See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/334751289

Numerical investigation of dynamic interaction with projectile and harmonic

behaviour for T-finned machine gun barrels

Article  in  Defence Technology · July 2019

DOI: 10.1016/j.dt.2019.07.018

CITATIONS READS

2 249

1 author:

Ekansh Chaturvedi
Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal
7 PUBLICATIONS   6 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Tunable muzzle brake View project

Short recoil operating mechanism for small arms View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Ekansh Chaturvedi on 16 May 2020.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Defence Technology 16 (2020) 460e469

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Defence Technology
journal homepage: www.keaipublishing.com/en/journals/defence-technology

Numerical investigation of dynamic interaction with projectile and

harmonic behaviour for T-finned machine gun barrels
Ekansh Chaturvedi*
Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal 462003, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Machine gun barrels differ from their rifle counterparts in terms of profile. To support high rates of
Received 30 May 2019 sustained fire, machine gun barrels are made thicker in order to dissipate more heat and maintain their
Received in revised form flexural rigidity and thus accuracy, but on other hand they also contribute in weight addition to weapon.
3 July 2019
This investigation deals with comparison between a conventional machine gun barrel and an improved
Accepted 29 July 2019
innovative design having T-fins, both having same weight and chambered in 5.56
45 NATO ammuni-
Available online 29 July 2019
tion, to compare their structural and harmonic characteristics which were parameterized by factors such
as modal spectrum, directional deformation at muzzle ends during a single shot fire and harmonic
Keywords:
FSHP
behaviour at corresponding range of exciting frequencies. The solid models of both the barrels having
Machine guns same weight, were created using Solidworks. The continuous input data functions were generated by
Pseudo-I section MATLAB using the field tested discreet data points. The generated velocity-distance functions were
Second order mesh converted into time dependent functions using integration algorithms to calculate transient parameters
Transient behaviour such as time steps, excitation frequency range, angle of rotation of projectile and its angular velocity. The
dynamic condition simulated the varying nature of forces due to eccentricity in projectile and this data
was fed to a time step study using ANSYS transient structural work bench followed by modal and har-
monic analysis. The results showed a significant reduction in muzzle end deformation which thus proved
that the T-finned barrel, although had same weight as that of the conventional one, but had better
structural and harmonic characteristics, and hence it would inherit better firing accuracy.
© 2020 China Ordnance Society. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi
Communications Co. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction manufacturing tolerances, such as the straightness of the barrel

