Reports. National defense research committee. Reports No. A-90, A-91: progress reports.Shortly after Section A of Division a was constituted for the purpose of attacking the problem of gun erosion and other aspects of hyper-velocity, and the facilities of the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington were made available for this work, Dr. John S. Burlew of the scientific staff of that laboratory was requested to prepare a report on gun erosion. It was realized that there existed a vast amount of factual material in this field and a large number of conflicting interpretations and conclusions relating to the observations. The intention was to have an outline of the subject that would be comprehensive but not necessarily exhaustive, and to include merely a cross-section of existing data together with an explanation of the terms used and a summary of the conclusions that have been drawn. Collecting and assembling the necessary information was a task of considerable magnitude, which would have been even greater but for the hearty cooperation and encouragement of various individuals in the Army and Navy and in other organizations.Contents:
Part I: Fundamentals of ordnance relating to gun erosion.
Introduction.
Guns.
Projectiles.
Propellants.
Burning of the Powder.
Movement of the Projectile in the Bore.
Reaction of the Tube to Firing.
Part II: The characteristics of gun erosion.
Magnitude of Erosion.
The Eroded Surface.
Experimental Methods of Study of Gun Erosion.
Relation Between Properties of the Gun Metal and Erosion.
Conditions of Firing that Influence the Rate of Erosion.
Effect on Erosion of Leakage of Gas Past the Projectile.
Life of Guns.
Theories of the Mechanism of Erosion.
