Defence Technology 13 (2017) 353e359

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Defence Technology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/dt

A review on the gun barrel vibrations and control for a main battle
tank
Tolga Dursun*, Fırat Büyükcivelek, Çag

rıhan Utlu
Aselsan Inc MGEO Division, CankiriYolu 7.km Akyurt, Ankara 06750, Turkey

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Achieving high hitting accuracy for a main battle tank is challenging while the tank is on the move. This
Received 1 December 2016 can be reached by proper design of a weapon control and gun system. In order to design an effective gun
Received in revised form system while the tank is moving, better understanding of the dynamic behavior of the gun system is
7 April 2017
required. In this study, the dynamic behaviour of a gun system is discussed in this respect. Both
Accepted 19 May 2017
experimental and numerical applications for the determination of the dynamic behaviour of a tank gun
Available online 25 May 2017
system are investigated. Methods such as the use of muzzle reference system (MRS) and vibration ab-
sorbers, and active vibration control technology for the control and the reduction of the muzzle tip
Keywords:
Gun dynamics
deflections are also reviewed. For the existing gun systems without making substantial modifications,
Vibration control MRS could be useful in controlling the deflections of gun barrels with estimation/prediction algorithms.
Muzzle reference system The vibration levels could be cut into half by the use of optimised vibration absorbers for an existing gun.
Vibration absorber A new gun system with a longer barrel can be as accurate as the one with a short barrel with the
appropriate structural modifications.
© 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction achieving higher stabilisation performance have been studied in

Main battle tanks require effective weapon control system and
gun system in order to achieve the highest hit probability under all
battlefield conditions, in the shortest possible reaction time from a
stationary or moving tank to a stationary or moving target. Weapon
control system is composed of two main parts. These are fire con-
trol system (FCS) and gun control system (GCS).Weapon control
systems used in main battle tanks (MBTs) stabilise the line of sight
(LOS) and line of fire (LOF) in order to increase the firing accuracy
while the MBT is on the move.FCS determines the necessary mo-
tions of the gun and the conditions that will achieve the highest
first shot hit probability. These are realised by ballistic computation
of data obtained from sensors (laser range finder, meteorological
sensor, gun and vehicle encoder and inertial measurement units
etc.) and the application of fire inhibit algorithms. On the other
hand, gun control system implements the gun and turret motion by
the help of elevation and azimuth drivers and stabilization algo-
rithms. Controller algorithm designs which are important in
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: tdursun@aselsan.com.tr (T. Dursun).
Peer review under responsibility of China Ordnance Society.
Refs. [1e5]. An efficient control strategy must be employed to
ensure precision pointing of the gun according to the gunner's or
commander's sighting system. It is important that the gun control
system satisfies this performance under the harsh ground vibra-
tions induced due to the movement of the main battle tank along
the rough terrain. The main source of vibration in a main battle tank
is the running gear system. This system includes tracks, sprockets,
idler wheels and support rollers. Most vibrations are generated by
the constant impact of the driving sprockets on the moving tracks
when the vehicle is in motion. Interactions between the tracks and
the ground, the idler wheels as well as the support rollers also
cause vibration. In addition the running engine and transmission
are the other sources of vibration in the main battle tanks [6e8].
The performance objective of the classical gun control system is
to maintain minimum trunnion-pointing error as measured by the
gun-trunnion angular measurement sensor. Since the gun barrel is
a long flexible tube, during the MBT is on the move, the gun barrel
deflects. Therefore muzzle end points deflected LOF with respect to
the trunnion axis (stabilised point). This deflection, caused by the
terrain induced vibration of the gun barrel; results in the dispersion
of shots on the target leading to the decrease of the effectiveness of
the weapon system and reduced first shot hit probability (FSHP).
The gun flexibility is not generally considered in gun systems which

