The Chinese Have Figured Out How to 3D Print Ammunition Propellant

[rangerrebew]

The Chinese Have Figured Out How to 3D Print Ammunition Propellant
 

by TTAG Contributor |

Jul 17, 2020 |
 

Courtesy Xi’an Modern Chemistry Research Institute and 3dprintingindustry.com

By Ivan the Troll

Chinese researchers from the Xi’an Modern Chemistry Research Institute have found a technique that couples high explosives with SLA (resin) 3D printing to accelerate a projectile to considerable velocities…as high as 1043 m/s. This is the first instance I am aware of where 3D printing has been used to process a stand-in for propellant in a firearm-related application.

In the research paper released by the Institute (reported by 3dprintingindustry.com), they explain how they used filler resin, RDX (a high explosive), as well as a plasticizer that would give the printed parts more suitable mechanical properties. This plasticizer itself is also considered an energetic material, meaning it would explode/combust with the RDX.

Their projectile was a 200g ball (30mm bore diameter)…that’s nearly 3100 grains. At 1043 m/s (roughly 3400 fps), that’s about five times more muzzle energy than a .50 BMG round.

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/the-chinese-have-figured-out-how-to-3d-print-ammunition-propellant/

[Elderberry]

Fabrication and investigation of 3D-printed gun propellants

Science Direct Volume 192, July 2020, 108761

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127520302951

2. Printing principle and materials
2.1. Print principle

The vat photopolymerization processes, also known as SLA, was chosen to fabricate a three-dimensional propellant composition. A mirror controlled by a galvanometer was used for guide the laser. The composition cured on the platform layer by layer under the illumination of an UV (ultraviolet) laser (wavelength of 405 nm). An anti-explosion SLA printer was assembled. All the samples shown in this paper were printed by this self-made printer.

All the components (epoxy acrylate, reactive diluent, energetic plasticizer, RDX and other additives) were mixed in a stirrer. Then, the mixture was added in the printing vat. A UV laser scanned the surface of the composites and selectively cured the material, building the part from the bottom up. A schematic diagram of the SLA process is shown in Fig. 1.



Finally, the demonstration formulation is presented in Table 1. The total content of energetic component is about 62.5%.
Table 1. Description of demonstration composition.
Component   Fraction (wt%)
RDX (particle size 25 μm)   50
Epoxy acrylate   25
Reactive diluent   12.5
Bu-NENA   12.5
Other additives   â‰¤2 (in addition)


Fig. 20. Remaining propellant found in the gun chamber after test.

[sneakypete]

No,they didn't. The Chinese are maybe the LEAST inventive people on Earth. They are the product of several thousand years of their "the people who draw attention to themselves are the first to die" culture.

If they have it,they stole it or bought it from someone else.