Adaptive Projectile with Pressure-Sensitive Link for Penetration and Expansion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional projectiles fail to effectively stop attackers in law enforcement scenarios, particularly in near-total darkness with limited warning, as they either cause excessive internal damage or fail to penetrate automotive obstructions, and existing adaptive expansion technologies are impractical for such conditions.
Innovation Solution
A projectile with an annular submunitions array and a pressure-sensitive link that allows lateral expansion only upon impact with soft targets, inhibiting expansion when striking hard objects, ensuring maximum penetration through obstructions while minimizing internal damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a traditional expanding/fragmenting projectile is used, then maximum stopping power is achieved on soft targets, but the projectile cannot penetrate hard obstructions such as automotive glass
Solution Approach 1:
The projectile employs a dynamic expansion mechanism where the pre-formed hollow cavity and segmented construction allow the projectile to expand after penetrating the obstruction. The cavity collapse and fragment separation occur dynamically as the projectile transitions from penetration mode to expansion mode, enabling it to adapt its behavior based on the target encountered.
Solution Approach 2:
The projectile is constructed with a segmented design featuring a pre-formed hollow cavity that divides the projectile into distinct zones. This segmentation allows the front portion to maintain structural integrity for penetration while the rear portions can expand and fragment independently upon contacting soft targets, thus resolving the contradiction between penetration and expansion capabilities.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a manually configurable projectile is used to adjust expansion characteristics, then adaptability to different targets is improved, but the complexity of operation increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The projectile is designed to automatically sense and respond to the target type through its inherent structural characteristics. The pre-formed hollow cavity and segmented construction enable the projectile to self-adjust its behavior - maintaining integrity for penetration when encountering obstructions, and automatically expanding when encountering soft targets - without requiring any manual configuration by the operator.
Solution Approach 2:
The projectile utilizes parameter changes in its structural configuration, specifically the pre-formed hollow cavity volume and segment arrangement, to enable automatic adaptation. These built-in parameter variations allow the projectile to transition between penetration and expansion modes based on the resistance encountered, eliminating the need for manual adjustment while maintaining adaptability.
3Area of moving object
If an expanding projectile design is used, then surface wound area is maximized, but internal tissue damage increases proportionally
Solution Approach 1:
The projectile incorporates a pre-formed hollow cavity that is designed to collapse in a controlled manner after penetration. This preliminary structural configuration ensures that the expansion and fragment separation occur primarily in the superficial tissue layers, directing the wound-making action outward rather than deeper into the body, thus maximizing surface wound area while limiting internal damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The segmented construction with pre-formed hollow cavity creates different functional zones within the projectile. The front portion maintains a streamlined shape for penetration, while the rear portions are configured to expand and fragment. This local differentiation ensures that expansion occurs in specific zones that maximize surface wound area while the overall structure controls the depth and distribution of internal tissue damage.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The projectile achieves effective stopping power with minimal penetration and maximum surface wound area on soft targets while maintaining penetration through hard obstructions, addressing the limitations of existing technologies in law enforcement scenarios.
Implementation Method 1
A pressure-sensitive link is disposed between the ballistic penetrator and the spreader. The pressure-sensitive link is responsive to a predetermined threshold impact force so as to disable the spreader when the impact force on the ballistic penetrator is above the predetermined threshold
Data Source
AI summary
An adaptive projectile for small caliber firearms includes preformed submunition elements deployed in a radiating pattern by a spreader upon impact with a soft target, such as the body of an assailant. But when initial impact is with an intermediate hard obstacle, a pressure-sensitive link disables the spreader so that the submunition elements will not deploy but instead become locked into a unitary, monolithic body capable of penetrating the hard obstacle. The nose of the projectile is a hollow ballistic penetrator that restrains the submunition elements upon impact with a hard object. The submunition elements rest on a base. For protection inside the gun barrel and during flight, the adaptive projectile is partially wrapped by a thin jacket that fractures and/or peals away upon impact with a soft target.