner periphery of the barrel as the projectile is fired from the barrel.

Abstract: The invention is a nonmetallic gun barrel having a a longitudinally rigid tubular exterior capable of radial elastic deformation upon passage of a projectile therethrough. Linear segments fixed at the inner diameter of the barrel exterior are abutted end to end and form spiraled rifling structures comprised of shallow channels and ridges between the channels. Radial gaps between sides of the liners can be partly filled by radial projections of elastomeric material of the barrel exterior. The radial projections expand inwardly to seal against a projectile bearing against the inner periphery of the barrel as the projectile is fired from the barrel.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a method of producing rifled, non-metallic barrels of composite material in the form of a fiber-reinforced thermosetting matrix for rocket and grenade launcher ordnance, and barrels produced in accordance therewith. The characterizing feature of the present invention is that this results in barrels with the same fiber content in both the lands of the barrel rifling and in its rifling grooves which has been realized in that a porous fluffy mat with a high capacity to absorb the matrix material is employed in the rifled portion of the barrel.

Abstract: The invention is a nonmetallic gun barrel having a longitudinally rigid tubular exterior capable of radial elastic deformation upon passage of a projectile therethrough. Liner segments fixed at the inner diameter of the barrel exterior are abutted end to end and form spiraled rifling structures comprised of shallow channels and ridges between the channels. Radial gaps between sides of the liners can be partly filled by radial projections of elastomeric material of the barrel exterior. The radial projections expand inwardly to seal against a projectile bearing against the inner periphery of the barrel as the projectile is fired from the barrel.

Abstract: A composite gun tube having a liner prestressed in compression by a surroing cylinder formed of an appropriate Nitinol alloy. A first alternative construction utilizes Nitinol in filamentary form wrapped around the liner. A second alternative construction utilizes filamentary Nitinol embedded in the liner material. In all cases, the Nitinol is formulated so that the critical transition temperature is below that of any environment which the gun tube might encounter.

Abstract: A nonmetallic tubular structure and method of making the same comprising a tubular ceramic linear surrounded by a thermal insulating composite tube and an outer braided sleeve of a graphite fiber/epoxy composite tensioned to generate compressive stresses in the ceramic liner and maintained in compression by curing the sleeve while under tension.

Abstract: A rail gun barrel has a pair of opposed spaced apart rails separated by a pair of opposed stepped insulator members, which cooperate to define an internal bore. Interior body members surround the bore-defining components and fill the space between those components and an outer surrounding containment tube of varying curvature. A pressure cavity is provided in the interior body members on at least one side of the bore to load the outer containment tube, which because of its varying curvature, translates a circumferentially variable prestress inversely proportional to its curvature and is selected to match the particular loading scenario.

Abstract: An arrangement for cooling the gun barrel of a combat tank wherein the gun barrel is provided with helical cooling channels on its outer surface, and an insulation layer on at least the inner circumferential surfaces of the cooling channels. This reduces the IR signature of the gun barrel during combat and avoids deformation of the barrel under the influence of radiation from the sun.

Abstract: A gun tube having an outer sleeve of reduced weight from that of the base d having improved characteristics in firing accuracy. A method of fabrication pertaining to a selected titanium alloy sleeve in combination with a steel base is also disclosed.

Abstract: A railgun operates at high pressure (up to 350 MPa) without structural damage and is readily disassembled for inspection, maintenance and component testing. A rail assembly is pressed into a hoop-wound epoxy fiberglass containment tube and clamped within a steel compression frame. The geometry of the rail assembly permits rail movement without insulator intrusion and achieves bore sealing during rail movement at maximum pressure. The rail assembly also has replaceable insulator inserts which are isolated from rail re-bound shock. Fused quartz insulator inserts provide the best results. A flash tube is provided at the gun muzzle to suppress precursor discharge and commutate precursor current back to the armature. To realize increased velocity without sacrificing in-bore projectile stability, a cut-corner projectile is used having a L/D ratio as small as 0.65 which reduces the mass by about 11%.

Abstract: A joint is provided for joining together two sections of a tube wherein the sections are prestressed by a surrounding pressure medium to press the sections together and to resist forces tending to separate the sections and the bursting pressure inside the tube. The pressure medium can be a resin which can be pressurized and subsequently cured or a fluid. The outside diameter of each section, at and near the end to be joined, is enlarged. A coupling means encircles the enlarged portions and couples the two sections together. One or more expandable pressure cavities located within said coupling means and/or within the enlarged portions have the general shape of a flared annuli. The pressure medium fills and expands the pressure cavities and, when pressurized, exerts stresses compressing both sections together at the joint and also applies relatively uniform radial stress in the vicinity of the end of each section.

Abstract: The weapon barrel comprises a liner and at least one jacket tube. The liner is made of a highly wear-resistant material, like a cobalt or nickel base alloy, and the jacket tube is made of a tough alloy, like steel. In the manufacturing process the liner material is packed into the jacket tube in the form of a powdery material which may be pre-pressed or pre-sintered. The packing is arranged such as to leave a central free space in the jacket tube, and the jacket tube may be surrounded by an encapsulating tube. The jacket tube or the encapsulating tube is closed either before or after evacuation, and the closed tube arrangement is subjected to a combined heat and pressure treatment at temperatures of at least 900.degree. C., but below the melting point of the relevant materials and at pressures of at least 900 bar. The compound body thus obtained is formed with a full-area metallic bond between the liner and the jacket tube.

