Porous nozzle projectile barrel
First Claim
1. Apparatus comprising:
- a barrel formed by a barrel wall and having a breech end and a muzzle end, said barrel wall defining a passage of constant cross section extending from the breech end to the muzzle end;
a projectile having a cross section which closely matches the cross secton of the passage positioned in the passage; and
a driving gas pressure source connected to the breech end of the barrel, said driving gas pressure source having a sufficiently high pressure to accelerate the projectile to local Mach 1 in said barrel;
wherein said barrel wall has a solid region extending from the breech end toward the muzzle end and a porous region, serially arranged, wherein said porous region is sufficiently permeable to the driving gas so that transverse expansion of the driving gas through the porous region permits the driving gas to achieve supersonic flow as if said driving gas had passed through a diverging supersonic nozzle, and provide a projectile velocity profile equivalent to the projectile traveling through a supersonic nozzle designed to exactly conform the velocity of driving gas to the velocity of the projectile at every location along the path of the projectile through the porous region, wherein the driving gas velocity is subsonic in the solid region of the barrel and supersonic in the porous region of the barrel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A porous barrel, projectile passageway, or tube as a type of supersonic nozzle for projectile propulsion therein and method for optimizing projectile velocity therethrough. The porous barrel features a barrel wall containing holes, passageways, or otherwise porous material through the barrel wall that allows gas, fluid, or other matter to exit or move in a direction away from the barrel interior. The flow of gas, fluid, or other matter away from the barrel interior allows gas within the barrel to expand in a direction transverse to the projectile path. The amount of transverse expansion of the gas in the barrel interior can be controlled by the porosity of the barrel wall to cause any desired amount of gas expansion. Transverse expansion allows axial gas velocities within the barrel to exceed the local speed of sound as if the gas had passed through a converging diverging nozzle. In one embodiment, a pressurized gas source supplies a pressure propelling the projectile through a gun barrel, and gas outflow from passageways through the barrel wall allows gas within the barrel, as well as the projectile, to obtain supersonic velocities as the gas and projectile accelerate.
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Citations
4 Claims
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1. Apparatus comprising:
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a barrel formed by a barrel wall and having a breech end and a muzzle end, said barrel wall defining a passage of constant cross section extending from the breech end to the muzzle end;
a projectile having a cross section which closely matches the cross secton of the passage positioned in the passage; and
a driving gas pressure source connected to the breech end of the barrel, said driving gas pressure source having a sufficiently high pressure to accelerate the projectile to local Mach 1 in said barrel;
wherein said barrel wall has a solid region extending from the breech end toward the muzzle end and a porous region, serially arranged, wherein said porous region is sufficiently permeable to the driving gas so that transverse expansion of the driving gas through the porous region permits the driving gas to achieve supersonic flow as if said driving gas had passed through a diverging supersonic nozzle, and provide a projectile velocity profile equivalent to the projectile traveling through a supersonic nozzle designed to exactly conform the velocity of driving gas to the velocity of the projectile at every location along the path of the projectile through the porous region, wherein the driving gas velocity is subsonic in the solid region of the barrel and supersonic in the porous region of the barrel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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Specification