Striking element

Abstract

FIELD: weapons.SUBSTANCE: invention relates to a striking element, a bullet or artillery projectile, including a body with a cone-shaped warhead, the surface material of the warhead comprises an electropositive adsorbate with an electron work output of 2.3≤ϕ≤3.3 eV. The invention can be used in military equipment, as well as in hunting.EFFECT: enhancing the effect of the striking element on the target due to the electrical potential acquired during flight and the subsequent impact of the electrical discharge on the target.1 cl

Description

[0001] The invention relates to weapons systems, namely to ammunition, and partly to hunting weapons.

[0002] It is known that bodies moving in the air acquire an electric charge due to friction with the air, and when moving at supersonic speed they heat up to high temperatures of about 1000 K. Thus, the electric potential on the surface of the aircraft skin during flight can reach 200-300 kV [1].

[0003] The phenomenon of emission of electrons in a vacuum from the heated surface of metals and semiconductors is also known; the higher the heating temperature and the smaller the value of the electron work function ϕ of the surface material, the more intense the thermionic emission is [2].

[0004] There is no reason to believe that the value of ϕ does not directly or indirectly affect the degree of electrification of a body moving in an air environment at high speed, since at the micro level the quantum mechanism of the “exit” (“escape”) of electrons from the surface of a body during thermionic emission is not associated with the pressure of the surrounding air [2].

[0005] At the macro level, this process outside of a vacuum has not been studied in sufficient detail. However, there is reason to believe that the electrification discussed here may be influenced by the "escape" of electrons from the surface layer of a heated body moving at supersonic speed, driven by the oncoming flow of neutral molecules and ions (primarily positive) of the plasma formed immediately ahead of the front of this body. Therefore, to increase the degree of electrification, it is advisable to use coatings with a small ϕ value.

[0006] Practical experience in creating materials with low ϕ values ​​(less than 4 eV) has been accumulated in the production of so-called efficient thermoelectric cathodes [2]. Alkaline earth metal hexaborides used for these purposes have low ϕ values ​​(2.6–3.3 eV), but they are quite brittle and do not adhere well to metal surfaces, which limits their application.

[0007] One other option for reducing the electron work function is to apply an electropositive adsorbate (alkali, alkaline earth, and rare earth metals) to the surface, using known methods [2]. For example, the use of thoriated tungsten allows for the production of a monolayer coating of metal surfaces with ϕ = 2.6 eV. Oxides of alkali and, especially, rare earth metals are also widely used, as this ensures a strong bond between the resulting film (ϕ approximately 2.3-3.3 eV) and the substrate. However, such film coatings are short-lived and have low chemical resistance.

[0008] A more effective solution to the problem of reducing the electron work function is to use a coating containing 30% barium oxide and 70% strontium oxide; in order for this layer to be conductive, it is activated at a temperature of about 1000 K, ensuring a sufficiently low electron work function.

[0009] It is very effective to apply osmium atoms to a metal surface, achieving a ϕ value of <4 eV [2]. Most pure metals have ϕ>4 eV [3].

[0010] At a sufficiently high electrical potential—approximately 100 kV and above—a streamer discharge can occur between an electrifying body moving through the air at supersonic speed and a stationary conductive obstacle (target), even without collision. The distance required for a high-voltage discharge to occur can reach 0.5 m [1], and with direct collision, the known damaging effect of the discharge is correspondingly enhanced.

[0011] Thus, it should be expected that a striking element in the form of, for example, a rifle bullet or an artillery shell, provided that it acquires a sufficiently high electrical potential during flight, is capable of exerting, in addition to the known primary effect, an additional damaging effect of an electrical discharge on the target - the body of an animal, a person, electronic equipment, etc. Moreover, this effect will be expressed more strongly, the higher the electrical potential of the striking element acquired during flight.

[0012] The objective of the proposed invention is to obtain a technical result in the form of enhancing the effect of a striking element on a target (target) due to the electrical potential acquired during flight and the subsequent impact of an electrical discharge on the target.

[0013] The specified technical result is achieved in that the striking element - a bullet or artillery shell - has a body with a cone-shaped warhead, characterized in that the surface material of its warhead contains an electropositive adsorbate with an electron work output value of 2.3≤ϕ≤3.3 eV.

[0014] The invention, in addition to its obvious application in military technology, can be implemented in hunting. It is known that the relatively humane tradition of modern cultural hunting of wild animals involves striking the animal with a high-speed bullet (600 m / s or more) at the killing point, achieving a virtually instantaneous death. Accordingly, the above-described possibility of achieving additional electrical damage with a rifle bullet seems highly relevant and can be used in hunting practice.

[0015] Sources used

[0016] 1 Lightning on an airplane [Electronic resource]. URL: https: / / dzen.ru / a / YdsydMnksleqhBmx?sid=166094024556308753 (accessed: 06.03.2025).

[0017] 2 Vladimirov G.G. Physical Electronics. Part I. Thermionic Emission. Tutorial. - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg State University. - 2007. - 187 p. [Electronic resource]. URL: https: / / phys-el.ru / media / ustinov / ion / Thermionic_emission_tutorial.pdf (accessed: 06.03.2025).

[0018] 3 V.S. Fomenko. Emission properties of materials. - Kyiv: Publishing house "Naukova Dumka". - 1981.

Claims

The striking element is a bullet or artillery projectile, including a body with a cone-shaped warhead, characterized in that the surface material of its warhead contains an electropositive adsorbate with an electron work output value of 2.3≤ϕ≤3.3 eV.