The Transient Stress and Life Analysis of a Gun Tube

A thermo-solid coupling model of a gun tube is established. The inner boundary conditions of the tube are obtained by carrying out the computations of the boundary-layer model and the core-flow model of interior ballistics. The finite element method is employed here to numerically solve the thermo-solid coupling model. The transient stress and temperature of the coupling field of gun tube subjected to high-frequency periodic dynamic pressure and thermal pulse are computed. The overall state of the stress field and the thermoelastic coupling effect are attained. The strength of gun tube subjected to dynamic pressure load, thermal load and joint load is analyzed respectively, and the cases under the above three kinds of working conditions are compared. The life of gun tube is also studied. A life test system is set up, and detailed measurements about temperature and erosion are performed. A model to estimate the maximum radial wear rate of gun tube is built. Based on the computational results of temperature, the ablation wear extent and the limit life of a gun tube subjected to successive shooting are computed. The models and the analytical techniques adopted here provide important references for gun-tube design and life improvement.