Prestressed Carbon Fiber Composite Overwrapped Gun Tube.

摘要

Traditionally there were two issues with composite jackets: the coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch between the steel substrate and the composite jacket causing a gap, and the lack of favorable prestress in the jacket. Dealing with these issues greatly complicated the manufacturing process to the point where mass-producing the barrels would have been problematic at best. By using a thermoplastic resin, a cure on the fly process and winding under tension the manufacturability of the barrels has been greatly improved, the gap has been eliminated, and a favorable prestress has been achieved. A 120mm barrel has been manufactured using this process with IM7 fibers in a PEEK matrix and successfully test fired. This paper will present the design, manufacturing, test firing and fatigue testing of this barrel.