Advanced Sabot System Design

Simulations, LLC, a privately held small-business engineering company, and team members DR-Technology, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and Douglas Elder, proposes to develop the material and fabrication methodologies to produce a lightweight, high-strength, low-cost composite sabot based on innovative configurations. Simulations will springboard from: (1) the current ONR Projectile IPT sabot subsystem concept; (2) two proven ARDEC SLEKE, Area I, four-petal, ribbed, aluminum sabots; (3) the Army D2 six-petal, uniaxial graphite-epoxy composite sabot development efforts, and; (4) the ILP design experience of the Simulations team. Simulations will innovate geometries, perform structural analyses and optimize configurations, materials and fabrication methodologies. The approach will use lessons learned from a collage of conventional and electromagnetically launched sabots, while utilizing Simulations parametric finite-element-analysis code FATE. FATE is a proprietary customized code, developed by Simulations for the ARL. FATE is used for analytically designing integrated launch packages, thus making it immediately idyllic for the Navy’s Advanced Sabot System Design. FATE is the core structural analytical tool supporting ARL’s F5 double-tapered sabot-armature designs. Based on F5 and FATE successes, Boeing contracted Simulations to size, design and analyze the Navy’s Phase I base-push and mid-ride topologies in 2006. Consequently, Simulations showed parasitic ILP masses approaching 30%.