It's only in the movies that tanks explode pompously when hit by cannon shells. In most cases, in practice, heavy combat vehicles die in the same way as infantrymen - silently and soundlessly, catching a piece of metal accelerated to great speed. And although cumulative shells gained immense popularity in the second half of the 20th century, they still use the services of "crowbars" accelerated to an unprecedented speed to stop tanks.
Cumulative shells are a topic for a completely separate conversation. The classic "kinetic" armor-piercing projectile is, in fact, scrap metal, the armor-piercing ability of which consists of three main factors. The first is the material from which the ammunition is made. The second is the shape of the projectile. The third is the force of impact. In this case, the key factor is precisely the impact force. You can increase it in two ways: by increasing the masses or by increasing the speed of movement. The problem is that increasing the mass without increasing the caliber is very difficult. Another thing is the increase in speed. Achieve its growth powerfully by increasing the propellant charge and lengthening the bore, as well as changing its shape.
How to disperse a cannon projectile, quickly without changing its caliber, engineers have been puzzling over for decades. However, in fact, the best solution in this area was invented even before the First World War. Moreover, it was initially applied not to artillery, but to small arms. The pioneer in this area was the German engineer Karl Ruff, who presented a new technical solution for the conical barrel in 1903. Subsequently, experiments with tapered barrels were carried out in all countries, including the Soviet Union. True, at least some impressive result in this field could only be achieved in Germany. The most famous gun with a tapered barrel was the German Rheinmetall anti-tank gun - 4.2 cm Pak 41. In the Soviet Union, after a series of failures, it was decided to abandon the creation of such guns just before the start of World War II.
>>>>Ideas for life | NOVATE.RU<<<<
Although guns with a tapered barrel provided a greater projectile speed, and at the same time much better armor penetration, they also had a number of serious disadvantages. It is for this reason that promising technology has not become widespread. Firstly, engineers have to solve many complex problems when designing such a weapon in order to subsequently prevent the projectile from deforming right in the bore at the time of the shot. Guns with a tapered barrel are extremely difficult to manufacture. Secondly, the conical barrel itself is a "crystal cannon". This is a highly effective tool that does not have a long life in real combat conditions, with extreme environmental exposure and constant operation. Thirdly, guns with a tapered barrel, due to the high speed of movement of the ammunition, were actually deprived of the opportunity conduct at least some effective fire with fragmentation ammunition against infantry, lightly and not at all armored goals.
In continuation of the topic, read about why tanks with several guns did not take root in military affairs.
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/191221/61601/