Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols.

195-196 (2012) pp 834-839 Online: 2012-08-30

© (2012) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland
doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.195-196.834

Interior Ballistics Simulation of Modular Charge Gun System Using

Matlab
Lingke Zhang1,Yonggang Yu1, Xin Lu1
1
School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology,
Nanjing,Jiangsu Province, China
nustzlk@126.com

Keywords: Simulation; Matlab; gun; interior ballistic; modular charge

Abstract. Calculation and simulation of the interior ballistic precedes the design of gun and charge
construction. Modular charge system is the major development direction of large caliber howitzer,
and will be as a replacement of current bag charge. It is necessary to develop a common program
used to simulate interior ballistic environment of modular charge, which is a complex composite
propellant charge. The characteristics of modular charge construction and the difference compared
with traditional charge style were introduced at first. A simulation program of was developed based
on lumped-parameters interior ballistic model using Matlab/Simulink development environment,
which is relative simple, but, very suitable first stage design of interior ballistic of modular charge
system. The program includes four modules, input parameters, core simulation code, calculation of
form equations and data processing. The simulation results are agreeable with the experimental
values according to the parameters of a certain 155mm gun. Furthermore, the program could be
used in the numerical calculation of single charge or bag charge by adjusting some items.

I. Introduction
Large caliber gun system represented by 155mm caliber artillery is the major development
projects for ground-siege weapons system of army equipment in the future[1]. At present, more and
more countries develop advanced modular charge for 155mm caliber gun system, which is a study
hot spot of gun charge technology, such as: MACS (U.S.A.), MTLS (Germany and Sweden), BMCS
(France), UMACS (Israel), M64&M90 (South Africa), and so on[2-4].
The internal ballistic launching process is from the time the propellant is ignited to the time the
projectile exits from the gun barrel by high pressure and high temperature combustion gas propelling.
Calculation and simulation of interior ballistics environment is the foundation of gun and propellant
charge design[5]. As a new type of gun charge technology, modular charge has the advantages of
rapid loading, high automation degree, less potential security and reducing waste compared whit
traditional bag charge. It is necessary to study modular charge technology and interior ballistics
simulation. Gao et al. [6] compared the construction and ballistic property of uni-modular and bi-
modular charge and thought uni-modular charge for 155mm modular charge gun system feasible.
Zhao [7] studied the ignition process of modular charge based on one-dimensional two-phase flow
model and MacComck-RungeKutta numerical method. Nusca et al. [8] simulated the interior
ballistic firing cycle of Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS) and Future Combat System (FCS)
using NGEN3[9] code, which is a multi-dimensional two-phase flow model. Lu et al. [10, 11]
created a two-dimensional two-phase flow model of a modular charge gun system and simulated
interior ballistic flow filed property. Lumped-parameter interior ballistic calculation model (0-D) is
relative simple compared with multi-dimensional two-phase model. It considers only average
parameters of gas and has been realized in IBHVG2 code [12-14]. However, lumped-parameter
model is very suitable the early stage of the gun construction and propellant charge design based on
some experiential parameters and assumptions. Zhang et al [15] have designed a type of double
modular gun chare system, which meets a certain of interior and exterior performance base on the
lumped-parameter model.

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 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols. 195-196 835

Now, Matlab/Simulink® widely adopted in industries, such as automotive, aerospace,

communications and industrial automation with its rich modeling, computational and visualization
capabilities. MATLAB is rapidly displacing other languages as the software of choice for
programming in education and industry. It is now the preferred tool for many agencies of the U. S.
Air Force and the Department of Defense. Robert et al[16] developed a program using Matlab to
solve the equations of motion for atmospheric reentry. Thompon [17] developed the simulation
program of flight trajectory based on Matlab development environment.
The first purpose of this paper is to build the interior ballistic numerical model aiming at modular
charge gun system. The second is to design a interior ballistic simulation program for a large caliber
modular charge system based on lumped-parameters model by adopting conventional and efficient
Matlab/Simulink® developing environment. The last is to work out a practicable charge scheme for
a 155mm gun using the simulation program.