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2017.05.010
2214-9147/© 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
354 T. Dursun et al. / Defence Technology 13 (2017) 353e359

use L44 calibre gun or similar. Since 1990s, the L44 calibre gun was
not considered powerful enough to defeat the new generation ar-
mours, which led to the development of advanced 120 mm L55
calibre gun. The L55 gun is approximately 1.3 m longer, giving an
increased muzzle velocity (from 1600 m/s to 1750 m/s) to the
ammunition fired through it. Longer gun barrels, however, are
more susceptible to ground induced vibration. This modification in
the gun barrel should not decrease the FSHP of the tank while the
tank is on the move.
Since the introduction of the L55 calibre guns, researchers have
performed many experimental and numerical studies in order to
investigate the effect of the longer gun barrel on the firing accuracy
of the tank gun and increase the availability of this gun system.
Studies on the vibrations of gun barrel can be grouped in five Fig. 2. Centre line of the deflected gun barrel [9].
classes such as the determination of the dynamic characteristics of
the gun/projectile system, control of the muzzle end deflection
using muzzle reference systems, reduction of the muzzle end vi- centerline of the deflected gun barrel during the motion of the
bration using vibration absorbers, reduction of the muzzle end vi- projectile inside the gun barrel evaluated using finite element
bration with structural modifications in the gun, and last but not analysis [9] is shown in Fig. 2. In Fig. 2 each curve represents the
least, studies on the muzzle end deflection estimation/prediction centerline of the deflected shape of the gun barrel at 1 msec in-
using fire control algorithms (coincidence algorithms, which tervals during firing instant.
calculate the right time to allow firing) in conjunction with the Dynamics of a moving projectile in a gun barrel can be described
sensors such as the gun gyros and accelerometers. In this review by the following equations [10]. The total kinetic energy (T) of the
paper the first four classes of studies are discussed in detail. The last projectile/gun barrel system is
issue will be discussed in detail in future work.
T ¼ Tgun þ Tprojectile
2. Dynamic characteristics of a tank gun/projectile system 1
 1 2 1
 1 (1)
T ¼ mg x_2g þ y_ 2g þ Ig q_ þ mp x_2p þ y_2p þ Ip a_ 2
2 2 2 2
The major components of the tank gun system that may have
effect on the dynamic characteristics of the gun are (1) barrel with where mg , mp are the masses of the gun and the projectile and Ig , Ip
thermal jacket, (2) cradle, (3) cradle tube, (4) bore evacuator, (5) are the mass moments of inertia about the centers of gravity of the
MRS, (6) breech mechanism, (7) elevation mechanism (elevation gun and the projectile. _xg and y_ g are the translational velocity of
gear) and (8) recuperator as shown in Fig. 1. the center of gravity of gun, and x_p and y_p are the translational
Vibration of a gun barrel is composed of two dynamic events. velocity of the center of gravity of projectile respectively. Angles q
These are the interaction of the projectile with the barrel during and a are shown in Fig. 3 q_ and a_ are the respective angular ve-
firing instant and the vibration of gun barrel due to the motion of locities of angles q and a.
the tank over the rough terrain. The last event is discussed in the The total potential energy (V) of the projectile/gun system is

V ¼ Vgun þ Vprojectile þ Vbourrelet contact þ Vobturator þ Vfoundation moment

1 1 1  2 X 1 n n (2)
V ¼ mg gyg þ mp gyp þ kbc d2bc þ ko d2o þ k0o do  Rc1;o þ a a
2 2 2 n n

next section. The motion of the projectile inside the gun tube is
affected by the gun/projectile stiffness, clearance between the Where kbc is the stiffness of the bourrelet, dbc is the displacement of
barrel and the projectile, the gun barrel centerline curvature, the the projectile into the gun bore, do is the projectile displacement at
velocity of the projectile, asymmetric gas pressure etc. The the obturator, ko and k0o represent the stiffness of the plastic band

Fig. 1. A typical tank gun system.