The issue of vibrations in barrels has always been a consider-
ation of utmost importance as far as arms design is concerned. The
amplitude attained by the end of the vibrating barrel directly in-
fluences the accuracy of the gun. Particularly, this problem becomes
further magnified in case of machine guns because they are built to
operate on high firing rates for longer durations, as compared to
assault rifle/rifles chambered in same ammunition. The machine
gun barrels, therefore, have a thicker profile than their rifle/assault
rifle counterparts in order to maintain flexural rigidity and to
dissipate the tremendous amount of heat thus generated. The fac-
tors [1,2] that influence the accuracy of barrels are the
* 43, Pushpdeep enclave Bodla paschimpuri road, Agra, Uttar Pradesh 282007
India.
E-mail address: ekanshchat96@gmail.com.
Peer review under responsibility of China Ordnance Society
bore, uniformity of the geometry of the barrel, the variations in the
width of lands and in the depth of grooves and also the surface
finish. These effects get further amplified at higher temperatures as
the end sag in barrels increases [3,4].
Kathe et al. performed a barrel study on hybrid electromagnetic/
gas gun [5], and concluded that the barrel vibrations are have a
magnified impact in recoil loading guns in which, unlike gas launch,
the load is applied at the muzzle end rather than at breech end. This
effectively simulates a situation of barrel under columnar
compression resulting in phenomenon called barrel whip. The
interaction of projectile with barrel, as explained in the following
section, is basically a moving mass problem on a cantilever beam,
which indeed is the barrel itself. The accurate solution of moving
mass problems has been facilitated via the use of computational
methods, and the study [6] (2010) has compared numerical
methods for response of beams, while the Ataei et al. [7] and
Nikhoo et al. [8] have studied the modal characteristics of beams
under the effect of a moving mass.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2019.07.018
2214-9147/© 2020 China Ordnance Society. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-
ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 E. Chaturvedi / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 460e469
Fig. 1. Conventional machine gun barrel 5.56
45 mm [10].
The moving load problem is also vital for defense industries in
order to provide an accurate shooting for Cannons, and the study by
Tawfik [9] (2008) is valuable for the effects of an unbalanced mass
of a projectile on the vibration of a barrel.
Therefore, the problem regarding barrel's current design,
considering the heat dissipation, weight and rigidity as factors of
primary importance, may be split into two parts: the barrel requires
modification to increase dissipation of heat and the barrel requires
to be stiffened further for retaining accuracy; and these two
problems need to be solved without increment in weight.
The presented solution proposes to reduce the base diameter of
middle portion of a conventional barrel shown in Fig. 1 [10] and to
add even number of T cross sectioned fins along that length as
shown in Fig. 2, which has same weight as that of conventional
barrel, i.e. 1042.93 g. Incorporating the even number of fins would
ensure that two fins are diametrically opposite to each other and
this formation would formulate a pseudo-I section. Since the I-
section has the greatest section modulus per unit weight, and thus
the flexural rigidity, it may be incorporated in a feasible manner to
enhance the flexural rigidity of barrels. Moreover, the increment in
surface area subjected to atmosphere due to fins would improve
the heat dissipation capability of the barrel.
A 2018 based investigation [10] found out that the introduction
of T-fins enhanced the heat dissipation capability and stiffness of
the barrel along with reduction in weight, although the aspects of
harmonic excitations were not covered. Hence, investigation of the
modal spectrum of refined structures becomes necessary to declare
a particular design superior over another. The study [11] conducted
Fig. 2. Modified T finned machine gun barrel 5.56
45 mm.
461
over tank barrels portrayed the consequences of vibrations in long
barrels. This concluded that the gun system having a longer barrel if
not controlled properly, may deflect up to 6 times of the one with
the short barrel and may result in poor first shot hit probability
(FSHP).
Pyka et al. [12] experimented with a fiber reinforced composite
barrel, constituting carbon fiber as reinforcing element. Though it
was found to have increased the stiffness significantly but using
carbon fiber composite for mass production of barrels is still an
expensive methodology. Moreover, stability of carbon fiber com-
posite at higher temperatures is a significant factor when put to use
with gun barrels as it is heavily dependent on the epoxy types used
as matrix. Where most epoxies start degrading around 300 C
(Epidian 5 mentioned in Ref. [12] has a glass transition temperature
171 C [13]), steel is undoubtedly more suitable material for such
applications.
Considering the dynamic nature of interior ballistics; the geo-
metric configuration of the projectile and grooves, twist rate in
particular, also decide the magnitude and directions of forces acting
over the barrel. For simplification, the two major forces that act
over barrel are the weight of the projectile and centrifugal force
generated by mass eccentricity present in it, which being a
manufacturing aspect, shall not be ignored. Thus, this investigation
intends to cover all the aforementioned dynamic aspects through a
simplified methodology which uses curve-fitting techniques and
FEM simulations.
462 E. Chaturvedi / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 460e469

2. Methodology and analysis respect to time and hence this situation simplifies to a moving mass
load problem as shown in Fig. 3 [17]. The problem further com-
An ingenious attempt to reduce the gun barrel vibrations in a plicates because of presence of a manufacturing defect called ec-
120 mm bore barrel by Esen and Koc [14] utilized a passive gun centricity in the bullet because the projectile rotates along the
vibration absorber, optimized by a generic algorithm code and the rifling grooves present in the barrel, as a reason which imparts
results were compared with those obtained by proposed FEM centrifugal force on the walls of inner surface [15,17]. It is to be kept
model. Though the methodology of analysis itself is a novel one but in mind that this force is constantly changing its direction and
indeed a complex one as well and showed an improvement in ac- magnitude as well due to accelerated motion.
curacy only by 0.5%. Hence, this study adopts FEM approach which Setting gun barrel ¼ l, cross-sectional area ¼ A, material den-
is easier to implement. sity ¼ r, and flexural rigidity ¼ EI, and projectile mass ¼ m, damping
Yet another very important analysis conducted by Esen and Koc, attenuation coefficient ¼ H; angular velocity ¼ u and eccentric-
again on 120 mm bore barrel [15]. The dynamic interaction be- ity ¼ r; flexural vibration equations of the gun barrel along Y axis
tween a 120 mm smooth-bore tank barrel modelled as a cantilever and Z axis respectively are:
beam and an accelerating projectile during firing was presented.
The inter-action was modelled using a new FEM approach that took
v4 y vy v2 y h i
into account the projectile's inertia, Coriolis, and centripetal forces EI þ 2H rA þ rA 2 ¼ mg þ mru2 sinðutÞ dðx  vtÞ
and the horizontal and inclined positions of the barrel. The mass, vx 4 vt vx

