A centrifugal gun is a type of rapid-fire projectile accelerator, like a
machine gun but operating on a different principle. Centrifugal guns use a rapidly rotating disc to impart energy to the projectiles, gaining
kinetic energy
In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the form of energy that it possesses due to its motion.
In classical mechanics, the kinetic energy of a non-rotating object of mass ''m'' traveling at a speed ''v'' is \fracmv^2.Resnick, Rober ...
from steam, electricity or other engine source rather than gunpowder. The centrifugal gun was one of a number or different ideas proposed to address the problems of smoke, over-heating, and premature detonation, that were eventually solved by smokeless powder, improved metallurgy, and shock-and-heat stable explosives.
History
A
steam
Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
-powered centrifugal gun built by Charles Dickinson of Boston was tested during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
.
This gun was popularly but incorrectly attributed to pro-Southern Maryland millionaire and inventor
Ross Winans.
Another hand-cranked centrifugal gun that fired musket balls was designed by Robert McCarty during the same period. Despite repeated tests, including one in the presence of
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
, McCarty's gun never saw service.
John A. Dahlgren however took the idea seriously, and after testing McCarty's prototype, he built a steam-powered 12 pounder which could fire 15 rounds in 16 seconds and had a range of a mile, though with extremely low accuracy. As historian
Robert V. Bruce notes: "the sole casualty of centrifugal gunfire during the Civil War seems to have been one ill-starred Army mule".
The idea was tested during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
by the US
Bureau of Standards, using a prototype built by lawyer Edward T. Moore, and advertised as a silent machine gun. The prototype used a powerful
electric motor
An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...
to spin the gun's grooved
rotor
ROTOR was an elaborate air defence radar system built by the British Government in the early 1950s to counter possible attack by Soviet bombers. To get it operational as quickly as possible, it was initially made up primarily of WWII-era syst ...
. It was abandoned due to extremely poor accuracy.
Moore was granted USPTO patent number 1332992. Another design can be found in USPTO patent number 1311492, granted in July 1919. Another effort during World War I was to build a centrifugal gun powered by an aircraft engine. This design was advanced by E. L. Rice and taken seriously by
Robert Andrews Millikan
Robert Andrews Millikan ( ; March 22, 1868 – December 19, 1953) was an American physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1923 "for his work on the elementary charge of electricity and on the photoelectric effect".
Millikan gradua ...
and the
National Research Council; the project ultimately proved "beyond resolution".
In an episode from
the 2007 season of MythBusters Adam and Jamie built a replica of the
Winans Steam Gun and found it unreliable.
Similar devices
In 2005, a new centrifugal weapon called DREAD, invented by Charles St George, was discussed in ''
New Scientist
''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...
'' and in ''
Annals of Improbable Research
The ''Annals of Improbable Research'' (''AIR'') is a bimonthly magazine devoted to scientific humor, in the form of a satirical take on the standard academic journal. ''AIR'', published six times a year since 1995, usually showcases at least one ...
''. DREAD, patented in 2003, claims to launch projectiles with the speed of a
handgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun, long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and br ...
, at about 300 m/s.
SpinLaunch, a California company founded in 2014, is working to launch satellites into space with a system similar to a centrifugal gun.
The Trinamic Technologies B.O.S.S. (Battery-Operated SlingShot) uses a "high-RPM electric motor to spin .312-caliber (7.9mm) steel ball bearings at high speed” projecting them at variable speeds of between 5,000 and 10,000RPM. The system is powered by either 24- or 36-volt DC battery packs.
[https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2020/08/28/the-b-o-s-s-a-new-handheld-centrifugal-gun/]
See also
*
Catapult
A catapult is a ballistics, ballistic device used to launch a projectile at a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden rel ...
*
Chain gun
A chain gun is a type of autocannon or machine gun that uses an external source of power to cycle the weapon's action via a continuous loop of chain, similar to that used on a motorcycle or bicycle, instead of diverting excess energy from the ...
*
Fokker-Leimberger
The Fokker-Leimberger was an externally powered, 12-barrel rifle-caliber Rotary cannon, rotary gun developed in Germany during the First World War. The Firearm action, action of the Fokker-Leimberger differed from that of a Gatling in that it emp ...
*
Gatling gun
The Gatling gun is a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling of North Carolina. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon.
The Gatling gun's operatio ...
*
Gorgas machine gun
*
Jai alai
Jai alai ( : ) is a Basque sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker, commonly referred to as a ''cesta''. It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term ''jai alai'', coined by ...
*
Pitching machine
*
Revolver cannon
A revolver cannon is a type of autocannon, commonly used as an aircraft gun. It uses a cylinder with multiple chambers, similar to those of a revolver handgun, to speed up the loading-firing-ejection cycle. Some examples are also power-driven, ...
References
External links
{{commonscat, Centrifugal guns
Projectile weapons