H2O vs gunpowder as a propellant, who read/remembers??

[65BR]

There was an article I read years ago at the newstand by Layne Simpson or someone re: Water as a subsitute for gun powder, and it would require electricity to heat it up, vaporizing the H2O and creating much higher velocities.

The article basically was about the 'velocity ceiling' with current gun powder and ammo technology on market.

Anyone read that, know where to reference it? Thanks.

 

[65BR]

Well, I don't know any specifics, if case was full or just what, or if it was all theory, but it seems from memory that something was written on this topic, whether it was backed by science, or 'theory', thanks. Just trying to find that article for review.

 

[juanvaldez]

The more you heat it the more pressure required to keep the water liquid. Guess what happens when the container can no longer supply enough pressure? Don't forget its pressure in the case that drives the bullet.

Water or any liquid for that matter "boils" or turns to a gas when its vapour pressure becomes greater then atmospheric pressure. Its vapour pressure increases as the liquid is heated. If the liquid is in an enclosed vessel you can heat it until the vessel cannot supply enough pressure to keep the gas liquid. At this point the vessel will rupture and explode as the liquid rapidly turns to a gas,or bullet will explode from its case. If you don't believe it throw a can of beans in a campfire some time

 

[juanvaldez]

Reactor Research Leads to Variable-Velocity Bullet
For years, ORNL's Rusi Taleyarkhan studied the potential problem of steam explosions in water-cooled research reactors in which fuel elements are made of uranium-aluminum alloys sandwiched between aluminum plates. The concern was that an explosion might result from the interaction between heated molten aluminum and water in a research reactor, such as ORNL's High Flux Isotope Reactor, during severe accident conditions,an unlikely event that, nevertheless, has occurred in similar reactors elsewhere). Taleyarkhan led an investigation of the forces that could initiate, or trigger, an explosion and the nature of its propagation.

Further ORNL research demonstrated that introducing noncondensable gases into the protective steam film formed by aluminum-water contact would cushion external triggers, virtually eliminating the conditions that initiate melt-water explosions. This key finding is being confirmed by field tests of methods for preventing explosions in the aluminum industry.

Using such information, Taleyarkhan, Marshall McFee, and Joe Cunningham, all of the Engineering Technology Division, recently developed a variable-velocity bullet propelled by aluminum-water vapor explosions. Police officers using a gun based on this concept could dial up the velocity of the bullet to meet the needs of the situation. The bullet could be used to stun, disable, or kill. The weapon system currently has a cartridge based on a standard shotgun shell, and the variable-velocity projectiles can be steel, lead, or even fluid slugs.


Rusi Taleyarkhan,right) holds a variable-velocity bullet that has been shot at a target in tests at ORNL's melt-water-explosion-triggering analyzer. Seokho Kim adjusts the controls.

The development won considerable attention in the media in the summer of 1999. It was mentioned in an Associated Press story and in articles in USA Today, The London Times, Defense News, New Technology Week, Aviation Week and Space Technology, New Scientist, and two local newspapers,The Oak Ridger and the Knoxville News-Sentinel). Radio listeners heard about it on National Public Radio, national radio shows starring Paul Harvey and Rush Limbaugh, the WIMZ radio station in Knoxville, Tennessee, and a New Zealand radio show. The technology was featured by ABC News on television and on the Internet

 

[65BR]

Very interesting, thanks for the info.

 

[coupalr]

Here is a very intresting paper on the subject
http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/servlets/purl/12653-NqjqbX/webviewable/12653.PDF