A NUMERICAL-MODEL FOR ETC GUN INTERIOR BALLISTICS APPLICATIONS

A multi-dimensional, transient, fluid dynamic model BISON has been developed to study the interior ballistic processes in an electro-thermal-chemical (ETC) gun. The model solves the full Navier-Stokes equations and uses a high-order numerical scheme to integrate the governing equations. Most of the important physical processes pertinent to ETC gun interior ballistics including multi-phase flow, chemical reaction and plasma dynamics are incorporated in the model. Examples or model applications to study basic ETC gun phenomena, such as plasma jet penetration and real gun design component analyses, are presented and discussed. The modeling results not only compare well with experimental data but also provide us with a better understanding of the interior ballistics physics. The multi-dimensional model BISON proves to be a very useful tool for ETC gun interior ballistics simulations.