System Methods of Research of Small Arms Designs

Abstract

In the design of complex technical systems, including weapons samples, a new methodological approach, called a system approach, has recently gained special significance. The methodology is usually understood as a set of techniques and the mathematical apparatus of scientific research, which have a certain commonality and retain their practical meaning in the course of the entire process of project work. The system methodology's main methods are the description of the system in the form of a hierarchically ordered structure by constructing a morphological and functional tree, the division of objects into system and environment, decomposition of functions, and structure of the system. At the research of systems depending on the purposes, macroscopic or microscopic methods are applied.

On examples from the small arms sector, the fundamental key concepts and necessary statements of the system analysis are illustrated. The methods and approaches applied at different stages of research and design of weapon systems are considered. Automatic weapons are presented as a multilevel structure consisting of subsystems, each of which has its functional purpose. Examples of the morphological tree and function tree construction are given.

It is shown that at the early stages of designing an object, the macroscopic approach in a combination of a functional-structural method of research is valid. At such an approach, the principle of action, composition, and structure of the object are not defined unequivocally, but only the functions that it should perform are set. It allows the researcher to find new technical solutions. At the stage of technical design (when the operating principle and structure of the object are defined), the microscopic approach and structural and functional analysis are used to improve the quality of the object, such as in the modernization of weapons samples.