Slotted Bullet Intermediate for Controlled Ogive Deformation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for manufacturing deformable bullets with unfilled cavities in the ogive region face issues such as clogging by harder materials, leading to suboptimal deformation behavior, and tools used in deep-drawing processes are prone to breakage and result in uneven deformation due to stress variations and material solidifications.
Innovation Solution
A deformable bullet intermediate is created using a ductile cylindrical base body made of lead-free materials, featuring a slotted ogive section with radial prongs that form a cavity upon deformation, allowing for controlled deformation without tool breakage and ensuring consistent deformation behavior even when hitting harder materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a large ogive tip opening is used to allow gelatinous mass penetration, then deformation behavior is improved, but the opening gets clogged by harder materials preventing penetration
Solution Approach 1:
The ogive tip opening is segmented into multiple radial slots instead of a single large opening. This segmentation allows the gelatinous mass to penetrate through multiple smaller pathways, reducing the likelihood of complete clogging while maintaining effective deformation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The radial slots are pre-formed in the intermediate product before final bullet formation. This preliminary action ensures that penetration pathways are established in advance, allowing the gelatinous mass to follow predetermined routes and preventing random clogging that would occur with a single large opening.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional deep-drawing tools with pyramidal or conical mandrels are used, then cavity formation is achieved, but the tools are prone to breakage and cause uneven deformation
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a solid pyramidal or conical mandrel that concentrates stress at sharp edges, the invention uses a mandrel with a flattened tip and radial slots. This inverts the conventional approach by distributing stress along the slot edges rather than concentrating it at a single point, preventing tool breakage and ensuring uniform deformation.
Solution Approach 2:
The mandrel is designed with different local qualities: a flattened tip region for uniform contact and radial slots with specific geometries tailored to the desired deformation pattern. This localized differentiation allows the mandrel to perform multiple functions - forming the cavity while preventing stress concentration and controlling deformation uniformity.
3Productivity
If a single-piece intermediate is cold-formed into the final bullet, then manufacturing efficiency is improved, but the deformation behavior becomes unpredictable due to stress variations
Solution Approach 1:
The intermediate product is pre-formed with specific geometric features including radial slots and optimized wall thickness distributions. This preliminary action prepares the material in advance to deform predictably during final bullet formation, eliminating the need for iterative adjustments and ensuring consistent deformation behavior across production batches.
Solution Approach 2:
The intermediate geometry is optimized with specific parameter values - slot angles, wall thickness ratios, and curvature radii - that control stress distribution during cold-forming. By carefully selecting these parameters, the process transforms unpredictable deformation into a controlled, repeatable operation that maintains manufacturing precision while preserving productivity.
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 intermediate enables the production of bullets with optimized deformation behavior when hitting gelatinous targets, avoiding clogging and tool breakage, and achieves desired partial fragmentation deformation without splintering, using a cold-forming process that eliminates the need for machining.
Implementation Method 1
The intermediate (1) is cold-formed by means of pressings, in particular deep-drawing
Implementation Method 2
a ductile, in particular, lead-free material, such as copper, a copper alloy, brass
Data Source
AI summary
Intermediate for the production of a projectile in particular a deformable bullet, consisting of a ductile blank, which is cold-formed into the intermediate by means of pressing, a cylindrical solid base end section and a press end section with a central press recess incorporated by means of pressing and a wall limiting the press recess to form an ogival shaped tip, wherein the wall is formed with at least two slots extending in the axial direction of the intermediate, which separate at least two prongs in the circumferential direction of the intermediate, wherein the at least two slots extend by more than 10% of an axial total longitudinal extension of the intermediate from the wall end towards the base end section.