Part-II : Effect of Design Modifications on Computed Trajectory of a Large-Caliber Spinning Projectile

Abstract

The desired characteristics of Artillery Projectiles is to have maximum range at a given muzzle velocity. It can only be achieved provided the projectile has stable dynamic flight configuration, i.e., it suffered minimum launch and terminal phase oscillations, minimum drift and inherent angle of attack, to reduced aerodynamic loading. The mass distributions, CG location, static margin and mass moment of inertias, are the critical factors in deciding the most economic flight characteristics. In this paper, which is the second part of a two-part study 1 , four different configurations of 203mm HE M106projectile has been simulated for various flight parameters in order to ascertain the effect of CG and mass moment of Inertias, on stability and flight performance. The computed strategy has already been verified against experimental and theoretical results 1 . The results of study depict that, the stable flight is a tradeoff between CG (i.e. static margin) and the mass moment of inertia, in a particular axis. Interesting fact revealed in parametric sensitivity analysis which highlight the flight envelop range for a particular projectile configuration, with best performance.