Publications

A model is presented which describes the formation of surface damage ``gouging`` on the rails that guide rocket sleds. An unbalanced sled can randomly cause a very shallow-angle, oblique impact between the sled shoe and the rail. This damage phenomenon has also been observed in high-velocity guns where the projectile is analogous to the moving sled shoe and the gun barrel is analogous to the stationary rail. At sufficiently high velocity, the oblique impact will produce a thin hot layer of soft material on the contact surfaces. Under the action of a normal moving load, the soft layer lends itself to an anti-symmetric deformation and the formation of a ``hump`` in front of the moving load. A gouge is formed when this hump is overrun by the sled shoe. The phenomenon is simulated numerically using the CTH strong shock physics code, and the results are in good agreement with experimental observation.

Surface damage has been observed on the rails of rocket sled tracks and on the barrels of high-velocity guns. The phenomenon is generally referred to as ``ongoing``. Damage to a stationary surface (guider) is created from the oblique impact of a high-velocity object (slider) moving over its surface. The surface damage (gouge) is typically a shallow crater in the shape of a teardrop with the leading edge characterized by the wider end and a slightly raised lip. For rocket sleds, rail gouging occurs when the sled velocity is greater than 1.5 km/sec; while in guns, barrel gouging occurs when the velocity exceeds 4 km/sec. A model is developed to describe the phenomenon of gouging. An unbalanced slider randomly causes a shallow-angle, oblique impact between the slider and the guider. At sufficiently high velocity, the impact produces a thin, but very hot, layer of soft material at the contact surface. Under the action of a moving load, the soft layer lends itself to an antisymmetric deformation and a gouge is formed when this soft material is over-run by the slider. The model is simulated numerically with a hydrodynamic (CTH) code. The results of the simulations are in good agreement with the observed phenomena. Based on the simulated temperature and pressure profiles at the contact surface, design criteria for gouge mitigation are developed in this study. 45 refs., 29 figs., 1 tab.