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(from http://www.nennstiel-ruprecht.de/bullfly/index.htm )
Abbreviations
A
Bullet diameter
ec
et
Ix
Iy
Bullet length
Bullet mass
Ma
Mach number
Air pressure
Re
Reynolds number
rE
vw
Azimuth angle
Yaw angle
r
m
Degree of latitude
wE
The azimuth a is defined as the angle enclosed between the positive x-axis of a xyz reference frame
and the north direction. a is always positive and may take values between 0 and 360. The xz-plane
is parallel to the surface of the earth at the selected location.
j is the degree of latitude and depends on the location on the globe (-90 <= j <=+90)
Abbreviations
ej
FG
Explanation
The force of gravity is proportional to the mass of the projectile and the local acceleration of gravity.
The force is directed towards the center of the earth and attacks at the CG.
The force of gravity is responsible for the bending of the trajectory.
Abbreviations
FZ
Centrifugal force
Explanation
The figure above shows a cut through the globe. The formula gives the components of the centrifugal
force in an xyz - reference frame, the y -axis being antiparallel to the force of gravity.
The y - component of the centrifugal force can be regarded as a correction of the force of gravity, the
other components are generally neglected in ballistics because of their smallness.
Abbreviations
Fc
Coriolis force
Explanation
The magnitude of the fictitious Coriolis force is so small that it is usually completely neglected and as a rule of thumb - only has to be considered in ballistics for ranges of 20 km or more (artillery shells
Abbreviations
cD
Drag coefficient
FD
Drag force
Explanation
The drag force FD is the component of the force FW in the direction opposite to that of the motion of
the centre of gravity (see figure
). The force FW results from pressure differences at the bullet's
surface, caused by the air, streaming against the moving body. In the case of the absence of yaw, the
drag FD is the only component of the force FW .
The drag force is the most important aerodynamic force. Given the atmosphere conditions p,T,h, the
reference area A and the momentary velocity vw, the drag force is completely determined by the the
drag coefficient cD .
1. Re neglection
It can be shown, that with the exception of very low velocities, the Re dependency of cD can be
neglected.
2.
dependency
Depending on the physical ballistic model applied, an angle of yaw is either completely neglected
( =0) or only small angles of yaw are considered. Large angles of yaw are an indication of instability.
For small angles of yaw the following approximation is usually made:
/2
Another theory which accounts for arbitrary angles of yaw is called the "crossflow analogy prediction
method". A discussion of this method is far beyond the scope of this article, however the general type
of equation for the drag coefficient is as follows:
Abbreviations
cD
cDostandard
iD
Form factor
The bc of a test bullet bctest moving at velocity v is a real number and defined as
the deceleration due to drag of a "standard" bullet
devided by
the deceleration due to drag of the test bullet.
The standard bullet is said to have a mass of 1 lb (0.4536 kg) and a diameter of 1 in (25.4 mm). The
drag coefficients of the standard bullet can be derived from the G1-function given in literature and will
be named cDoG1(Ma) .
Using
Abbreviations
cDotest
cDoG1
iDtest
bctest
mtest
dtest
Abbreviations
cDotest
cDoG1
iDtest
bctest
mtest
dtest
Abbreviations
cL
eL
Unit vector
FL
Lift force
Explanation
The lift force FL (also called cross-wind force) is the component of the wind force FW in the direction
perpendicular to that of the motion of the center of gravity in the plane of the yaw angle
. The lift
force vanishes in the absence of yaw and is the reason for the drift of a spinning projectile even in the
absence of wind.
or
Abbreviations
cM
eW
Unit vector
MW
Overturning moment
Explanation
The point of the longitudinal axis, at which the resulting wind force F1 appears to attack is called the
centre of pressure CPW of the wind force, which, for spin-stabilized bullets is located ahead of the
CG. As the flow field varies, the location of the CPW varies as a function of the Mach number. Due to
the non-coincidence of the CG and the CPW, a moment is associated with the wind force. This
moment MW is called overturning moment or yawing moment (see figure
). For spinstabilized projectiles MW tends to increase the yaw angle and destabilizes the bullet. In the absence
of spin, the moment would cause the bullet to tumble.
