Definition of Intermediate Ballistics

 Intermediate ballistics is defined as the study of the

transition from internal to external ballistics ,which
occurs in the vicinity of the gun muzzle.
 In the case of recoilless guns; the study is extended to
the region of the recoil jet nozzles.
 The distribution of energy at muzzle exit can be
simplified down to:
The distribution of energy at muzzle exit can be simplified
down to:-
Motion of projectile 30% 75% Released
Energy of propellant gases 45% from gun
Heat retained by gun 25%
 Definition of Intermediate Ballistics

 Roughly three-quarters of the available energy passes

through the muzzle.
 The majority of it is carried by the propellant gases in the
form of heat, pressure & motion
 After the exit of the muzzle the behavior of these gases
has considerable influence on the projectile motion and
gun motion.
 They also give rise to the effects known as blast and flash.
 Definition of Intermediate Ballistics
 At this stage the gas flow takes a distinctive form
 It is worth describing the features of it before
considering the additional effects that a projectile has
as it exits from the muzzle and passes through the gas
flow field.
 The Gas Flow Field Near a Muzzle

 The release of high pressure gas from a muzzle causes

turbulence as it mixes with the ambient air.
 The resultant pressure waves radiate at the speed of sound as
noise.
 The speed of sound through the muzzle gas flow and
surrounding air varies according to the types and state of the
gases present.
 It is roughly given by the equation:
Speed of sound in gas
 The Gas Flow Field Near a Muzzle

 In the vicinity of a gun muzzle during firing, the gas temperature,

pressure and density vary considerably, and so the speed of sound also
varies.
 In addition the mixture of gases produced by the burning propellant is
very much different from that of air.
 The resultant differing value of G produces further variations in these
speed of sound.
 Although a shock wave is simply an intense sound wave
 The Gas Flow Field Near a Muzzle
 The momentary rise of the gas temperature as a shock
wave passes induces an increase in the speed of sound;
 consequently shock waves travel faster than sounds of
lower intensity.
 A shock wave can be defined as a sound wave of sufficient
intensity to self-induce a velocity significantly greater than
that predicted by the speed of sound equation.
 Noise generated by the turbulent mixing of gases near the
muzzle travels both away from the muzzle and towards it.
 If high pressure gas is suddenly released from the muzzle,
which occurs when a projectile exits from a gun
 The Gas Flow Field Near a Muzzle

The outgoing noise primarily takes the form of an abrupt increase in
pressure known as a blast shock wave.

This wave travels away from the gun at speeds slightly greater than
the speed of sound and is heard as a sonic bang.

The ingoing noise forms a shock wave which travels towards the
muzzle against the flow of the gas.

Near the muzzle, the speed of the shock wave may equal the speed
of the gas flow

When this happens the ingoing shock wave makes no headway and
so forms a quasi-static shock wave.

This shock wave is bottle shaped, and is sometimes referred to as a
'bottle shock‘.
 The Gas Flow Field Near a Muzzle
 The curved sides of the bottle shock that extend from the muzzle are
called the barrel shock, and the almost flat base to the bottle shock is
called a Mach disc.
 The size of the bottle shock increases as the outflowing gas velocity
increases.
 As the gas velocity falls the bottle shock shrinks and eventually
disappears into the muzzle.
 Muzzle Gas Flow Field During Firing

 The muzzle gas flow field during firing consists of two

phases:
 The precursor blast field that precedes the projectile
exit from the muzzle and the main blast field that flows
as the high pressure propellant gases are ejected into the
air.
 In recoilless guns, the blast fields are dominated by the
rearward jet of propellant gases from the breech
 Before Projectile Exit

 As the projectile accelerates along the bore, it pushes ahead of

it a column of air augmented by any leakage of propellant
gases past the projectile.
 A shock wave forms just ahead of the projectile, travels along
the bore, and is released as a near-spherical precursor blast
shock at the muzzle.
 Once the outflowing air velocity is sufficient, a small bottle
shock will form about the muzzle, growing in size as the flow
velocity increases.
 Before Projectile Exit

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Shock waves formed by release shock wave formation before projectile exit
high pressure gas from the muzzle
 After Projectile Exit

 Once the projectile gas seal has passed the muzzle, the high
pressure propellant gases will be released into the atmosphere, so
generating a powerful blast shock.
 Initially the blast shock is highly non-spherical as it is distorted
by the presence of the projectile and the high velocity flow of the
propellant gases.
 The propellant gases rapidly expand, accelerating to velocities
much greater than that of the projectile, so that shock waves
form around the base of the projectile, rather as though the
projectile is moving backwards.
• This apparent reverse gas flow provides slight additional
acceleration of the projectile for several calibers distance beyond
the muzzle.
 After Projectile Exit