exit velocity and acceleration effects of the projectile on the dy-
¼ Fy t
namics of the barrel were investigated. The effects of the pro-
jectile's inertia, and Coriolis and centripetal forces were evaluated (1)
as well. Furthermore, the tip displacements at different firing an-
gles were determined by transferring the mass, stiffness and

damping matrices of the barrel with the addition of the instanta- v4 z vz v2 z h i
neous property matrices of the projectile from a local coordinate to EI þ 2H rA þ rA ¼ mr u 2
cosð u tÞ d ðx  vtÞ ¼ Fz t
vx4 vt vx2
the global Cartesian coordinate with the aid of transformation
matrices. Finally, the barrel vibrations caused by the successive (2)
firings were evaluated under different firing scenarios. Where u represents the angular velocity at time t and r is the
It is this particular research work [15] which inspires the pre- eccentricity radius. It is to be noted here that the term dðx vtÞ
sented study, which although has been purposefully conducted for represents Dirac delta function associated with Eq. (1) and Eq. (2)
evaluating and comparing the existing and modified designs of [18,19].
machine gun barrels in particular, due to the reasons presented The Dirac delta function (also known as the impulse function)
earlier in the introduction section. However, study [15] assumes an can be defined as the limiting form of the unit pulse dT(t) as the
average constant acceleration of projectile, which, as can be duration T approaches zero [20]. As the duration T of dT (t) de-
observed in the sub-section 2.2, is not the most accurate approach. creases, the amplitude of the pulse increases to maintain the
Hence, to account for a non constant acceleration, a resourceful requirement of unit area under the function, and
technique of curve fitting was adopted for this study which has
been explained in sub-section 2.2.
This analysis was based on input data covered from a field test dðtÞ ¼ lim dT ðtÞ (3)
T/0
which was conducted by Dater and Wong [16] for 5.56
45 M855
ammunition to plot its performance characteristics such as accel- This function may be analytically solved by modal expansion
eration, velocity and pressure decay across the barrel length. method [18,19] or Duhamel's convolution integral [20,21], both
This particular study intends to simulate the vibrational char- being applicable but they require certain assumptions to be
acteristics of a 16 inch barrel chambered in 5.56
45 MIL-STD brought in consideration which might not give accurate results. For
NATO ammunition, and therefore the corresponding relevant data instance, another study conducted on tank barrels [17] assumed
was taken from the referenced study. projectile to be moving inside the barrel with a constant acceler-
ation and the equation was resolved to components of acceleration
as follows:
2.1. Dynamics of barrel-projectile interaction

d2 yðx; tÞ v2 yðx; tÞ v2 yðx; tÞ v2 yðx; tÞ vy

A machine gun barrel can be assumed as a cantilever Euler beam
fixed supported at the breech end. The mass of projectile m and
rotational inertia J is continuously changing its position with
Fig. 3. Schematic diagram representing the problem [17].
¼ þ 2v þ v2 þ a (4)
dt 2 vt 2 vxvt vx2 vt
Where, first item on the right of Eq. (4) is the convected accel-
eration of the gun barrel, the second item is Coriolis acceleration
caused by the moving load, the third item is centripetal accelera-
tion, and the fourth item is normal component of acceleration. The
same mathematical modelling, considering this problem as that of
a moving mass one, was also used by Esen et al. [22], where they
combined the FEM with ANN (artificial neural network) to resolve
the non linearity in the problem.
The expressions on the right hand sides of Eq. (1) and Eq. (2)
represent the forces resulting from projectile's interaction with
the barrel. However, these forces not only produce deformations in
the barrel, as governed by Eq. (1) and Eq. (2), but also work as
excitation elements to produce vibrations which can be repre-
sented as the general equation as follows [15,22]:
 E. Chaturvedi / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 460e469 463

  2    
v s vs
M 2þ C þ K s ¼ FðtÞ (5)
vt vt

where;

FðtÞ ¼ F y ðtÞ þ F z ðtÞ (6)

s¼xþy (7)

where [M], [C] and [K] are, respectively, the instantaneous overall
mass, damping and stiffness matrices. Besides, F(t) is the overall
external force vector and s is the overall displacement vector of the
system at time t.
Here the beam mass matrix is evaluated by

