Effect of Gun Barrel Wear on Muzzle Velocity of a typical Artillery Shell

Wear in gun barrels is inevitable and it progresses with firing of rounds. Barrel wear directly affects the chamber pressures and hence the muzzle velocities (MVs) of the shells being fired. Along with the loss of MV, range, accuracy etc. are hampered and a barrel often has to be condemned due to wear even before it has reached the end of its fatigue life. A lot of work has been reported for understanding the nature of barrel wear, its rate of progression and ways to minimise the rate of wear. In this work, the actual effect of barrel wear on the MV of a typical artillery shell has been studied. It has been shown that the loss in MV does not vary linearly with the wear. A co-relation between the loss of MV and the barrel wear has been attempted to be determined.