Abbreviations
cspin
MS
Explanation
Skin friction at the bullet's surface retards its spinning motion. The spin damping moment (also: roll
damping moment) is given by the above formula. The spin damping coefficient depends on bullet
geometry and the flow type (laminar or turbulent).
Abbreviations
cMag
eM
Unit vector
FM
Magnus force
Explanation
The Magnus force FM arises from an asymmetry in the flow field, while the air stream against a
rotating and yawing body interacts with its boundary layer and applies at the CPM (see figure
).
Depending on the flow field, the CPM may be located ahead or behind the CG. The Magnus force
vanishes in the absence of rotation and in the absence of a yaw angle.
The Magnus force is usually very small and mainly depends on bullet geometry, spin rate, velocity
and the angle of yaw. In exterior ballistics, the above expression is used for the Magnus force.
For the whole bullet, the Magnus effect (which arises from the boundary layer interaction of the
inclined and rotating body with the flowfield) results in the Magnus force FM
which applies at
its centre of pressure CPM. The location of the CPM varies as a function of the flowfield conditions
and can be located either behind or ahead of the CG.
The figure above assumes that the CPM is located behind the CG. Experiments have shown that this
comes true for a 7.62 x 51 FMJ standard Nato bullet at least close to the muzzle in the high
supersonic velocity regime.
Abbreviations
cM
eW
Unit vector
MW
Overturning moment
Explanation
The point of the longitudinal axis, at which the resulting wind force F1 appears to attack is called the
centre of pressure CPW of the wind force, which, for spin-stabilized bullets is located ahead of the
CG. As the flow field varies, the location of the CPW varies as a function of the Mach number. Due to
the non-coincidence of the CG and the CPW, a moment is associated with the wind force. This
moment MW is called overturning moment or yawing moment (see figure
). For spinstabilized projectiles MW tends to increase the yaw angle and destabilizes the bullet. In the absence
of spin, the moment would cause the bullet to tumble.
or
Abbreviations
cMp
eMM
Unit vector
MM
Magnus moment
Explanation
As the Magnus force applies at the CPM, which does not necessarily coincide with the CG, a Magnus
moment MM (see figure
) is associated with that force. The location of the centre of pressure of
the Magnus force depends on the flow field and can be located ahead or behind the CG. The Magnus
moment turns out to be very important for the dynamic stability of spin-stabilized bullets. For the
Magnus moment, the above expression is used in exterior ballistics.
Abbreviations
cMa
sg
Explanation
A spin-stabilized projectile is said to be gyroscopically stable, if, in the presence of a yaw angle d, it
responds to an external wind force F1 with the general motion of nutation and precession. In this case
the longitudinal axis of the bullet moves into a direction perpendicular to the direction of the wind
force.
It can be shown by a mathematical treatment that this condition is fulfilled, if the gyroscopic stability
factor sg exceeds unity. This demand is called the gyroscopic stability condition. A bullet can be
made gyroscopically stable by sufficiently spinning it (by increasing w!).
As the spin rate w decreases more slowly than the velocity vw, the gyroscopic stability factor sg, at
least close to the muzzle, continuously increases. An practical example is shown in a figure
.
Thus, if a bullet is gyroscopically stable at the muzzle, it will be gyroscopically stable for the rest of its
flight. The quantity sg also depends on the air density r and this is the reason, why special attention
has to be paid to guarantee gyroscopic stability at extreme cold weather conditions.
Bullet and gun designers usually prefer sg > 1.2...1.5, but it is also possible to introduce too much
stabilization. This is called over-stabilization.
The gyroscopic (also called static) stability factor depends on only one aerodynamic coefficient (the
overturning moment coefficient derivative cMa) and thus is much easier to determine than the dynamic
stability factor. This may be the reason, why some ballistic publications only consider static stability if
it comes to stability considerations.
However, the gyroscopic stability condition only is a necessary condition to guarantee a stable
flight, but is by no means sufficient. Two other conditions - the conditions of dynamic stability and the
tractability condition must be fulfilled.
This figure shows the gyroscopic stability factor of the 7.62 x 51 Nato bullet M80, fired at an angle
of departure of 32, a muzzle velocity of 870 m/s and a rifling pitch at the muzzle of 12 inches. The
M80 bullet shows static stability over the whole flight path as the static stability condition sg>1 is
fulfilled everywhere. The value of sg adopts a minimum of 1.35 at the muzzle.
