Advanced gun barrel materials and manufacturing technology symposium - Overview and perspective

The 2005 Gun Barrel Materials and Manufacturing Symposium that was held in Maryland dealt with the developments and application of advanced gun materials. The modeling presented at the symposium dealt with the manufacturing processes. The most innovative development since 1996 has been the successful application of explosive bonding in attaching a refractory metal liner to a gun tube. Initial work to bond a pure tantalum liner met with some success as evidenced by firing tests of a medium caliber gun. This efforts has been followed up with a Manufacturing Technology Program, which was presented at the 2005 symposium. A major trend that has developed since the 1996 workshop is the emphasis on lightening the force. Manufacturing techniques for making fiber-wound gun tubes have been also developed.