Innovative Tantalum Machining for Weapon Applications

Gun barrel bores have been traditionally plated with chromium to reduce erosion and increase barrel life. However, the chrome electro deposition process generates hazardous waste and the DoD has been moving to eliminate its use. Liners made from Tantalum-Tungsten (Ta-W) alloys have been shown to be an acceptable substitute. These alloys have a high melting temperature, are more erosion resistant then chromium and will potentially increase the service life of gun barrels. Conventional manufacturing techniques used to date have not been able to consistently produce parts within acceptable drawing tolerances or without degradation to the integrity of the clad surface. Additional investigation into the machining characteristics of the Ta-W alloy and development of manufacturing tooling and techniques will yield the correct parameters to successfully and repeatedly machine clad barrel bores.