II. Modular Charge Gun System

At an early time, charge construct of large caliber gun adopts bag charge or metal cartridge case.
Because both of them aren’t suitable to automatic loading and have hidden safety factors, the
Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS), as a replacement system for 155mm propelling charges
offering simplified logistics. The modules have been developed and qualified for use in all NATO
standard 39 and 52 caliber gun configurations with associated projectiles complying with the Joint
Ballistic Memorandum of Understanding. Fig.1 shows a155mm artillery equipped with the M231
and M232 Modular Artillery Charge System. Modular charge means main propellant was housed in
a hard and combustible container. Every level firing performance of the gun is realized by combining
different modular, two, three, or much more according to muzzle velocity. Every module has
independent flash tube, so which could be regarded as a charge element. At present, there are two
type of modular charge, uni-modular charge and bi-modular charge. Fig. 2 shows the difference
between modular artillery charge system and current bag charge, the XM231 as a bottom chare
module, and the XM232 as a top charge module. In normal conditions, double modular charge is
adopted, e.g. M64 & M96 of South Africa. However, single or consistent modular has been
investigated in many countries to improve handling efficiency of large caliber howitzer.

Fig.2 The differnce between MACS and

Fig.1 The 155mm artillery with MACS[19] BAGS[19]

III. Numerical model of modular charge

In the gun firing process, it contains three stages. The first is from the time the propellant charge
is ignited to the time the projectile jams into barrel rifle. The second refers the projectile starts
moving to all of the charge combusts completely. The last is from the burned point to the projectile
exits muzzle. The numerical model of modular charge is a set of functions, which describes the
ignition, the combustion law of propellant charge, the movement law of the projectile, and the
combustion gas characteristics.
836 Mechanical Engineering and Intelligent Systems

A. Physical model
In order to build the lumped-parameters interior basic equations, some assumptions is given as
following[18]:
• Ignore the process of ignition;
• The combustion of modular container and the main propellant charge obey the geometric
burning law.
• The burning rate of modular charge is directly proportional to mean pressure of bore chamber.
• The combustion gas equation of state obeys Nobel-Abel equation of state.
• The performance and components of combustion products keeps unchanged throughout firing
cycle.
• The relationship between mean pressure and breech pressure and base pressure of projectile is
assumed obeying Lagrangian distribution.
• The projectile starts moving once the pressure achieves a certain pressure p0 .
• The second work is directly proportional to the major work, and determined by a constant
coefficient of second work.
B. Numerical model of modular charge
The numerical model of interior ballistic for modular gun charge system is built based on the
above assumptions[6, 20].
1) Form equations of modular charge
Form equations are built to describe the changing of propellant shape during the combustion
process, which are based on the parallel layer and linear combustion law. There is function
relationship among the relative burned volume, the relative burned area surface and the relative
burned web thickness for the various propellant grains. The form equation is given as:
 χ i zi (1 + λi zi + µi zi 2 ) 0 < zi < 1
ψi = 
 χ si z si (1 + λsi zi ) 1 < zi < zki
where λi , χ i and zi are called shape characteristic parameters, and defined as: χ = 1 + α + β ,
λ = − (α + β + αβ ) χ , µ = αβ χ , α = e1 / b , β = e1 / c . Here, the calculation method of λ , χ and z is only
suitable simple shape propellant grain, such as ,tube, belt, square, cube, and so on. For complicated
shapes, the form equations should be deduced according practical case. The multi-hole propellant
shape equations could be found in [18].
2) Burning rate equation
dzi dt = u1i p ni e1i
where z is relative burned thickness, u1 is burning rate constant, p is mean pressure, e1 is one half
of the web thickness, n pressure index, i is determined according to practical charge construct and
propellant components.
3) Motion equation of projectile
dv dt = Sp (ϕ m)
where ϕ is coefficient of secondary works, m is mass of projectile, v is velocity of projectile, S is
maximum cross section area of projectile or bore.
4) Interior ballistic energy equation
Sp (lψ + l ) = f ωψ − θϕ mv 2 / 2
where l is projectile travel, f is force of propellant, lψ is given as lψ = l0 1 − ∆(1 − ψ ) / ρ p − α∆ψ  .where

loading density of chamber, ρ p is density of propellant, ψ is burned percent,

∆ is α is co-volume of
combustion gas, l0 is equivalent chamber length.
5) Velocity of projectile equation
dl dt = v
 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols. 195-196 837

Equation (1)~(5) constructs complete lumped-parameter interior ballistic model. This model can
be not only used to calculate single charge system, but also simulate multi-charge system. And it is
suitable for small and large caliber gun system with bag-charge and module-charge. The key of
engineering application is to determine the charge construct and modular chare elements.

