Design and optimal selection method for the ammunition loading mechanisms in medium and large caliber artillery

Abstract

To address the issue of low design efficiency for highly dexterous ammunition loading mechanisms in the strongly constrained space of medium and large caliber artillery, this paper proposes a configuration synthesis and optimal selection method. The motion model of ammunition is established using finite screw theory, through the induction of loading motion sequences under strong constraints. From this, the mapping from ammunition motion to multi-machine collaboration is realized. Taking the motion characteristics of ammunition as the target, configuration synthesis is carried out by means of finite screw operations. To pursue the evolution goals of optimizing spatial layout and enhancing mechanism performance, mechanism derivation strategies are generated by adding closed-loop mechanisms and reconstructing the ammunition motion model. On this basis, the complex service environment is considered and a configuration optimal selection system is established to cover its core performance indexes. Thereby, six configurations with better comprehensive performance are screened out. Motion simulation verifies that the selected configurations satisfy the constraints of the confined space. This work not only lays a theoretical foundation for the innovative design of ammunition loading mechanisms, but also further promotes the development of unmanned artillery with ammunition loading mechanisms as the core components.