Temperature Measurement of a Bullet in Flight

Abstract

This study answers a primary question concerning how the temperature changes during the flight of a bullet. To answer the question, the authors performed unique research to measure the initial temperatures of bullet surfaces and applied it to four kinds of projectiles in a series of field experiments. The technique determines the temperature changes on metallic objects in flight that reach a velocity of 300 to 900 m/s. Until now, the tests of temperature change available in the literature include virtual points that are adopted to ideal laboratory conditions using classic thermomechanical equations. The authors conducted the first study of its kind, in which is considered four projectiles in field conditions in which a metallic bullet leaves a rifle barrel after a powder deflagration. During this process, heat is partly transferred to the bullet from the initial explosion of the powder and barrel-bullet friction. In this case, the temperature determination of a bullet is complex because it concerns different points on the external surface. Thus, for the first time the authors measured the temperatures at different position on the bullet surface. Moreover, the authors showed that basic thermodynamic equations allow for the credible prediction of such behavior if the initial conditions are identified correctly. This novel identification of the initial conditions of temperature and velocity of flying bullets was not presented anywhere else up to now.