EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL INVESTIGATIONS ON TRAVELING CHARGE GUN USING LIQUID FUELS

This work presents experimental and numerical studies on a 35mm test gun system using liquid fuels as traveling charge. The firing experimental results indicate that the liquid traveling charge configuration performs better, in terms of increased muzzle velocity, than a conventional propellant charge by approximately 94m/s, corresponding to about 8% velocity increase. A mathematical model for the two-phase flows in the 35mm test gun system using liquid fuels as traveling charge is established and simulated by using the two-phase flow method and computational fluid dynamics technology. The numerical code is well validated by comparing its predictions with the experimental results. The calculated pressure-time profiles and projectile muzzle velocity are in good agreement with the experimental data. The numerical results show that the mathematical model developed gives the correct trend and can provide useful calculated parameters for the structural design of liquid traveling charge.