Abstract: A muzzle member is mounted on the forward end of a gun barrel in such a way that a radial play-free mounting is effected which is secured against rotation and oscillations which occur at firing due to the finishing tolerances of the machined parts of the muzzle member.This object is achieved by constructing the front end of the gun barrel frusto-conically in front of an external threaded portion and constructing the rear inner portion of the muzzle member frusto-conically. An external threaded portion is provided on the gun barrel and an inner threaded bore portion is provided on the muzzle member for mating meshing mounting. The respective frusto-conical portions of the gun barrel and muzzle member have a length l.sub.1 is larger than 1.5 d.sub.1 thereby making for a radial play-free joint. The muzzle member is constructed in the longitudinal region l.sub.

Abstract: A ram cannon (1) has an extendable barrel (2) slidably disposed over a starter cannon barrel (7). Such an extendable barrel is fully retractable during transport of the cannon and extendable at the time of firing. The barrel is also partially extendable, thereby providing a means to vary the muzzle velocity of a projectile (6) without varying the ratio of the fuel to the oxidizer in the propellant mixture. Utilizing an extendable barrel allows adapting a ram cannon to mobile artillery weapons, providing ease in transport, setup and firing, with a precise and rapid range adjustment capability.

Abstract: A method of producing a metal/ceramic composite structure in which an uncolidated metal or metal alloy powder is loaded into a sealable glass mold comprising a hollow ceramic sleeve and a sealable outer glass envelope surrounding the ceramic sleeve and forming with the outer wall of the ceramic sleeve a sealable chamber for the metal or metal alloy powder, wherein the glass is a type which becomes plastic when heated. The air in the mold is removed under vacuum and the mold is sealed and placed into a free flowing refractory powder in a crucible and consolidated by sintering under atmospheric pressure (CAP.RTM. process). Removal of the glass envelope leaves a composite article having a consolidated metal or metal alloy layer surrounding and placing a hollow ceramic liner (sleeve) under both radial and axial compression. A ceramic-line metal gun barrel insert can be produced by using a ceramic sleeve with rifling on its inner surface.

Abstract: A gun barrel and projectile system utilizes a smooth central bore gun barrel fitted with a short rifled insert near the breech end. A projectile fitted with a perforated skirt and driving band about the base of the skirt are loaded into the gun barrel so that the driving band just engages the rifled insert, and the warhead portion of the projectile extends into the smooth bore portion of the barrel. Upon firing of a breech charge, gases from the breech charge are ducted to the space between the thin side walls of the projectile and the smooth central bore, thereby establishing a gas bearing. The gas bearing provides lateral support to the projectile and lubricates the projectile in the smooth central bore. Because of the lateral support the projectile receives from the gun barrel and the gas bearing, much less projectile structural strength is required to resist set-back forces. Mass fraction ratios of ordnance payload mass to structural mass in the projectile are on the order of ninety percent.

Abstract: A liner for the firing chamber of a gun, designed to prevent ammunition "cook-off". The liner minimizes flow of heat into the chamber wall, incident to the combustion process. The liner also retards the flow of heat in the reverse direction, i.e. from the chamber wall into a chambered round. Liner design is such that the liner can be removed and replaced by a new liner when it is damaged.

Abstract: The present invention provides a gun capable of operating at relatively higher temperatures. The barrel of the gun is made up of at least two layers. The inner layer is of a refractory material which may be a metal refractory or a non-metal refractory. The liner is bonded to an outer jacket material formed of an alloy of nickel, aluminum and molybdenum. The coefficient of expansion of the liner and of the jacket are relatively low so that the gun does not expand extensively when heated by intensive use. The jacket metal is of higher strength at elevated temperature than is the conventional gun barrel steel.

Abstract: Structures subject to a high operational stress, such as weapon launchers, ombustion chambers, artillery barrels and the like, are strengthened dynamically by a counter-pressure generated simultaneously with the load causing the operational stress. The counter-pressure causes a dynamic stress which is effective temporarily to counteract the operational stress. In a weapons launcher, for example, the operational stress occurs in a launching tubular member and the counteracting stress occurs simultaneously in a second tubular member surrounding the first launching tubular member.

Abstract: A barrel section for a lightweight firearm such as a recoilless gun which is subjected to extremely high transient internal pressures and temperatures on firing is formed from an epoxy-resin impregnated carbon fibre material. The material, in the form of an elongated tow is wound on a mandrel, cured and then removed from the mandrel for subsequent operations such as machining and assembly. During manufacture, a gas-erosion preventing layer is formed on the mandrel and a plurality of layers of tow are helically-wound thereon at a helix angle .theta.=tan.sup.-1 (.sigma..sub.axial /.sigma..sub.hoop) where .sigma..sub.axial and .sigma..sub.hoop are the axial and hoop stresses produced in the barrel section by axial and hoop loads respectively. Lightweight recoilless guns using barrels in accordance with the invention are lighter and less costly to fabricate than conventional guns and are capable of firing upwards of 30 rounds before excessive erosion causes the firearm to be unusable.

