Design of ER damper for recoil length minimization: A case study on gun recoil system

Abstract Purpose Recoil length minimization is always been a top concern in various structural, industrial, and defence applications. The traditional passive recoil system is not able to respond quickly to the changes in the impact force. These limitations can be overcome by introducing a semi-active recoil system, which comprises an intelligent fluid damper. Design, methodology, and approach The electrorheological (ER) fluid, which responds to the applied electric field and exhibits high yield strength, will be a proper damper for the recoil system. An ER damper can bring back the vibrating system to its equilibrium in a brief period. In this article, the general design procedure of an ER fluid semi-active damper has been developed, which is suitable for a recoil system. The equations of damping forces (viscous, quadratic, and ER) are modified in terms of geometric parameter, namely the piston diameter ( D P ), which can be selected to obtain the desired dynamic range (greater than two) and optimum damping force. With the MATLAB software, the damper and spring specifications are fixed to meet the required conditions, viz. the dynamic range should be greater than two, and the total damping and spring force should counter-recoil the system. Findings Results obtained for a case study of gunfire conclude that the recoil system developed using design specifications exhibits desired performance with maximum recoil of 75.59 mm at 80°, angle of elevation, which is within the allowable range of 150 mm. It is shown that the rate of firing can be increased by decreasing the recoil length. Originality and value The novel procedure for the design of ER damper outlined in this work will be helpful for any recoil length minimization problem.