Projectile Fastening Bolt for Shell Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing shell designs with conical tailpieces and disk-shaped propulsion elements often experience play during handling, leading to suboptimal acceleration and disturbances of the penetrator due to gas pressure buildup, causing inefficiencies in propulsion and separation issues after discharge.
Innovation Solution
A projectile fastening bolt with a rated break point and pressure-reducing nozzles is used, where a bolt element is passed through the frustum-shaped recess of the conical tailpiece, allowing propellant charge gases to flow into a borehole, causing the bolt to break and separate the propulsion element from the penetrator, ensuring secure joining during handling and separation after discharge.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a form-locking joint or compression joint is used to join the propulsion element with the penetrator, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but play develops between the propulsion element and conical tailpiece during handling, causing suboptimal acceleration and disturbances
Solution Approach 1:
The bolt element is divided into multiple segments or sections along its length, with at least one break point positioned at a predetermined location. This segmentation allows the bolt to remain intact during handling while enabling controlled separation when gas pressure acts upon it, resolving the contradiction between maintaining joint stability and allowing reliable separation.
Solution Approach 2:
The bolt element transitions from a static, rigid connection during handling to a dynamic, separable connection during discharge. The break point design allows the bolt to remain rigid under normal conditions but become separable when subjected to gas pressure, enabling the joint to adapt its characteristics based on operational conditions.
2Reliability
If the propulsion element is securely joined to the penetrator, then acceleration is optimized, but the propulsion element cannot separate reliably after leaving the gun barrel
Solution Approach 1:
The bolt element is pre-designed with break points at predetermined locations before the shell is fired. This preliminary configuration ensures that when gas pressure acts upon the bolt during discharge, separation occurs reliably at the intended break point, solving both the need for secure joining during acceleration and reliable separation after discharge.
Solution Approach 2:
The bolt element's structural parameters are designed to change its behavior under different pressure conditions. At normal handling pressures, the bolt maintains its structural integrity for secure joining, but at discharge pressures, the predetermined break point allows separation, thus adapting the joint's mechanical properties based on operational conditions.
3Reliability
If a bolt element with break point is used to join the propulsion element, then reliable separation is achieved, but the manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The bolt element is designed as a disposable component with predetermined break points, intended to be replaced rather than reused. This approach simplifies the manufacturing process by allowing the use of simpler materials and construction methods for the bolt, while the break point design ensures reliable separation functionality without requiring complex recovery or reuse mechanisms.
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
This design ensures the propulsion element is securely joined to the penetrator without play during handling and separates reliably after discharge, optimizing acceleration and reducing disturbances, while being cost-effective, stable, and easy to fabricate, with adjustable gas pressure for effective tracer ignition.
Implementation Method 1
the internal pressure that develops in the borehole due to the propellant charge gases leads to the rending of the bolt element and thus to the separation of the propulsion element from the penetrator
Data Source
AI summary
A shell with a subcaliber penetrator, which has a conical tailpiece, and with a basically disk-shaped propulsion element, wherein the conical tailpiece has a frustum-shaped recess that is open towards the rear end. The propulsion element is joined with the penetrator, preferably by a screw connection (projectile fastening bolt). To this end, a bolt element joins the propulsion element and the penetrator in the area of the tailpiece and has a borehole that is open at the rear end, into which propellant charge gases flow when the shell is fired and cause rending of the bolt element and thus separation of the propulsion element from the penetrator.