I've been told that military sabot tank rounds increase substantially in velocity when the wrapper falls away. A physics expert attributed it to something he calls "conservation of momentum," meaning that once a projectile starts moving and mass falls away, the momentum is conserved and converts into more velocity in the forward moving projectile. Question: does anybody have experience with small arms sabots? Does the same thing happen?
Posts: 36231 | Location: Laughing so hard I can barely type. | Registered: 21 April 2001
quote:Originally posted by BBBruce: I've been told that military sabot tank rounds increase substantially in velocity when the wrapper falls away. A physics expert attributed it to something he calls "conservation of momentum," meaning that once a projectile starts moving and mass falls away, the momentum is conserved and converts into more velocity in the forward moving projectile. Question: does anybody have experience with small arms sabots? Does the same thing happen?
Posts: 813 | Location: Left Coast | Registered: 02 November 2000
No, doesn't happen with the tank round either. The velocity of the projectile will not increase unless energy in put into it. Your physics professor did not understand the question. The conservation of energy is a basic tennant of physics.
Posts: 813 | Location: Left Coast | Registered: 02 November 2000
ooops - what I mean is: due to lower drag, loss of velocity will decrease and trajectory will be flatter. - Velocity relative to the combined projectile's theoretical further path is higher.
As long as there is no extra force added, there is no absolute rise in verlocity.
Sorry for the incorrect statement.
Posts: 367 | Location: former western part of Berlin, Germany | Registered: 25 August 2001
waitaminit, yore last explanation is the correct one!! The projectile will begin losing velocity at a lower rate after the sabot is discarded; this effect would also be present in a small-arm round also. In the case of tank main-gun ammo, there's no rotation of the projectile, because the gun is a smooth-bore.
quote:Originally posted by eldeguello: waitaminit, yore last explanation is the correct one!! The projectile will begin losing velocity at a lower rate after the sabot is discarded; this effect would also be present in a small-arm round also. In the case of tank main-gun ammo, there's no rotation of the projectile, because the gun is a smooth-bore.
Answers make sense. Thanks !!!!!!!!!!
Posts: 36231 | Location: Laughing so hard I can barely type. | Registered: 21 April 2001
Waitaminit's last explination was correct. However there is rotation on tank fired sabot rounds. The sabot has stabilizing fins that impart a spin on the projectile. The gun is a smoothbore because with a muzzel velocity of 5000+ fps rifling bands on the sabot sleeve would not be able to engage, they would get pushed over the rifling, or something like that. Dave
Posts: 163 | Location: Upstate, NY | Registered: 26 June 2001
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