Studies on Some Aspects of Propellants for Improving the Performance of Tank Guns

The main criterion, in the design of propellant charge for a tank gun, is to achieve the highest possible muzzle velocity for fin stabilized arm our piercing discarding sabot (FSAPbS) projectile~. This ensures penetration through the toughest armour plates by the kinetic energy of the projectile. One of the solutions, is to increase the force constant of the propellant. Higher force constants from conventional double and triple base propellant compositions lead to prohibitive linear rates of burning coefficients. ERDL has developed a high energy propellant based on RDX, with very high force constant and low linear rate of burning coefficient. The objective of the present paper is to discuss various aspects of the interior ballistics of the three types of propellants in question in 105 film tank gun with FSAPDS ammunition. The study shows that only the solution with RDX base propellant is feasible for an increase of three per cent "in muzzle velocity. Notations c charge mass (kg) D web size (cm) E efficiency of the gun ( %) F force constant (JIg) n number of moles of product gases (g. m9lelg) p pressure (MPa) Pm maximum pressure (MPa) r rateo(burning of propellant ( cmls) R universal gas constant (JlmolerK)