Abstract: To manufacture tubes having a wear-resistant inside coating, such as gun barrels, hard material layers are deposited on the barrel and the layers are strain-hardened in their surface area by at least the ratio of the area by which the surface area is reduced by compression divided by the surface area of 0.001 (.DELTA.F/F=1.10.sup.-3) or reducing the area of the layer by 0.1%.

Abstract: A thermal sleeve for a gun barrel is in the form of a cylinder of a substantially rigid thermally insulating material with a series of longitudinally and circumferentially spaced spacer members disposed on the inner face of the cylinder. The spacer members engage with the gun barrel and define an annular gap between the cylinder and the barrel. The sleeve further includes means for sealing the annular gap as well as means for securing the cylinder on the barrel to ensure pressurized contact of the spacer members with the barrel.

Abstract: A rail gun barrel assembly includes barrel components which are radially constrained by a pressure medium contained within a lightweight outer shell.

Abstract: Structures subject to a high operational stress, such as weapon launchers, ombustion chambers, artillery barrels and the like, are strengthened dynamically by a counter-pressure generated simultaneously with the load causing the operational stress. The counter-pressure causes a dynamic stress which is effective temporarily to counteract the operational stress. In a weapons launcher, for example, the operational stress occurs in a launching tubular member and the counteracting stress occurs simultaneously in a second tubular member surrounding the first launching tubular member.

Abstract: A tubular structural element comprises a tubular body made of a fiber reinforced composite material having reinforcing fibers embedded in a matrix. The fibers are one of carbon, berylium, boron, glass, metallic or non-metallic, or a hybridized combination of the same. The tubular body has projections interiorly thereof which are integral therewith, and are of the same or another fiber reinforced composite material. The reinforcing fibers in the body are oriented in mutual stress transmitting relation, preferably circumferentially in the tubular body, and longitudinally in the interior projections. In making the tubular structural element, the fiber reinforced composite is introduced into each channel formed in a mandrel. The channels extend generally longitudinally of the mandrel, and optionally may also be spirally or helically oriented. Additional composite material is then overlaid generally circumferentially on the mandrel, to a desired thickness.

Abstract: A rapid fire gun round is made with a composite chamber. The chamber is led by rotational motion rather than by reciprocating motion. The round will work in a recoilless gun configuration. An alternate arrangement permits multiple barrels to be arranged with an ammunition chain to form a Gatling gun configuration. A liner can be inserted in the gun barrel to be replaced with wear as appropriate.

Abstract: A compliant tubular liner particularly adapted to withstand brisant forces is disclosed. These liners comprising graphite or silicon carbide fiber reinforced glass or glass-ceramic have a high fracture toughness, a relatively low elastic modulus and a high temperature resistance. These articles are particularly useful as gun barrel liners.

Abstract: A pipe-shaped protective cover for a gun barrel mounted over at least a portion of the outer periphery of the gun barrel. The protective cover includes a first-insulating layer joined to the outer surface of the gun barrel; a second heat-conducting layer mounted on said first layer; and at least one additional heat-insulating layer followed by at least one additional heat conducting layer which are mounted in that order on the second aforementioned layer. The invention envisages a firm mounting of the protective cover on the gun barrel without the formation of intermediate air gaps between the cover and the gun barrel.

Abstract: This barrel is characterized in that it comprises three layers superimposed without any break in continuity of surface contact between layers, namely: an internal layer of a refractory material; a core layer of a material the mechanical strength of which is higher than about 250 MPa at 900.degree. and an external layer of an alloyed steel. The invention relates also to a process for the manufacture of such barrel.

Abstract: This invention relates to composite gun barrels along the lines that a bal be made of two or more different materials and of different outer diameters for optimum life and performance at different points along the length of the barrel. A composite gun barrel according to this invention includes a breech joined to a muzzle through a mid-section of the barrel by inertia or friction welding. Such a breech, muzzle and mid-section or mid-sections are made of different external diameters and wall thicknesses and of varying materials. A material more resistant to high temperature erosion and of larger outside diameter for high gas pressure is utilized at the chamber, while the material and wall thickness selected for use near the muzzle is optimum for frictional wear and lower pressure. A hot work tool steel such as H11 containing 1.5% Mn, 5% Cr, 0.4 V and 0.35 C is employed at the origin of rifling.

Abstract: A new hybrid gun barrel can be successfully used with modern hotter propellants without unacceptable erosion of the breech section of the gun barrel and while retaining the accuracy and ballistic characteristics of a fully rifled gun barrel. The gun barrel comprises a smooth bore breech section and a longer gain twist rifled muzzle section. The smooth bore breech section can better withstand the high heat and pressure of modern hotter propellants than prior art rifled breech sections. The smooth bore breech section will always be less than one-third the total length of the gun barrel and preferably less than one-fifth the total length of the gun barrel. It can be made of a different material than the rifled muzzle section and can be coated with a material harder than the rest of the gun barrel.