ADVANCE GUN BARREL TECHNOLOGY THROUGH PLASMA SURFACE ALLOYING

THE HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT EXISTING AT THE BORE SURFACE OF GUN BARRELS USED IN HIGH RATE OF FIRE AIRCRAFT CANNONS PRESENTS A FORMIDABLE DESIGN CHALLENGE TO THE GUN DESIGNER. HEAT, FRICTION, CORROSION AND WEAR AT THE BORE SURFACE ACT IN UNISON TO RAPIDLY DETERIORATE THE BORE. CHROME PLATING IS PRESENTLY THE ONLY COST EFFECTIVE METHOD OF IMPROVING BORE SURFACE LIFE. PLASMA SURFACE ALLOYING IS AN EMERGING NEW TECHNOLOGY WHEREIN IONS OF AN ALLOYING ELEMENT ARE INTRODUCED INTO THE SURFACE OF A METAL THROUGH AN ION BOMBARDMENT TECHNIQUE IN ORDER TO FORM UNIQUE SURFACE ALLOYS. USING A RECENTLY DEVELOPED METHOD OF PLASMA SURFACING ALLOYING, XU-TEC, REFRACTORY AND CORROSION RESISTANT ELEMENTS WILL BE INTRODUCED INTO THE BORE SURFACE TO IMPROVE BARREL LIFE. XU-TEC HAS ALREADY FOUND COMMERCIAL APPLICATION IN THE PRODUCTION OF HIGH SPEED SAW BLADES AND HAS PROVEN TO BE A COST EFFECTIVE ALTERNATIVE TO BI-METAL SAW BLADES. IN THE COURSE OF THIS STUDY, VARIOUS SURFACE ALLOYS WILL BE INTRODUCED INTO THE BORE SURFACE AND A SERIES OF TESTS WILL BE PERFORMED TO DETERMINE WHICH ALLOY IS BEST SUITED TO THE GUN BARREL APPLICATION.