Suppressors Silencer design considerations

[Stealth-X]

These are general silencer theory questions. Do you think slowing and cooling the air is more important (more baffles) or providing more room for the gasses to expand (less baffles)? I know both are important but I'm curious what your thoughts are on the trade offs. The more baffles the less internal volume for expansion, but there are more obstacles to slow the air. More baffles also means more surface area to absorb and transfer heat energy. How do you determine the correct blend w/out experimenting? Are there mathematical models or equations or is it just a matter of building it and testing?

I will try to illustrate. Periods (......) are spacers, (|, \, and /) are baffles. Is there are way to test the effectiveness without building the silencer and using it?

Does spacing matter?
...|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|
...||.|..|..|.|.||
...|..|..|||..|..|
Do angles matter?
...\.\.\.\|/./././
....\//\//\//\//\|
How much is too much?
...|||||||||||||||
Or too little?
...|….|….|


Is there no difference between the first 3 because they have the same volume and number of baffles or might the spacing or pattern actually vary the effectiveness? The second to last one would have the least internal volume because of the space taken up by the baffles, but it would have the most effective heat transfer to the can's exterior.

What do we know about blast chambers? How big should they be? Is there a rule, like 20% of the internal volume or something? Why do we need a blast chamber? Why not bring the baffles closer to the muzzle?

Then, thinking of heat transfer, surface area comes to mind. Shouldn't the exterior of silencers have fins or radiators to allow for faster cooling? Shouldn't baffles and spacers have fins or textures to provide more surface area to absorb heat from the hot gasses? I'm not talking fine texture which would be caked w/ powder residue too quickly, but grooves along their face offset on both sides of the baffle for instance.

Here's a side view of a single baffle to show what I mean by offset grooves. These could be straight across the baffle or grooves of concentric circles:

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Just looking for your thoughts, insights, and experiences.

Regards,
Nate

 

[sinister]

Re: Silencer design considerations

The bottom line is the suppressor must slow/delay gas release long enough to prevent forming a supersonic blast wave as the bullet clears the muzzle. Everything pivots around function.

Designs are a compromise between perfection and cost. Suppressors designed for quick, quiet use (say for a sniper, during an assault, or an initial shoot and break contact use) will be quite different from those for sustained fire (say someone on a security perimeter who will be engaging lots of rapid, short duration prairie dog exposures).

A hobby suppressor may also be built of different materials than a military sustained-fire unit.

I've used OPSINC suppressors with thousands of rounds through them that were over 20 years old and still going strong. I've destroyed some very effective, quiet suppressors in less than 300 rounds.

 

[257speed]

Re: Silencer design considerations

Best thing to do is go over here
http://www.silencertalk.com
tons of good info, pics and cad drawings do lots of searches and then ask questions.

 

[Willieboy]

Re: Silencer design considerations

There is a lot of info on this site .....

http://www.guns.connect.fi/rs/index.html

 

[bohem]

Re: Silencer design considerations

http://www.amazon.com/Silencer-History-P...1389&sr=8-1

Read this book.

As well as slowing/expanding the gasses for stopping the sonic boom from forming you are also going to want to stop the further ignition/burn of gases as they exit the muzzle.

This is why many silencers are more quiet after the first shot than on the first shot.

If you have very small clearances and pass throughs for the baffles you can arrest the burning gasses much better.