• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.979-985
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• 2011

This paper includes that there are results of designing the flash hider and analyzing fluid dynamics of a front area of the barrel to shorten the length of small arms. Generally, the muzzle flash can be generated out of the barrel by the reaction between the oxygen in the air and unburned gunpowder contained in the propellant gas if a barrel is not long enough to burn gunpowder fully inside of the barrel. Though, the hugh muzzle flash, which is a characteristic of small arms with short barrel length, caused a soldier to aim at the target at night by making the soldier blind for a while and endangers his life by revealing firing position to enemies. Besides, the heat of muzzle flash can weaken the performance of thermal sights, which are attached to small arms for night battlefield. In this paper, flash hiders with several different shapes were designed for a newly developed 5.56mm caliber rifle with short barrel length. The performance of each flash hider to reduce the muzzle flash was compared theoretically and experimentally. Through the authorized test procedure, a highly efficient design of flash hider for reducing the muzzle flash was identified. The result of the paper can be helpful when designing flash hiders for small arms with short barrel length.