Abstract The operational lifespan of a conventional weapon, such as artillery or machine gun, highly depends on the performance of its barrel. The bore of a machine gun is exposed to erosion as the number of rounds fired increases, which results in continuous increases in barrel diameter and thus an undesired degradation in ballistic performance. In this study, a critical isothermal erosion model for a machine gun barrel is established, and a numerical simulation method is used to study the bore erosion under typical shooting conditions. The current study confirms the presence of thermal-chemical erosion as a predominant failure mechanism at the starting point of the barrel rifling. It is also noted that this thermal-chemical erosion zone expands with the increase in the number of shots fired. Increases in firing frequency, and ambient temperature, and a decrease in the interval between cartridges are found to aggravate the erosion of the barrel bore. By fitting the calculated results, a formula for predicting the maximum erosion at the starting point of the barrel rifling is constructed. The predicted results demonstrate acceptable deviations from the experimental ones, which verify the accuracy and feasibility of the newly developed method in predicting machine gun barrel lifespan.

中文翻译：

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典型射击条件下机枪枪管侵蚀分析及寿命预测

摘要 火炮或机枪等常规武器的使用寿命很大程度上取决于其枪管的性能。随着发射子弹数量的增加，机枪的膛孔会受到侵蚀，这会导致枪管直径不断增加，从而导致弹道性能出现不希望的下降。本研究建立了机枪枪管的临界等温侵蚀模型，并采用数值模拟方法研究了典型射击条件下的膛线侵蚀。目前的研究证实，热化学侵蚀是枪管膛线起点处的主要失效机制。还应注意的是，该热化学侵蚀区随着射击次数的增加而扩大。提高点火频率和环境温度，并且发现弹药筒之间的间隔减小会加剧枪管孔的腐蚀。通过拟合计算结果，构建了预测枪管膛线起点处最大侵蚀的公式。预测结果与实验结果存在可接受的偏差，验证了新开发方法在预测机枪枪管寿命方面的准确性和可行性。