Barrel vibrations in small arms using combined experimental/computational methods.

Small arms are used on a global scale by militaries, hunters, competitive shooters, recreational shooters, and others. Despite this widespread use, the design and development of these tools depends heavily on prototyping and iterative testing. Additionally, the open literature concerning small arms is limited, especially in regard to those types of firearms in common use by civilians. The goal of this research was to develop a high-fidelity finite element model that would enable a detailed look into the factors governing the vibration of rifle barrels. Such a model can serve as a valuable research and development tool, reducing the high cost of prototyping. This thesis first addresses the degree of detail required in such a model to adequately capture the behavior of a sporting firearm. Experimental testing was performed in order to validate the model and lend additional insight into the factors at play. The validated model is then used to examine the influenced of curved barrel centerlines on projectile trajectories. Finally, the validity of a method of predicting shot dispersion from a single simulation is investigated