ð1
  Fig. 4. Experimentally plotted velocity variation with barrel length [16].
M ¼ rAfNðxÞgT fNðxÞg dx (8)
0
Table 1
Values taken from Fig. 4 corresponding to a 16 inch barrel (in SI units).
where N(x) are the beam interpolation polynomials and T is the
total instantaneous kinetic energy of the bullet-barrel system, Barrel length covered/mm Velocity/(m$s1)
when bullet is at a position x from the origin of motion [9]. The 0 0.0
effective bullet mass, m, matrix is evaluated at the bullet position 127 563.9504
as: 177.8 669.7073
228.6 752.6043
279.4 806.3155
½Mbullet  ¼ mfNðxÞgT fNðxÞg (9) 330.2 826.9807
381 835.6511
while the beam stiffness matrix is evaluated by: 406.4 854.4021

ð1
 
K ¼ EIfNxx ðxÞgT fNxx ðxÞg dx (10)
0

The effective geometric bullet stiffness matrix is evaluated at the

bullet position as:
h i
Kbullet ¼ mv2 fNxx ðxÞgT fNxx ðxÞg (11)

For the obtaining the matrices of [M], [K], and [C], one can
determine the elemental property matrices; and then can assemble
them properly using the conventional FEM approach. For a detailed
understanding of determination of matrices, one may refer to the
study conducted by Esen et al. [23]. where, a similar mathematical
model as constructed in this work was resolved into 2-D transverse
forces and corresponding displacements were calculated by
applying FEM. It is to be noted that the study [23] does consider
rotating moment imparted by the projectile over the barrel. How-
ever, this has been ignored in this study as 5.56
45 mm ammu- Fig. 5. Velocity-length plot as generated function.
nition is a very small projectile as compared to 120 mm projectile
used in study [23] and hence the rotational moment is of negligible
generating input function, seven points as tabulated in Table 1 were
magnitude to be of any significance as far as the purpose of this
taken corresponding to a 16 inch (406.4 mm) barrel and a five de-
investigation is concerned.
gree curve was fit using MATLAB, as shown in Fig. 5, where velocity
Regarding the assumptions particular to considering a constant
is in meter per second and length covered in barrel is in
average acceleration of projectile by Refs. [15,22and23] the data
millimeters.
plotted in Ref. [16] does not entail the aforementioned assumption
The five degree polynomial function, as projected in Fig. 5
for internal ballistics of firearms and hence the dependence of ve-
turned out to be as follows,
locity of projectile over the length of distance covered within the
barrel requires some specified function to generate subsequent
data for simulation.
vðxÞ ¼ 0:2301289x5  10:10302598417x4
þ 168:52461410282x3  1462:3753947685x2 (12)
2.2. Input data generation through MATLAB þ 8658:32628687446x þ 0:0018613354457193

Fig. 4 shows the plot referred from Dater and Wong's study [16] Where, x is the distance covered by bullet from the breech end
relating velocity acquired by the projectile to the barrel length. For where the bullet resides at the time t ¼ 0. The programming of
464 E. Chaturvedi / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 460e469

dynamic model simulation requires specific time points to deter-

mine the angle of rotation of bullet by that time and hence the
relative position of the actual centre of mass of the eccentric bullet.
By the general equation of motion, time function was derived from
Eq. (12) as follows,

ðl
dx
t¼ (13)
vðxÞ
0

Eq. (8) provided the velocity curve, i.e. variation of distance x

with time t as shown in Fig. 6.
The values thus obtained from Eq. (13) were further used to
generate v-t characteristics as shown in Fig. 7. The v-t equation
turned out to be as follows:
Fig. 8. a-t characteristics for 5.56
45 mm ammunition.
5 4
vðtÞ ¼ 42245938544438894592t  309435274003773760t
6320833698436901t 3 843387262243201t 2 projectiles. The drop in acceleration can be accounted by the
þ 
8 1024 randomness associated to the highly turbulent and fast burning
632914751894417t 6997973073871153 propellant combustion inside the barrel.
þ 
2097152 9007199254740992 The spin provided to the bullet by the rifling grooves depends
(14) over the twist rate. The standardized twist rate for a 62 grain
(4.02 g) 5.56
45 mm ammunition is 1 complete revolution in 8
It can be clearly observed from Fig. 7 that the slope, i.e. accel-
inches of barrel travel [24]. The RPM of the spinning bullet at a time
eration (a), of projectile varies drastically with time as shown in
t would further depend on the linear velocity of the bullet v as
Fig. 8, and hence the assumption of considering acceleration a
follows [14]:
constant value [17] may not be a very precise approach, specifically
when dealing with comparatively low mass high velocity 12
RPM ¼ v

60 (15)
h

where, v is velocity in feet per second and h is the twist in inches.

