Dynamics and Stability of Stepped Gun-Barrels with Moving Bullets

Abstract EN

The stability of an Euler-Bernoulli beam under the effect of a moving projectile will be reintroduced using simple eigenvalue analysis of a finite element model.

The eigenvalues of the beam change with the mass, speed, and position of the projectile, thus, the eigenvalues are evaluated for the system with different speeds and masses at different positions until the lowest eigenvalue reaches zero indicating the instability occurrence.

Then a map for the stability region may be obtained for different boundary conditions.

Then the dynamics of the beam will be investigated using the Newmark algorithm at different values of speed and mass ratios.

Finally, the effect of using stepped barrels on the stability and the dynamics is going to be investigated.

It is concluded that the technique used to predict the stability boundaries is simple, accurate, and reliable, the mass of the barrel on the dynamics of the problem cannot be ignored, and that using the stepped barrels, with small increase in the diameter, enhances the stability and the dynamics of the barrel.