Carbon fiber ammunition casing
A carbon fiber reinforced ammunition casing consists of a singular piece or two complementary longitudinal half sections coupled together. The half sections are formed with radial edges having complementary tongues and grooves to allow coupling of the half sections to complete the casing. A weld is applied along each seam where the half sections couple together and excess weld material is removed by press proofing. Each singular piece or half section is formed by injection molding or additive manufacturing of a mixture of carbon fiber and polymer.
1 . A method for manufacturing an ammunition casing, comprising:
preparing a continuous strand of carbon fiber into short carbon fiber segments;
combining the short carbon fiber segments with a polymer material;
blending the combined short carbon fiber segments and polymer material into a homogeneous mixture, wherein the short carbon fiber segments are shortened further;
forming a filament from the homogeneous mixture; and
3-D printing the ammunition casing from the filament.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the carbon fiber and the polymer material are combined in a ratio between 1:9 to 3:7 carbon fiber-to-polymer.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymer material comprises nylon.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the preparing of the continuous strand of carbon fiber comprises chopping the continuous strand of carbon fiber into the short carbon fiber segments.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the short carbon fiber segments are chopped into segment lengths between about 1/16 inch and about ¼ inch.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein shortening of the short carbon fiber segments during the blending step provides shortened carbon fiber segments having a final segment length between about 1/24 inch and about 1/40 inch.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the 3-D printed ammunition casing is a 0.308 Winchester caliber ammunition casing.