IV. Simulation Program and vertification

A. Program development
It is easy to find that the numerical model consists of differential equations and simple
relationships among variables. Matlab and Simulink® software provides a graphical user interface
(GUI) for building models as block diagrams. Simulink toolbox also includes a comprehensive block
library of sinks, sources, linear and nonlinear components, connectors, and so on. The interactive
graphical environment simplifies the modeling process, eliminating the need to formulate differential
and difference equations in a language or program[21]. The bottom-up approach was adopted in this
simulation program.
The simulation program of modular charge interior ballistic consists of four modules, which is
shown in Fig. 3. The first is Basic Input Parameters module. The basic input parameters includes gun
caliber, mass of projectile, shape of propellant grain and container, cross section of tube, volume of
chamber, mass of container, mass of main propellant charge, length of barrel, coefficient of second
work, force of propellant, co-volume of combustion gas, burning constant, pressure index, et al. All
of the input parameters are stored in a TXT file by Matlab code and GUI, which could be loaded by
the core simulation program. The second is Calculation of Shape Equations module, whose function
is to calculate shape characteristic parameters of modular container and main propellant charge.
Because there are more than two types of charge, the program is designed to add flexibly calculation
model according to practical engineering need. All of the results of calculation are stored in a TXT
file by Matlab function, which also could be loaded by the core simulation program. The third is
Simulation Program of Interior Ballistic module, which is based on lumped-parameter interior
ballistic equations. This module includes mainly subsystem: If and If action subsystem, Integrator
subsystem, Merge subsystem, Fcn subsystem, Atomic subsystem, and so on. The simulation results
are outputted to workspace and saved in Output.txt file to draw and analyze. Fig.4 presents the
overall structure of simulation module. In this module, you can change the simulative step and
calculation method, such as: fixed step or variable step, ode45, ode23, ode 113, et al. The last is Data
Processing module. One of functions of this module is to acquire characteristic point parameter of
interior ballistic process from the simulation results, such as maximum mean pressure, burned out
point, muzzle point and split point of propellant grain. The other is used to the changing history of
combustion gas and projectile, such as pressure vs. time curve, pressure vs. travel, velocity of
projectile vs. time, velocity of projectile vs. travel, burned percent vs. time, relative burned wed
thickness vs. time, et al.

Fig. 3 Main modules of the program Fig. 4 Portion of program function

838 Mechanical Engineering and Intelligent Systems

B. Program vertification
Aiming at a certain 155mm gun, the modular charge scheme was designed. Fig. 5 shows a kind of
assignment of firing range according to the value of rang overlap, which is bigger than 8% for every
velocity degree. Based on the maximum muzzle velocity (972m/s) and maximum firing range
(32km), we got the mean pressure history as shown in Fig. 6. The peak breech pressure was 354MPa.
Two kinds of module (A and B) were designed using this simulation program. There are seven
degrees, three basic module and four increments. The results of simulation are shown in Table I, and
it could be found that the difference between experiment and simulation is very small.

Fig.5 Velocity degree according to firing rang Fig. 6 Pressure vs time

Table I The Results Of Experiment And Simulation
Experimental Value Simulation Value

No. Charges Breech Pressure Muzzle Velocity Peak Pressure Muzzle Velocity
(MPa) (m/s) (MPa) (m/s)

7 6A 354 972 354.1 972.1

6 5A 242 850 243.9 850.9
5 4A 168 730 170.2 731.5
4 3A 114 611 115.8 612.2
3 4B 188 530 190.3 531.6
2 3B 130 446 131.6 446.8
1 2B 78 350 78.5 350.2

V. Conclusions
A simulation program of interior ballistic environment for modular charge gun system was
developed based on lumped-parameters model. The results of calculation are agreeable with the
experimental results approximately based on the firing parameters of a certain 155mm gun. This
program could be use to simulate other conditions, such as single charge or bag charge by adjusting
some items.
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Mechanical Engineering and Intelligent Systems
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Interior Ballistics Simulation of Modular Charge Gun System Using Matlab

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