Assessment of the Japanese Wear-Reducing Additives.

摘要

Yamazaki and co-workers at the Technical Research and Development Institute of the Japan Defense Agency reported that the addition of five percent alanine or calcium pyroglutamate to gun propellant markedly reduced the erosion rate of the gun propellant. Alanine and calcium pyroglutamate are now denoted the 'Japanese additives'. Thermochemical calculations were made at BRL on the propellant the Japanese investigators tested in the 90 mm tank cannon. The calculations revealed that the addition of alanine or calcium pyroglutamate reduced the flame temperature by 300 to 400K from the initial 3000K; in addition, the propellant's impetus was reduced by nearly five percent. Hence, the alanine and calcium pyroglutamate reduce erosion simply because the propellant has been diluted with a cool-burning material. Similar results could be achieved more simply by reducing the nitroglycerin or nitroguanidine content. An identical test was performed earlier in the US when five percent by weight titanium dioxide was added to M30 propellant. The TiO2 -modified propellant reduced the wear rate of the 105mm M68 tank cannon by a factor of fourteen, but sufficient volume was unavailable in the cartridge case for the modified M30 propellant. (Author)