Modeling and design optimization of concentric recoil systems for mortar and tank guns

Nowadays, the mounting of guns on wheeled/tracked vehicles is increasingly investigated as it enhances gun mobility. To reduce the force imparted by mortars mounted on light vehicles, this paper presents modeling and design optimization of a new recoiling mortar system that potentially replaces traditional towed, fixed-barrel mortars. A concentric recoil system for the mortar was designed, and the recoil cycle has been mathematically modeled using MATLAB software to determine the time histories of recoil force, displacement, and velocity. The mathematical model has been validated by comparing the calculated and measured firing results of a similar recoil system used with a tank gun. Then, multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) optimization technique was utilized to determine the optimum design parameters of the mortar recoil system. It was found that the newly developed recoil system is capable of reducing the force imparted by the mortar by 63.7%. Further reductions of recoil force, recoil track, impact velocity, and recoil cycle time are obtained by applying the optimization technique.