 T. Dursun et al. / Defence Technology 13 (2017) 353e359 355

Fig. 3. Gun and projectile displacements [10].

and metallic part of the obturator respectively and, Rc1,o is the radial useful in determining the dynamic behaviour of the gun systems
clearance between the obturator and the bore. The last term of which include the 3D model of the chassis, suspension, track sys-
equation (2) is a power series due to the foundation moment that tem, gun/projectile and road path [22]. Using this approach struc-
occurs as the projectile moves down the gun barrel. tures are modelled as flexible and/or rigid. For different road types
Lagrange's equations can be applied to multi degrees of freedom and vehicle speeds, firing conditions are analysed in a realistic way.
(mdof) systems to derive the differential equations. According to However, this method requires higher computing power and CPU
Hamilton's principle time.
Explicit dynamic finite element modelling [23e25] is another
Zt2 effective method to simulate the firing instant and analyse the
d ðT  V þ dWnc Þdt ¼ 0 (3) interaction between the gun tube and moving projectile. Explicit FE
t1 solvers such as LS-DYNA and Abaqus are required to solve the
analysis. With this method contact between the barrel and pro-
The Lagrangian is defined as jectile, gun mount, recoil motion, gravity effect and initial flight of
the projectile is also modelled. The outputs of the analysis are gun
L¼T V (4)
barrel motion, muzzle exit time, muzzle velocity and projectile tip-
off angles. But too many details cannot be included into the model
and if all forces are conservative, Hamilton's principle becomes
since it requires huge computing power and CPU time.
Zt2
d Ldt ¼ 0 (5)
3. Vibration and control of gun barrel due to the tank motion
t1
R t2 Vibration of gun barrel due to the tank motion has been studied
Using a theorem of calculus of variations, d t1 Ldt ¼ 0 if
by experimental and analytical methods for several decades.
 
d vL vL
 ¼0 i ¼ 1; 2; …; n (6)
dx vx_i vxi
Equation (6) are called Lagrange's equations and can be applied
to derive the differential for conservative mdof systems. Applying
Equations (1) and (2) in (6), equation of motion of gun/projectile
can be obtained. By performing dynamic analysis jump angle of
projectile at the muzzle end can be determined which is input to
free flight trajectory analysis. In addition, ballistic dispersion anal-
ysis can also be performed including manufacturing tolerances of
barrel and projectile. Detailed gun dynamics analyses have been
performed recently in Refs. [11e25]. Among the presented
methods, in one approach, classical finite element method and an
equivalent mass element which represent the moving mass are
combined and analysed by a method of step-by-step time inte-
gration [11e14]. The transverse and longitudinal vibrations of the
gun barrel are determined fast and in good accuracy considering
the non-uniform of the barrel shape, inclination angle of the barrel,
inertia, interaction of the barrel and projectile, Coriolis and
damping effects of the projectile.
Flexible multi-body dynamics analyses software tools are also Fig. 4. Standard deviation of muzzle motion in elevation axis [27].
356 T. Dursun et al. / Defence Technology 13 (2017) 353e359

