Enhancing Performance of Tank Ammunition using High Perforation Multiplicity of Rosette Shaped Propellant Grains

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ABSTRACT The continuous advancement in main battle tank armour necessitates enhanced lethality of tank gun kinetic energy ammunition, demanding increased muzzle velocity (MV) without exceeding the permissible maximum pressure (PMP). This study systematically investigates geometric progressivity achieved through high-perforation multiplicity in rosette shaped propellant grains. RDX-based modified single-base propellants were processed into 7-hole, 19-hole, and 37-hole rosette configurations with comparable web thickness and length-to-diameter ratios. Closed vessel firings were conducted to assess burn rate characteristics using Vieille's law, dynamic vivacity, and pressure–time profiles. The interior ballistic simulation was performed using the Rheinmetall Rh-120 L/44 NATO standard 120 mm smoothbore gun, all parameters of which are available in open published literature, under a constant PMP constraint of 500 MPa. Increasing perforation multiplicity enhanced geometric progressivity. Compared to the ballistic performance of the 7-hole baseline (MV = 1224 m/s at 4.0 kg charge mass), the 19-hole geometry with a 5% increase in charge mass led to a 2.1% increase in MV (1250 m/s at 4.2 kg), while the 37-hole configuration with a 10% increase in charge mass yielded a 3.5% increase in MV (1267 m/s at 4.4 kg). The maximum charge mass of 4.4 kg corresponds to a loading density well within practical limits for this class of gun system. High-multiplicity rosette grains thus provide an effective means of improving internal ballistic performance within pressure limitations.

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