Generally it can be stated that if a bullet is statically stable at the muzzle, it will be statically stable for
the rest of its flight. This can be easily understood from the fact, that the static stability factor is
proportional to the ratio of the bullets rotational and transversal velocity (see formula
). As the
the rotational velocity is much less damped than the transversal velocity (which is damped due to the
action of the drag), the static stability factor increases, at least for the major part of the trajectory.
Bullet and gun designers usually prefer sg > 1.2 ..1.5 at the muzzle, however it has been observed
that many handgun bullet show excessive static stability.
Abbreviations
cD
Drag coefficient
cLa
cMpa
cmq+cma
sg
sd
Explanation
A projectile is said to be dynamically stable, if its yawing motion of nutation and precession is
damped out with time, which means that an angle of yaw induced at the muzzle (the initial yaw)
decreases.
A dynamic stability factor sd can be defined from the linearized theory of gyroscopes (assuming only a
small angle of yaw) and the above dynamic stability condition can be formulated. An alternate
formulation of this condition
sd however depends on five aerodynamic coefficients. Because these coefficients are hard to
determine, it can become very complicated to calculate the dynamic stability factor, which varies as a
function of the momentary bullet velocity.
Abbreviations
sg
sd
Explanations
The dynamic stability condition
can be expressed in an alternate way. leading to a very
illustrative interpretation of bullet stability.
In using a quantity s, according to the above definition, the dynamic stability condition takes a very
simple form (see above formula). This means that for a bullet to be gyroscopically and dynamically
stable, a plot of s vs. sd has to remain completely within the stability triangle (green area in the figure
below).
The red areas are regions of gyroscopic stability but dynamic instability: either the slow mode
oscillation (left area) or the fast mode oscillation (right area) get umdamped.
Abbreviations
sg
sd
Explanations
The dynamic stability condition
can be expressed in an alternate way. leading to a very
illustrative interpretation of bullet stability.
In using a quantity s, according to the above definition, the dynamic stability condition takes a very
simple form (see above formula). This means that for a bullet to be gyroscopically and dynamically
stable, a plot of s vs. sd has to remain completely within the stability triangle (green area in the figure
below).
The red areas are regions of gyroscopic stability but dynamic instability: either the slow mode
oscillation (left area) or the fast mode oscillation (right area) get umdamped.
Abbreviations
f
Tractability factor
fl
sg
dp
Explanation
The tractability factor f characterizes the ability of the projectile's longitudinal axis to follow the
bending trajectory (see figure
). The quantity f can simply be defined as the inverse of the yaw
of repose. It can be shown that the tractability factor f is proportional to the inverse of the gyroscopic
stability factor.
Over-stabilized bullet
Abbreviations
cM a
dp
Explanation
The repose angle of yaw (or yaw of repose, also called equilibrium yaw) is the angle, by which the
momentary axis of precession deviates from the direction of flight (see figure
). As soon as the
transient yaw induced at the muzzle has been damped out for a stable bullet, the yaw angle d equals
the yaw of repose.
The magnitude of the yaw of repose angle is typically only fractions of a degree close to the muzzle,
but may take considerable values close to the summit especially for high-elevation angles.
The occurrence of the yaw of repose is responsible for the side drift of spin-stabilized projectiles even
in the absence of wind. The spin-dependent side drift is also called derivation.
It can be shown that for right-hand twist, the yaw of repose lies to the right of the trajectory. Thus the
bullet nose rosettes with an average off-set to the right, leading to a side drift to the right.
The above formula for the yaw of repose vector is an approximation for stable bullet flight.
If a bullet flies stable (gyroscopically and dynamically!) and the transient yaw has been damped out,
usually after a travelling distance of a few thousands of calibres, the bullets axis of symmetry and the
tangent to the trajectory deviate by a small angle, which is said to be the yaw of repose
For bullets fired with right-handed twist, the longitudinal axis points to the right and a little bit upward
with respect to the direction of flight, leading to a side drift to the right. The yaw of repose, although
normally measuring only fractions of a degree, is the reason for the side deviation of spin-stabilized
bullets.