 Also muzzle gas flow can have an adverse effect on

the accuracy the gun by causing abnormal yawing of
the projectile.
 A new large barrel shock and Mach disc then forms
around the muzzle.
 As the velocity of the outflowing gases slows, the
barrel shock and Mach disc shrink in size; then the
remaining Mach disc enters the muzzle becomes a
rarefaction wave that travel is back along the bore.
 After Projectile Exit
 Providing the projectile is fully supersonic it will in
the meantime pass through the blast shock.
 Owing to its high intensity, the blast shock travels
faster than the speed of sound and so tends to catch
up with the less intense precursor blast shock.
 The figures below show three phases in the
development of the blast field after projectile exit.
After Projectile Exit
 Flash

Flash is the light emitted in the vicinity of the muzzle by the hot
propellant gases and the chemical reactions that flow as the
propellant gases mix with the surrounding air.
 Before projectile exit, a slight pre-flash may occur owing to hot
gases and particles that have leaked past the projectile.
 As the gases rapidly expand and cool they continue to emit a
relatively faint muzzle glow
They are then recompressed as they pass through the Mach disc,
and the consequent high temperature produces intermediate flash.
Ignition of the hot combustible gases, mainly hydrogen and carbon
monoxide, may then flow as they mix with oxygen in the
surrounding air forms secondary flash.
 Flash

 secondary flash does not occur in small caliber weapons.

flash
 Flash

For military purposes flash, and especially secondary flash, is

undesirable at night as it will indicate the positions of guns to
the enemy and will also temporarily blind the gun crews.
The three methods of flash suppression are
muzzle devices, choice of propellant and propellant
additives.
Flash suppression devices are usually designed to suppress
the intermediate flash.
The reduction of intermediate flash can also suppress the
ignition of the secondary flash that occurs in the case of large
caliber guns.
 Flash
 The simplest form of suppressor is the flash hider:
this is a device which surrounds the primary flash and
hides it from all directions except the line of fire
 Modern flash suppressor devices are often referred to
as flash hiders, but their real purpose is to disperse or
break up the barrel shock and Mach disc so that the
intermediate flash is reduced.
 Flash suppressor
• The three types of flash suppressor devices commonly
used are the conical tube, slotted tube, and bar type.
• The slotted tube and bar type employ a number of
slots or prongs protruding forward around the muzzle.
• conical is usually chosen to avoid oscillations of the
muzzle gas flow that can interfere with the motion of
the projectile.
 Choice of propellant and propellant additives
In large caliber guns, the most effective method of secondary
flash reduction is to use a propellant which evolves a large
proportion of inert nitrogen gas at relatively low temperatures.
 Such a technique will dilute the combustible faction of the
propellant gases and reduce the overall temperature.
 It is achieved by triple-base propellants owing to their large
proportion of nitrogen rich nitro guanidine
Flash can also be reduced by the addition of potassium and
sodium salts to the propellant, especially potassium sulphate or
nitrate, potassium cryolite and sodium cryolite.
 Choice of propellant and propellant additives

• Their action is not fully understood, but is know to

inhibit the formation and burning of hydrogen gas.
• However these additives are generally not used
because they increase the amount of smoke
produced which provides a strong unwelcome firing
signature in daytime.
 Blast

The term blast encompasses the effects produced by gas pressure waves in
both intermediate and terminal ballistics.
 The most familiar feature of blast from a gun is the noise produced by the
release of high pressure propellant gases into the atmosphere when the
gun is fired.
Close to the gun, the blast can be sufficiently intense to cause hearing
damage and, in extreme cases, injury to lungs and other soft tissues.
There are two main sources of muzzle blast: blast shock waves and flash
blast.
The sudden release of high pressure propellant gases that flows the
projectile muzzle exit generates an inevitable blast shock wave.
 Blast
 Flash blast is produced by the rapid heating and consequent
expansion of gases within the secondary flash
 it is most prominent in large caliber guns, and can contribute up
to half of the total noise on firing.
 Both of these types of blast cause a rise in the gas and air
pressure in the vicinity of the muzzle.
 The intensity of blast, sound and noise is measured in decibels, a
quantity which relates the overpressure produced by a sound to a
reference pressure of 2*10-5 Pascal's, where 1 Pascal
equals 1 N/m2 .
 Blast

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 Blast

 The blast shock from small-caliber guns can be suppressed

by so-called silencers attached to the muzzle.
 A silencer never totally silences a weapon, it just reduces
the intensity of the muzzle blast
 consequently silencers are often known as moderators.
 The three methods of blast suppression commonly
employed in silencers are shown below.

Methods of blast suppression

 Muzzle brake

 Muzzle brake is a device which generate a forward thrust

that partially counteracts the recoiling motion of the gun.
 An efficient muzzle brake can reduce recoil by over 50%.
 Though such muzzle brakes are complex, costly and, as
has been indicated, can damage hearing.
 Practical muzzle brakes reduce recoil by about 25% by
deflecting some of the gas flow sideways rather than
backwards.
 Muzzle brake

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principle of muzzle operation muzzle brake