Accession Number:

ADA056043

Title:

Effect of Igniter Gases on Wear-Reducing Additive in the 155mm XM201E2 Propelling Charge.

Personal Author(s):

Corporate Author:

ARMY BALLISTIC RESEARCH LAB ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND MD

Report Date:

1978-04-01

Abstract:

The wear-reducing liner in the base-ignited XM201E2 charge failed to reduce the erosivity of the XM201E2 charge. When the clean-burning igniter CBI in the XM201E2 charge was replaced by black powder, the barrel life of 155mm howitzers firing the modified XM201E2 charge increased to 3,500 rounds from 1,000 rounds with CBI. Considerable gun barrel heating by igniter gases was observed during experiments conducted to ascertain why the wear rate of cannon firing XM201E2 charges was unexpectedly high. One explanation for the failure of the TiO2wax additive with CBI might be physical changes in the liner during the preheating stage before the propellant ignited. To test this hypothesis, XM201E2 charges were loaded with inert propellant and fired in a closed chamber simulating the chamber configurations of the M185 and M199 howitzers. Examination after firing with each igniter showed no physical damage to the TiO2wax liner. It was also noted that the black-powder ignited XM201E2 charge moved 5 cm closer to the projectile base during igniter functioning, while the CBI-ignited charge moved 2.5 cm. Whether this movement is important regarding additive effectiveness cannot be ascertained from this experiment. Author

Descriptive Note:

Memorandum rept.,

Pages:

0016

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Identifiers:

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File Size:

7.29MB

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