Multi-piece Polymeric Ammunition Cartridge Design
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ammunition cartridge casings made of brass are heavy, expensive, and hazardous, and existing plastic alternatives fail to provide reliable, safe, and consistent ballistic performance, often resulting in issues like bullet displacement, pressure inconsistencies, and casing breakage during firing.
Innovation Solution
A multi-piece polymeric ammunition cartridge design featuring a primer insert, middle body, and nose component with a half-lap junction and groove system, allowing for a reduced neck height and optimized propellant chamber, using polymers such as polyurethane or metal alloys to ensure strength and compatibility, and incorporating a diffuser to manage primer ignition effects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional brass cartridge casings are used, then reliability and safety are ensured, but weight and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cartridge case is divided into multiple components: a nose component, a body component, and a base component. These segments are manufactured separately and then joined together through welding or bonding processes. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently for weight reduction while maintaining overall structural integrity and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention employs composite construction by combining different materials for different components. The nose, body, and base can be made from various polymer materials or metal alloys with different properties, creating a composite structure that achieves both lightweight design and reliable performance.
2Weight of moving object
If plastic cartridge casings are used, then weight and cost are reduced, but manufacturing precision and reliability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the cartridge case into separate components (nose, body, base), each component can be manufactured with high precision using specialized processes. The individual components can be precisely fitted and joined, achieving better overall manufacturing precision than monolithic plastic casings.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the material parameters by using high-strength polymer materials or metal alloys that can be precisely manufactured. By controlling material properties and joining methods, the system achieves consistent pressures and uniform ballistic performance while maintaining reduced weight.
3Weight of moving object
If polymer materials are used for cartridge casings, then weight is reduced, but strength and pressure containment deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The cartridge case uses composite materials where high-strength polymer materials or metal alloys are selected for the nose, body, and base components. These materials are specifically chosen to provide the necessary strength and pressure containment while maintaining weight reduction benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The separate components (nose, body, base) are merged through welding or bonding processes to create a unified structure that can contain firing pressures. This merging combines the strength advantages of the individual materials while maintaining the weight benefits of the polymer construction.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides polymer ammunition, ammunition cartridge, ammunition case, and portions thereof having traditional and non-traditional cartridge shapes or profiles.