Optimization of Barrel Wall Thicknesses Used in Shotguns Through Finite Elements Method

Abstract

Unrifled shotgun barrels are gun elements that have a certain wall thickness and are exposed to high pressures. When the barrel wall thickness is lower than the required amount in gas pressure-powered shotguns, the barrel gets heated and expands when consecutive shots are fired. The expansion of the barrel renders the system to be unable to perform shots in shotguns. As a solution to this problem, barrel wall thickness is unnecessarily increased, which causes the weight of the shotgun to increase. Barrel with more weight than the required amount is an undesired situation for shotguns. Barrel wall thickness should be adjusted to the most suitable values by considering the weight and expansion amounts. In this study, the optimization of design parameters was performed for barrel wall thicknesses used in shotguns as a result of the tests performed by using ANSYS response surface optimization. The study conducted enabled the revision of material choice of the main components in shotguns.