Hence the angular velocity u varies with RPM as follows:

2p
RPM
u¼ (16)
60
This gives,

24pv
u¼ (17)
h
Considering h as 8 inches, we have

uðtÞ ¼ 3pvðtÞ (18)

For determining the exact position of the centre of mass at a
time t, it seems necessary to calculate the specific angle W the bullet
Fig. 6. x-t characteristics for 5.56
45 mm ammunition. has turned by that time. The function W is derived as follows:

ðt
qðtÞ ¼ uðtÞdt (19)
0

where, uðtÞ is the function derived from Eq. (18).

Fig. 7. v-t characteristics for 5.56
45 mm ammunition.
The integrations were performed using in-built MATLAB algo-
rithm and the resulted function determining W in radians with time
t is shown in Fig. 9.
Subsequently, the lateral and longitudinal components of forces
imparted by bullet to the barrel, as represented at the right side of
Eq. (1) and Eq. (2), were calculated individually corresponding to
the seven distance (or time) domains as tabulated in Table 1. The
eccentricity r was assumed to be 0.03% of the actual radius as a
result of general standard deviation [25] and the bullet was
assumed to be a standard 62 grain (4.02 g) projectile. These forces
are tabulated in Table 2 as follows:
The significance of minus sign before the values of forces has
been further clarified in section 2.3. The generated data as
 E. Chaturvedi / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 460e469 465

Fig. 10. Fixed support provided at the breech end.

controlled data input consisted of seven steps each distributed in

time domain according to Table 2. The solid models of barrels had
been provided with separately interacting solid protrusions over
Fig. 9. W-t characteristics for 5.56
45 mm ammunition.
the bore surface as shown in Fig. 11, for imparting forces as tabu-
lated in Table 2. These surfaces were discreetly modelled such that
Table 2 they are away from each other by the distance as tabulated in
Forces imparted by bullet's interaction with barrel. Table 2.
Time t/s Position x/mm FZ/N FY/N
Fig. 12 clarifies the significance of minus signs in Table 2. The
coordinate system used in the software demands force components
0 0 0 0.04
to be aligned with it. Hence, the minus sign signifies the opposite
0.001533 127 10.2033 0.42615
0.001616 177.8 10.6268 9.82458 direction to the arrow as shown in Fig. 12.
0.001687 228.6 0.7395 18.0863 The assumptions that were considered while building this
0.001752 279.4 14.2297 15.6436 simulation are mentioned as follows:
0.001814 330.2 21.7334 1.06393
0.001875 381 16.6937 15.25882
0.001905 406.4 9.879 21.1724
1. The effect of pressure variation was ignored as the study focuses
on bullet-barrel interaction.
2. The axis of bullet was assumed to be parallel to the barrel axis at
all the moments of time [30].
discussed in the preceding section was fed to transient structural
work bench in ANSYS multi-physics simulation software.

2.3. Modelling and simulation

The solid models of both the barrels shown in Figs. 1 and 2 were
built in Solidworks modelling software. The weight of both the
barrels was kept same, i.e. 1042.93 g with AISI 4340 annealed steel
[10]. Table 3 shows the mechanical properties of the material.
The solid models were transferred to ANSYS modal workbench
to identify the first 12 mode-shifts as their structural characteristics
[26]. The second order mesh [27] thus generated for both the
models consisted of 103404 nodes and 342414 elements. In order to
achieve precision, mesh refinement was specifically applied near
the muzzle end of the barrels. As an initial pre-requisite, both the
Fig. 11. Interacting protruding surfaces modelled for applying stepped forces.
barrel models were provided a fixed support at the breech end as
exemplified in Fig. 10 with a conventional thick profile barrel
[28,29]. The results of the modal analysis have been discussed in
depth in section 3.
Proceeding to the transient structural analysis, the step

Table 3
Properties of AISI 4340 annealed steel [10].

