Flash Tube Seal Dynamics in 30 mm Ammunition

Abstract

Certain 30 mm ammunitions use a flash tube to augment the primer and to provide an ignition source for the propellant. The flash tube must provide abundant hot gases/particles and pressurize the propellant bed sufficiently so that the initial burn rate of the propellant is high enough to propel the projectile to the muzzle within the few milliseconds that constitute the action time of the cannon. Rupture of the seal at differing rupture pressures was shown to affect the initial pressure in the chamber enclosing the propellant bed, as well as the amount of burning particles released into the bed.