According to the firing tests performed on different length gun

barrels, the decrease of shooting accuracy in longer gun barrels
while the tank is on the move was linked to the increased length of
the gun barrel. This conclusion led to the performation of experi-
mental studies on the longer gun barrels. Experiments [26e28]
were performed on different tank guns in order to compare the
terrain-induced dynamic characteristics of these guns' barrel de-
flections under non-firing conditions. The muzzle tip motion of
Fig. 6. Determination of deflection using MRS.
different length tank guns were experimentally investigated on
M1A1 tank using dynamic muzzle reference systems while the tank
was moving on the rough terrain with variable speeds [27]. The
results show that, gun with a longer barrel (approximately 1.3 m
longer) deflects substantially compared to short one as shown in
Fig. 4.
Vibration of the gun barrel due to the tank motion is mainly
affected by the combination of the first several mode shapes of the
gun. The study [28] performed on M256 barrel in an M1A2 tank
moving over the RRC-9 bump course at 15mph, showed that the
Fig. 7. Dynamic muzzle reference system [30].
first three mode shapes of the gun barrel are the dominant modes
that determine the barrel shape from the tank motion. With the
application of modal analysis technique the barrel shape can be firing or environmental conditions can be measured both in azi-
determined accurately using the first three mode shapes as given in muth and elevation axes by measuring the offset between the
Equation (7) reference reticle (in gunner's sight) and the projected reticle (in
MRS) as shown in Fig. 6. The measured offset is input to the fire
Y ðx; t Þ ¼ q1 ðt ÞY1 ðxÞ þ q2 ðt ÞY2 ðxÞ þ q3 ðt ÞY3 ðxÞ (7)
control system in order to correct the LOS and LOF misalignment.
Generally, the accuracy of the correction of the LOS-LOF mis-
where Yi (i ¼ 1,2,3) are the normalised barrel mode shapes and
alignments using the static MRS is on order of 0.1e0.25 mils.
qi(i ¼ 1,2,3) are the mode shape amplitudes. Ratio of the amplitudes
On the other hand static MRS cannot be used while the tank is
q1:q2:q3 was found to be on the order of 25:5:1.
on the move therefore with this method the gun barrel deflections
The results of both firing tests and non-firing tests while the
due to the ground vibration cannot be corrected and cannot be
tank is on the move require the control of the muzzle tip motion in
input to the fire control computer.
order to increase the FSHP. In the following sections the methods
Dynamic MRS [30] uses a reflector mounted on the muzzle end
used to control the muzzle motion are described.
of the tank gun barrel and laser receiver/transmitter unit on the
rotor (cradle). This system automatically and continuously mea-
3.1. Control of the muzzle tip motion by muzzle reference systems
sures the muzzle end angular position both in azimuth and eleva-
tion axes with a precision of approximately 5 mrad and at a
Muzzle reference systems (MRS) are used to correct the LOS-LOF
bandwidth of 1 kHz while the tank is stationary or moving as
misalignments. Muzzle reference systems can be classified as static
shown in Fig. 7. Another version of this method uses a laser beam
MRS and dynamic (automatic) MRS. Static MRS consists of a colli-
transmitter located at the muzzle end in place of reflector and
mator or reflector (mirror) mounted on the muzzle end of the tank
receiver unit on the rotor [31].
gun barrels and a gunner's periscope is placed on the turret to sense
Dynamic MRS could be used with appropriate prediction algo-
the projected reticle of light. The static MRS is shown in Fig. 5. Static
rithms [32] (uses Kalman filter), which process the input from
MRS is used only when the tank is stationary and it takes some time
Dynamic MRS in conjunction with the mathematical model of the
to align both the sight and gun barrel to a prescribed position then
gun and decide the suitable time for shooting instant.Using the gun
measure the offset between the initial (reference) and final position
gyro, accelerometer etc. input the deflected shape of the barrel is
manually. This method is widely used in main battle tanks such as
obtained according to the mathematical model of the gun system.
M1A1, M1A2, K1A1, Leopard 2 and Challenger etc.
The muzzle end position of the deformed barrel shape is checked
The gun barrel droop due to uneven heating resulting from
using the input received by the DMRS. When it is predicted that the
shape of the barrel will be nearly straight at the exit time of the
projectile from the barrel, the projectile is fired.

3.2. Control of the muzzle tip motion by vibration absorbers

As indicated in previous sections if a longer gun barrel is decided

Fig. 5. Static muzzle reference system [29].
to be used then another solution to control the muzzle end motions
is the reduction of deflections by using a vibration absorber. Vi-
bration absorbers can be passive, semi-active or active. For a one
degree of freedom (dof) system with a vibration absorber included
is shown in Fig. 8.
In Fig. 8, m, c, and k denote mass, damping value, and stiffness of
the primary system, respectively and ma, ca, and ka denote mass,
damping value, and stiffness of the absorber system, respectively.
F0 and u are the amplitude and frequency of the exciting force,
respectively, x and xa are the displacement of the primary mass and
 T. Dursun et al. / Defence Technology 13 (2017) 353e359 357