Properties Values Units

11
Elastic modulus 2.05
10 N/m2
Poisson's ratio 0.285 N/A
Shear modulus 8
1010 N/m2
Mass density 7850 Kg/m3
Tensile strength 7.45
108 N/m2
Yield strength 4.7
108 N/m2
Thermal expansion coefficient 1.23
105 /K
Thermal conductivity 44.5 W/(m$K)
Specific heat 475 J/(Kg$K)
Fig. 12. Default co-ordinate system of the software.
466 E. Chaturvedi / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 460e469

3. The step division into 7 domains would form an almost

continuous time dependent dynamic load, although it can be
made more precise by increasing the no. of steps.
4. Effect of gas block, gas tube and other gun accessories were
neglected.
5. The gravity acted in negative Y direction.
6. The bullet's torsional reaction over the barrel was assumed
negligible and thus was not considered.

At last, proceeding to the harmonic analysis, the simulation pre-

requisites were the excitation frequency range lied within slightly
extended range of 600 Hze1500 Hz, which corresponds to the
range of first 6 modes of vibrations, which are most dominant in the
case of barrels [31] under the force of gravity and transient load Fig. 14. Longitudinal deformation in conventional barrel.
together combined; because according to Dirac's function, the
continuously changing force vector is made up of many infinitesi-
mally small impulses [21]. It is important to mention that the
damping effects were ignored as they would be irrelevant for what
this particular study intends to find.

3. Results

3.1. Modal analysis results

Fig. 13 shows the first 12 modal frequencies of plain conven-

tional barrel and modified T-finned barrel respectively. It could be
clearly visualized from Fig. 13 that the simulated modal spectrum of
T-finned barrel had a forward shift from that of the conventional
barrel.

3.2. Transient structural analysis results Fig. 15. Longitudinal deformation in T-finned barrel.

The transient analysis results exhibited a clear comparison be-

tween the deciding parameters of both the barrel models. These
deciding parameters include directional deformation at the muzzle
end along lateral and longitudinal directions, and the equivalent
Von Misses stress contours over the barrel bodies.
Fig. 14 and Fig. 15 show the directional deformation along Y axis
for conventional thick profile barrel and the modified T-finned
barrel respectively. It can be clearly observed that the muzzle end of
the T-finned barrel deformed to a far lesser extent than that of
conventional barrel. The percentage reduction D can be calculated
as follows:
conventional barrel and T-finned barrel respectively.
Following Eq. (13), the reduction in deformation percentage is,
0:010507  0:00023484
Dy ¼
100 ¼ 98:364% (21)
0:010507
The solution (21) clearly shows that the reduction in barrel
deformation is exceptional in case of modified T-finned barrel.
Similarly, Fig. 16 and Fig. 17 show the muzzle end deviation in
conventional and modified barrel along Z axis respectively.
Following Eq. (20) again, the reduction in lateral deviation is.

Dc  Dt 0:0004421  0:00034011
D¼
100 (20) Dz ¼
100 ¼ 23:071% (22)
Dc 0:0004421
where, Dc and Dt represent muzzle end deformation in

Fig. 13. Modal spectrum distribution of the barrels. Fig. 16. Lateral muzzle deviation in conventional barrel.
 E. Chaturvedi / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 460e469 467

Fig. 20. FRF response for conventional barrel along Y axis.

Fig. 17. Lateral muzzle deviation in T-finned barrel.

Fig. 21. FRF response for T-finned barrel along Y axis.

along Y axis for conventional and T-finned barrels respectively.

It was observed that maximum amplitude of 0.017942 mm in
conventional barrel occurred at 1100 Hz (dominant mode) and the
Fig. 18. Equivalent stresses in conventional barrel. corresponding value of 0.001094 mm in T-finned barrel at 1200 Hz.
Therefore, a shift by 100 Hz in right direction was observed.

Fig. 22. FRF response for conventional barrel along Z axis.

Fig. 19. Equivalent stresses in T-finned barrel.

From solution (22), a 23% reduction in muzzle deviation may

also be considered as a significant, if not drastic, improvement in
barrel design for retaining the precision while firing.
Fig. 18 and Fig. 19 show the Von Misses stress contours over the
conventional and T-finned barrel bodies respectively. A comparison
at a glance clarifies that the modified barrel stressed lesser than the
conventional thick barrel.

