A mesh generation method for worn gun barrel and its application in projectile-barrel interaction analysis

Although wear mechanism of gun barrel and projectile-barrel interaction have been comprehensively studied in the past three decades, attention has seldom been paid to the interaction between worn barrel and projectile. In the present work, a new parametric geometric modeling method for gun barrel and a new finite element meshing strategy for the worn barrel are proposed which involve the joint use of Python code and ABAQUS software. A transient coupled thermo-mechanical finite element (FE) model is developed to compute the plastic deformation of rotating band and the performance of interior ballistics. Additionally, material thermal properties of the rotating band are considered and user subroutine VUAMP and VFRICTION are implemented within the FE model in order to take account of the propelling force caused by propellant gas and the effect of changing friction stress, respectively. The FE results obtained in simulation verify the ability of the proposed meshing strategy to improve analysis accuracy with respect to the interaction between the worn barrel and the projectile.