Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 Part 33 (1/2)

Sometimes the factor 27.68 is employed, corresponding to a density of water of about 62.4 lb per cub. ft., and a temperature 12 C., or 54 F.

With metric units, measuring P in kg., and C in litres, the G.D. = P/C, G.V. = C/P, no factor being required.

From the Table I., or by quadrature of the curve in fig. 9, the work E in foot-tons realized by the expansion of 1 lb of the powder from one gravimetric volume to another is inferred; for if the average pressure is p tons per sq. in., while the gravimetric volume changes from v - [Delta]v to v + [Delta]v, a change of volume of 27.73[Delta]v cub. in., the work done is 27.73p[Delta]v inch-tons, or

(7) [Delta]E = 2.31 p[Delta]v foot-tons;

and the differences [Delta]E being calculated from the observed values of p, a summation, as in the ballistic tables, would give E in a tabular form, and conversely from a table of E in terms of v, we can infer the value of p.

On drawing off a little of the gas from the explosion vessel it was found that a gramme of cordite-gas at 0 C. and standard atmospheric pressure occupied 700 ccs., while the same gas compressed into 5 ccs. at the temperature of explosion had a pressure of 16 tons per sq. in., or 16 2240 / 14.7 = 2440 atmospheres, of 14.7 lb per sq. in.; one ton per sq. in.

being in round numbers 150 atmospheres.

The absolute centigrade temperature T is thence inferred from the gas equation

(8) R = pv / T = p_0v_0/273,

which, with p = 2440, v = 5, p_0 = 1, v_0 = 700, makes T = 4758, a temperature of 4485 C. or 8105 F.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 9.]

In the heading of the 6-in. range table we find the description of the charge.

Charge: weight 13 lb 4 oz.; gravimetric density 55.01/0.504; nature, cordite, size 30.

So that P = 13.25, the G.D. = 0.504, the upper figure 55.01 denoting the specific volume of the charge measured in cubic inches per lb, filling the chamber in a state of gas, the product of the two numbers 55.01 and 0.504 being 27.73; and the chamber capacity C = 13.25 55.01 = 730 cub. in., equivalent to 25.8 in. or 2.15 ft. length of bore, now called the equivalent length of the chamber (E.L.C.).

If the shot was not free to move, the closed chamber pressure due to the explosion of the charge at this G.D. (= 0.5) would be nearly 49 tons per sq. in., much too great to be safe.

But the shot advances during the combustion of the cordite, and the chief problem in interior ballistics is to adjust the G.D. of the charge to the weight of the shot so that the advance of the shot during the combustion of the charge should prevent the maximum pressure from exceeding a safe limit, as shown by the maximum ordinate of the pressure curve CPD in fig. 3.

Suppose this limit is fixed at 16 tons per sq. in., corresponding in Table 1. to a G.D., 0.2; the powder-gas will now occupy a volume b = 3/2 C = 1825 cub. in., corresponding to an advance of the shot 3/2 2.15 = 3.225 ft.

a.s.suming an average pressure of 8 tons per sq. in., the shot will have acquired energy 8 [pi]d^2 3.225 = 730 foot-tons, and a velocity about v = 1020 f/s, so that the time over the 3.225 ft. at an average velocity 510 f/s is about 0.0063 sec.

Comparing this time with the experimental value of the time occupied by the cordite in burning, a start is made for a fresh estimate and a closer approximation.

a.s.suming, however, that the agreement is close enough for practical requirement, the combustion of the cordite may be considered complete at this stage P, and in the subsequent expansion it is a.s.sumed that the gas obeys an adiabatic law in which the pressure varies inversely as some m^{th} power of the volume.

The work done in expanding to infinity from p tons per sq. in. [v.03 p.0278] at volume b cub. in. is then pb/(m - 1) inch-tons, or to any volume B cub. in. is

(9) pb/{m - 1}[1 - (b/B)^{m-1}]

It is found experimentally that m = 1.2 is a good average value to take for cordite; so now supposing the combustion of the charge of the 6-in. is complete in 0.0063 sec., when p = 16 tons per sq. in., b = 1825 cub. in., and that the gas expands adiabatically up to the muzzle, where

(10) B/b = (216 + 25.8)/(2.5 25.8) = 3.75

we find the work realized by expansion is 2826 foot-tons, sufficient to increase the velocity from 1020 to 2250 f/s at the muzzle.

This muzzle velocity is about 5% greater than the 2150 f/s of the range table, so on these considerations we may suppose about 10% of work is lost by friction in the bore: this is expressed by saying that the _factor of effect_ is f = 0.9.

The experimental determination of the time of burning under the influence of the varying pressure and density, and the size of the grain, is thus of great practical importance, as thereby it is possible to estimate close limits to the maximum pressure that will be reached in the bore of a gun, and to design the chamber so that the G.D. of the charge may be suitable for the weight and acceleration of the shot. Empirical formulas based on practical experience are employed for an approximation to the result.

A great change has come over interior ballistics in recent years, as the old black gunpowder has been abandoned in artillery after holding the field for six hundred years. It is replaced by modern explosives such as those indicated on fig. 4, capable of giving off a very much larger volume of gas at a greater temperature and pressure, more than threefold as seen on fig.

8, so that the charge may be reduced in proportion, and possessing the military advantage of being nearly smokeless. (See EXPLOSIVES.)