Course description
This course will help you develop a comprehensive knowledge and skills on various propellants, raw materials of gun propellants, their properties and function, vulnerability, requirement of novel propellants, internal ballistics, fundamentals of thermodynamics and heat transfer as applied to conventional guns.
Upcoming start dates
Suitability - Who should attend?
Students must have successfully completed the Introduction to Explosives Engineering course or have relevant experience in order to take this as a Short Course for Credit.
There are no prerequisites if taken as a Standalone Short Course.
Outcome / Qualification etc.
What you will learn
On successful completion of the module you will be able to:
- Recognise major types of propellants and predict their applications in current gun systems;
- Evaluate the ballistics, storage and mechanical properties of propellants;
- Appraise the tools and techniques for assessing heat transfer and assess the effects of heat transfer on a weapon system and propose mitigations;
- Critically evaluate the vulnerability of current propellants, in order to develop novel propellants.
Training Course Content
Core content
- Nitrocellulose, its raw materials, single, double, triple and multi-base propellants and other ingredients;
- Properties of propellants and their ingredients;
- Oxygen balance and its significance in muzzle flash and gun barrel life;
- Vulnerability assessment of conventional propellants;
- Liquid propellants and their drawbacks;
- Specific energy: balancing heat, gas production and performance parameters;
- Ageing and storage properties of propellants;
- Ballistic parameters and their measurement by a Closed Vessel;
- Low vulnerability ammunition propellants (LOVA) and new developments;
- Different manufacturing methods;
- Pressure travel curves in a gun;
- Resal’s energy equation;
- Effect of grain size and shape on burning rate and gun performance;
- Equation of motion of shot within a gun barrel;
- Heat transfer equations;
- Measurement and computer modelling of gun barrel temperature;
- Theory of gun barrel erosion;
- Self-ignition of propellants and explosives.
Course delivery details
Course structure
Divided between traditional lectures, computer aided thermodynamics tutorial and a practical session.
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Cranfield University
Cranfield is a specialist postgraduate university that is a global leader for education and transformational research in technology and management. We have many world-class, large-scale facilities, including our own global research airport, which offers a unique environment for transformational education...