3.3. Harmonic analysis results

Fig. 20 and Fig. 21 show the FRF (frequency response function) Fig. 23. FRF response for T-finned barrel along Z axis.
468 E. Chaturvedi / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 460e469
Similarly, Figs. 22 and 23 show the FRF response along Z axis for
conventional and T-finned barrels respectively.
Along Z axis, it was observed that maximum amplitude of
0.00015449 mm in conventional barrel and 0.000040461 mm in T-
finned barrel occurred at 1100 Hz. Though no shift was observed in
dominant modes but a significant reduction in amplitude of vi-
bration, which directly influences accuracy, was observed.
4. Conclusions
1. The results were in found to be in agreement with the ex-
pectations from the improved design of a machine gun bar-
rel. A significant improvement in dynamic structural and
harmonic properties was observed in T-finned barrels.
2. For simplifying the simulation setting procedure and
reducing calculation time, the geometry was simplified and
the effects of gas-block, gas-tube, muzzle devices etc, were
not taken into consideration. The major cause of vibrations
was assumed to be the interaction between bullet and the
barrel.
3. Due to factors affecting manufacturability, the extension of
fins was halted at the mid length, i.e. where the gas block
attaches (in case of a gas operated weapon). Results may
indeed vary with different lengths of fin extension.
4. The eccentricity of bullets was taken into consideration. The
magnitude of forces thus calculated showed that it is indeed
a critical parameter for accurate firing.
5. Barrels were modelled such that they had same weight for
same material. Nevertheless, the T-finned barrel, forming a
pseudo-I section proved to be a better alternative for
retaining accuracy and precision in barrels; subjected to
same loading conditions.
6. Figs. 14e17 showed that there was a quantitatively signifi-
cant reduction in muzzle end deviation, which indicates an
improved FSHP figure of the weapon with T-finned barrels.
7. The FRF responses showed that the dominant excitation
spectrum lied between 1000 Hz and 1250 Hz. This showed
that barrels are more likely to fail between these ranges of
harmonic loading; although machine guns chambered in
medium sized cartridge such as 5.56
45 mm never operate
at such firing rates.
8. Harmonic analysis also conveyed the superior design of T-
finned barrel, indicated with considerably less deviation.
9. The stress analysis results also indicated that the T-finned
barrel gets an edge over the conventional barrel, which
further indicates a longer structural life. All these structural
improvements suggest a very interesting point that for
acquiring same characteristics as of a conventional barrel, a
lighter T-finned barrel would be required; which would
further result in a lighter and more effective weapon.
10. Figs. 1 and 2 show visible differences in barrel profiles. A
keen eye may quickly estimate the differences in
manufacturing processes required to fabricate the two types
of barrels. Hence, a detailed DFM (design for manufacturing)
study would further be required to bring the modified T-
finned barrel as a commercial success.
Acknowledgements
This research work was a result of insight and expertise pro-
vided by Mr. Ian McCollum who is the Editor at ForgottenWeapons.
com; and the Technical Advisor at Association of Firearm and Tool
mark Examiners (AFTE). The author expresses his deep gratitude to
Mr. McCollum and Faxon Firearms for assisting in the research by
providing valuable knowledge through ForgottenWeapons.com,
though they may or may not agree with all of the interpretations
and conclusions of this paper.
References
[1] Lilja D. What makes a rifle barrel accurate? [Online]. [Cited 2018-12-14].
Available from: http://www.riflebarrels.com/articles/barrel_making/rifle_
barrel_accurate.htm.
[2] Vítek R. Influence of the small arm barrel bore length on the angle of jump
dispersion. In: Proceedings of the 7th WSEAS international conference on
system science and simulation in engineering ICOSSSE’08. Wisconsin: WSEAS,
ISBN 978-960-474-027-7. p. 114e8.
[3] Wu Yonghai. Analysis of thick-walled cylinder temperature field based on the
thermal-fluid-solid coupling. Res J Appl Sci Eng Technol Jan 2013;5(16):
4094e100.
[4] Rojacz H, Varga M, Winkelmann H. Deformation Mechanisms at Elevated
Temperatures: influence of momenta and energy in the single impact test. Int
J Mech Mechatron Eng 2013;7(5).
[5] Kathe E, Gast R, Vottis P, Cipollo M. Analysis of a launch induced motion of a
hybrid electromagnetic/gas gun. IEEE Trans Magn Jan 1997;33(issue 1):
