Friction studies related to wear of gun barrels

Abstract

In this article a study of the wear of the 12.7 mm gun barrel is performed. Two new measuring methods have been developed to study the wear rates. Electron probe microscopy was also used. Theoretical and experimental results are compared. We find that the heat flux into the lands of the gun barrel due to the mechanical friction force between the jacket of the projectile and the lands of the gun barrel is significant. The heat flux leads to a more brittle morphological structure of the steel in a region close to the surface of the lands. Increased brittleness is known to strongly enhance wear rates.