Design Analysis of Silicon Carbide Fiber-Titanium Aluminide Matrix Composite Laminate-Wrapped 122 mm Gun Barrel

Abstract

AbstractArtilleries are crucial in the defense of national interests. The barrels of these guns must be able to withstand very high pressure (propellant gas pressure) and it would require a very thick barrel. While a larger barrel thickness would result in a heavier barrel, for the reasons of mobility and economy, a gun barrel should be as light as practically possible. While it is possible to reduce the weight of the gun barrel by going for prestressing either by considering the compound gun barrel or by autofrettage of the barrel, it is also possible to reduce the weight of the barrel by choosing appropriate lightweight and thermally stable metal matrix composite as the material of the barrel. In this paper, a monobloc 122 mm bore gun barrel having a large weight of 1050 kg is considered to be redesigned, to reduce its weight for the sake of better mobility. Two alternate designs are considered. In the first design, a 50% thickness of the monobloc gun barrel, from the outside, is replaced by the lightweight fiber-reinforced titanium matrix composite laminate that has resulted in the saving (reduction) in weight of 54.3%. In the second design, the inside steel core is made of shrink-fitted compound barrel, and on the outside of which a fiber-reinforced titanium matrix composite laminate jacket is considered. This has resulted in a saving (reduction) in weight of 63%. Symmetric laminate [02/-602/02/602/02] s is considered for the composite laminate, and the Tsai–Hill failure criterion is applied to check the induced stress on each of the laminate.KeywordsMonoblocGun barrelShrink fitComposite