178e83.
[6] Bulut Hasan, Kelesoglu Omer. Comparing numerical methods for response of
beams with moving mass. Adv Eng Software July 2010;41(7e8):976e80.
[7] Ataei Mohammadzade. Modal shape identification of the vibration data of
bridge dynamic test using fuzzy clustering. Expert Syst Appl August
2010;37(8):5813e7.
[8] Rofooei FR, Nikkhoo A. Application of active piezoelectric patches in con-
trolling the dynamic response of a thin rectangular plate under a moving
mass. Int J Solids Struct 2009;46(11e12):2429e43.
[9] Tawfik Mohammad. Dynamics and stability of stepped gun-barrels with
moving bullets. Adv Acoust Vib 2008:6. https://doi.org/10.1155/2008/483857.
Article ID 483857.
[10] Chaturvedi Ekansh. Investigating T-finned Barrels for Machine Guns:
enhancement in heat dissipation and flexural rigidity along with weight
reduction. Adv Mil Technol 2019;14(1):59e69. https://doi.org/10.3849/
aimt.1254.
[11] Dursun Tolga, et al. A review on the gun barrel vibrations and control for a
main battle tank. Def Technol 2017;(13):353e9.
[12] Pyka Dariusz, Bocian Miroslaw, Jamroziak Krzysztof, Kosobudzki Mariusz,
Kulisiewicz Maciej. Concept of a gun barrel based on the layer composite
reinforced with continuous filament. In: AIP conference proceedings 2078,
020043; March 2019. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5092046.
[13] Ramon Eric, Sguazzo Carmen, Pedro M, P Moreira G. A review of recent
research on bio-based epoxy systems for engineering applications and po-
tentialities in aviation sector; Aerospace MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com.
[14] Esen Ismail, Koç Mehmet Akif. Optimization of a passive vibration absorber for
a barrel using the genetic algorithm. Expert Syst Appl 2015;42:894e905.
[15] Esen Ismail, Koç Mehmet Akif. Dynamic Response of a 120 mm smoothbore
tank barrel during horizontal and inclined firing positions. Lat Am J Solid
Struct 2015;13(10):1968e95.
[16] Dater Philip h, Wong Jason M. Effects of barrel length on bore pressure,
Projectile velocity and Sound measurement. WA: Firearms law group Seattle;
2010.
[17] Zhao Yang, Zhou Qizheng, Yue Pengfei. Research on vibration characteristics
of gun barrel based on contact model. AIP Conf Proc 2017;1829:020017.
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4979749.
[18] Sethi Mohan Charan. Dynamic response of beam under moving mass. Thesis.
NIT-Rourkela Department of Mechanical Engineering; 2012.
[19] Paul A. Lagace; Vibrations of continuous systems. Aeronautics & Astronautics
and Engineering Systems; MIT; 2002.
[20] Peter Avitabile; Mechanical vibrations [Chapter 4] (22. 457/550); Mechanical
engineering department; University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
[21] The Dirac delta function and convolution; 2.14 analysis and design of feed-
back control systems. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of
Mechanical Engineering; 2002.
[22] Koç MA, Esen I, _ Çay Y. Tip deflection determination of a barrel for the effect of
an accelerating projectile before firing using finite element and artificial
neural network combined algorithm. Lat Am J Solid Struct 2016;13(10):
1968e95.
[23] Koc MA, Esen I, Cay Y. Dynamic analysis of gun barrel vibrations due to effect
of an unbalanced projectile considering 2-D transverse displacements of
barrel tip using a 3-D element technique. Lat Am J Solid Struct 2018;15(9).
https://doi.org/10.1590/1679-78254972.
[24] Wikipedia 5.56
45 mm NATO.
[25] Celmins Ilmars. Accuracy and jump measurements of the 5.56-mm M855
cartridge; weapons and materials research directorate. Army Research Labo-
ratory; May 2011.
_
[26] Büyükcgvelek Firat. Analysis and control of gun barrel vibrations. December:
A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School of Natural And Applied Sciences Of
Middle East Technical University; 2011.
[27] Mesh influence on eigen frequencies of a straight beam. https://www.
 E. Chaturvedi / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 460e469 469

simscale.com/projects/rszoeke/beam_natural_frequencies_-_mesh_study/.
[28] ANSYS Workbench strain life approach lectures.
[29] Elsevier Thompson MK, Thompson JM. Chapter 1 introduction to ANSYS and
finite element modelling. ANSYS Mechanical APDL for Finite Element Anal-
ysis; 2017.

[30] Stiavnický M, Lisý P. Influence of barrel vibrations on the barrel muzzle
position at the moment when the bullet exits. Adv Mil Technol June
2013;8(issue 1):89e102.
[31] Full 3-D Finite Element Analysis of a barrel's first few vibration mode shapes
and frequencies calculated with the LS-DYNA code. https://www.varmintal.
com/amode.html.

View publication stats