CARTRIDGE HEATING IN HOT GUNS

Abstract

When a gun fires, hot propellant grains and gas heat the barrel. Repeated firing causes barrels to become very hot. If a cartridge is loaded into a hot barrel and, for whatever reason, cannot be promptly fired or ejected, a potentially dangerous situation exists. The round may cook–off. With explosive loaded ammunition, there is the main charge and usually a fuse. The fuse can contain a number of pyrotechnic devices, e.g. time delay charge, booster for detonating the main charge, and multiple divert charges for guidance systems. If any of these cook–off, there may be serious consequences, including complete destruction of the weapon, damage to vehicles or ships, and loss of life. The paper provides a mathematical analysis of heat flowing into a cartridge from a hot barrel. Cook–off is explained. We show how to apply data from routine fast cook–off safety tests to projectile heating.