analysis showed that a vibration absorber located at the muzzle end

with a mass of 4 kg and a damping ratio of 1.5,tuned at 5.6 Hz could
decrease the muzzle tip deflection of a L55 calibre gun barrel to a
level of L44 calibre gun.
Another type of vibration absorber [42] was introduced in order
to reduce the vertical vibrations of 120 mm calibre longer gun (L55
calibre) barrels. In this method, eddy current damping is applied to
a tuned mass damper. Vibration absorbers using eddy current
damping require less mass compared to traditional ones.
The magnetically tuned mass damper (mTMD) that is applied to
the gun barrel is shown in Fig. 9. The relative motion between
copper ring (conductive material) and permanent magnets gener-
ates eddy current. The copper and the magnet function as a viscous
damper. According to the experimental results the gun barrel with
magnetic tuned mass dampers (TMD), the damping ratio is 6 times
of without TMD and, 2 times of with traditional TMD.
The main disadvantage of using a vibration absorber is that a
Fig. 8. One dof system with a vibration absorber. moving part (free in the vertical direction) is subject to severe
dynamic conditions such as gun fire shock and motion of tank on
the very rough terrain. In the open literature, studies on the per-
the absorber mass, respectively. The normalised amplitude of the formance of vibration absorbers under real firing tests are not
steady-state response of the primary mass is given as reached. This topic is open to research.

vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
u !2  2
u
u 1 2 r 2
þ 4 za br
u
X u b
 ¼u
u ! !2 (8)
Fo u 4      2
k t r  4za zp þ 1 þ ðm þ 1Þ r 2 þ 1 þ 4 r z þ za
 r 3 z þ zp  r 3 z m
2
b b 2
b p b b a b b a

