High-Efficiency Muzzle Flash Suppressor

128 High-Efficiency Muzzle Flash Suppressor--Ultramet, 12173 Montague Street, , Pacoima, CA 91331-2210; (818) 899-0236 Mr. Brian E. Williams, Principal Investigator Mr. Craig N. Ward, Business Official DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-97ER82504 Amount: $75,000 In the event of a hostile act, protective forces at DOE facilities may need to return fire. Unfortunately, firing their weapons would give off a visual signature. Technology to suppress this visual signature is not presently available; for example, current flash suppressor designs eliminate only secondary flash. Their operation is based on the expansion of muzzle gases, thereby cooling those gases and suppressing secondary ignition. Unfortunately, these designs do little to eliminate intermediate flash and nothing to eliminate or hide the primary flash, and thus are not highly effective. In Phase I, a total flash suppression system will be developed for small arms; it will combine gas expansion cooling with a high surface area and a high heat capacity thermal absorber/particulate filter material. This will eliminate intermediate and secondary flash and successfully hide the primary flash while also eliminating acoustic blast. The flash suppressor system is based on an open-cell refractory metal foam structure originally designed for cooling and filtering gas generator exhausts, as in cooling automobile airbags. Using the same principles as the airbag filter system, 1200¿C cooling and 99 percent filtration of solid particulates should be achievable in a small, low-cost suppressor design. Approximately 100 flash suppressor design variations will be designed, fabricated, and tested, and high-speed video to record flash brightness to a real extent will lead to a quantitative evaluation and optimization of suppressor performance. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: This project will result in a total flash suppression system for small and medium-caliber arms. The technology will be of immediate and significant use to government security forces guarding sensitive installations and police SWAT teams. Military applications include muzzle blast overpressure reduction in large-caliber weapon systems as well as small arms flash suppressors.