Cobalt Alloy Core Polymer Jacketed Projectile Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional projectiles are limited in armor penetration ability due to non-durable materials, excessive weight, and non-ideal shapes, and there is a lack of dual-use projectiles effective against both soft and hard targets.
Innovation Solution
A dual-use projectile design featuring a metal core, such as a cobalt alloy, enveloped by a polymer jacket, which allows for both armor penetration and fragmentation/expansion capabilities while complying with federal regulations, enabling penetration of armor without being classified as 'armor piercing ammunition'.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If conventional projectiles use solid lead alloy or lead core with copper jacket, then they are durable and relatively heavy for stability, but they have excessive weight limiting ballistic velocity and poor armor penetration ability
Solution Approach 1:
The projectile is divided into two distinct parts: a light polymer outer layer and a dense metal core. This segmentation allows the projectile to achieve high ballistic velocity due to the light polymer while maintaining armor penetration capability through the dense metal core concentration.
Solution Approach 2:
The projectile uses a composite structure combining polymer and metal materials. The polymer provides low weight for high velocity, while the metal core provides density for penetration, resolving the contradiction between weight and penetration performance.
2Strength
If projectiles use steel alloy or tungsten alloy core in metal jacket, then they achieve reliable armor penetration, but they are classified as armor piercing ammunition under federal regulations
Solution Approach 1:
The metal component is concentrated at the core with high density material for penetration, while the outer layer uses polymer material. This local quality differentiation allows the projectile to achieve armor penetration through the core while the overall polymer-jacketed structure complies with regulatory definitions.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the material parameters by using polymer as the jacket material instead of traditional metal jackets, and concentrates the dense material in the core. This parameter change allows the projectile to meet penetration requirements while complying with regulatory classifications for non-armor piercing ammunition.
3Weight of moving object
If conventional projectiles use thin PTFE coating less than 0.020 inches, then they have reduced weight, but they lack durability and ideal shape for maximizing penetration ability
Solution Approach 1:
The projectile combines polymer as the primary jacket material with a metal core. The polymer provides durability and structural integrity without the weight of traditional metal jackets, while the metal core provides the necessary density for penetration.
Solution Approach 2:
The metal core is formed with a spherical or near-spherical shape, which is the ideal geometry for maximizing penetration ability. This curved geometry concentrates force effectively during impact while the polymer jacket maintains the overall projectile shape.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention comprises a projectile, compliant with the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations and/or the United States Code, such as 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(17)(B), which regulates bullet materials and mass fractions. For example, the invention is to a projectile comprising: (1) a metal core, such as a cobalt alloy core, including a base and a tip, where the base and the tip are separated by a core length along a z-axis running longitudinally through a center of the metal core; and (2) a jacket circumferentially attached to the metal core, the jacket surrounding at least fifty percent of the core length of the metal core, where the jacket includes: a polymer and a first jacket radial thickness along at least a section of an interquartile portion of the core length of greater than 0.03 inches.