qffiffiffiffi qffiffiffiffiffi
where up ¼ m k ; z ¼ c ; u ¼ ka ca ua
p 2mup a ma ; za ¼ 2ma ua ; b ¼ up ; m ¼ 3.3. Reduction of the gun barrel vibrations by structural
ma
; r ¼ u modifications
m up
The studies on the application of vibration absorbers to the gun
barrel go back to the end of the 1990s. Since that time both nu- Gun barrel vibrations may be reduced by making suitable
merical and experimental efforts [33e40] have been applied to structural modifications on the gun barrel and/or cradle tube [43].
study the effectiveness of such systems on the gun shooting accu- The gun barrel flexural stiffness can be optimised to the one in the
racy. A dynamically tuned passive vibration absorber was designed shorter gun barrel by changing the geometry or the material. The
with a spring constant of 10 000 N/m and mass of 20 kg in addition steps and wall thicknesses throughout the length of the barrel can
to using the original front thermal shroud of the M1A1 tank. The be modified in order to obtain optimum solution. Another modi-
thermal shroud was fixed to the gun barrel using springs. Changing fication can be made by changing the cradle tube geometry or the
the spring stiffness overall performance of the system was opti- positions of the thrust bearings inside the cradle tube. The length of
mised. Also, adding weights to the system, mass of the absorber the cradle tube can be increased and made stiffer such that natural
was adjusted. M1A1 tank equipped with XM291 gun, XM91 auto- frequency of the gun system is increased to the level of shorter
loader and a dynamic (continuous) muzzle reference system was (L44) gun system. The structural modifications both in the gun
tested on the bump-course. Dynamic MRS was used to measure the barrel and cradle tube can increase the weight of the system so that,
muzzle angles while the tank is on the move. The test results optimisation both in weight and natural frequency of the system
showed that optimised vibration absorber could significantly should be taken into consideration together. The application of new
reduce the vibration amplitude. candidate materials such as composite materials [44,45] should
A study [41] was performed on the vibrations of L44 and L55 also be considered. Composite materials have higher specific
calibre gun barrel. Firstly, vibration data was collected from the L44 strength and specific stiffness compared to metallic materials and
calibre gun at the APG course while the tank was moving. Then this good vibration damping characteristics. The use of high stiffness
data was used in the random vibration finite element analysis to composite materials increases the natural frequency of the first
determine the output PSD (power spectral density) from the bending mode of all steel design which results in higher pointing
muzzle end of L44 calibre gun. The same input PSD was also applied accuracy and approximately 100 kg of weight saving. Although
in the random vibration finite element analysis of L55 calibre gun to composite materials provide advantage over all steel design
determine the output PSD from the muzzle end. Next, vibration because of their anisotropic structure their behaviour to loading is
characteristics of two gun barrels were compared and a conceptual complicated. Therefore the response of composite structures under
damped tuned vibration absorber was designed in order to gun firing loading should be thoroughly analysed and tested.
decrease terrain induced (due to the motion of the tank) the muzzle
tip deflections of a L55 calibre gun to a level of L44 calibre gun. The
358 T. Dursun et al. / Defence Technology 13 (2017) 353e359
Fig. 9. Schematic of mTMD applied to the tip of the gun barrel [42].
3.4. Active vibration control of gun barrel
Another way of suppressing the gun barrel vibration is the use of
the active vibration control technology. The structure used in this
approach includes sensor layer, actuating layer and base layer. In
this method a multi-input multi-output deflection controller is
built to actively suppress the vibration. The sensor detects the vi-
bration signal and transmits it to the controller. The controller
analyses and then sends the response signal to the actuator. The
actuator reacts accordingly to suppress the vibration and reduce
the deflection. This technology can be applied to gun system to
reduce the vibration level. In the gun barrel application, using
piezoelectric self-sensing actuators bonded at different locations of
the barrel, the deflection of a barrel under a moving projectile and
while the tank is on the move can be reduced. Adaptive fuzzy
control method can be used in the active vibration control for the
time-varying system. Several studies [46e48] were performed on
the prototype systems and low calibre guns systems and successful
results were obtained.
4. Conclusions
High targeting and hitting accuracy for a main battle tank is
important in the battlefield while the tank is on the move. This can
be achieved by the proper design of both fire control system and
the gun system. In order to design an effective gun system, better
understanding of the dynamic behaviour of the gun system is
required. According to the studies performed on the moving tank
scenarios:
1) the gun system having a longer barrel if not controlled properly,
may deflect up to 6 times of the one with the short barrel and
may result in poor FSHP,
2) experimental and numerical studies show that the use of MRS
and vibration absorbers may be effective for the control and the
reduction of the muzzle tip deflections,
3) for the existing gun systems without making substantial mod-
ifications, DMRS could be useful in controlling the tip de-
flections of gun barrels with muzzle motion and firing instant
prediction algorithms,
4) with the use of optimised vibration absorbers the vibration
levels of L55 calibre gun barrels could be reduced to the level of
L44 calibre gun barrels,
5) gun system with a longer barrel can be as accurate as the one
with a short barrel by the application of appropriate modifica-
tions in the mountings of the gun system and gun barrel shapes,
6) the application of new candidate materials such as composite
materials in place of steel could be considered in order to reduce
the weight and increase the stiffness and natural frequency for
higher pointing accuracy.
Moreover, the development of more detailed dynamic models
which takes into account the effects of the recoil motion of the
barrel, support flexibility and disturbances due to tank motion
could help the designers understand more clearly the behaviour of
the gun system during firing instant while the tank is on the move
and optimise the gun systems accordingly.
Furthermore, the use of advanced composite materials together
with the smart structure active vibration control technology in the
large calibre gun barrel design could reduce the barrel weight
significantly and improve the gun dynamic performance by sup-
pressing the vibration under all battlefield conditions and increase
the first shot hit probability while the tank is on the move. To this
end, much more attention should be directed to this approach.
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