Comparison of electrical explosions of Cu and Al wires in water and glycerol

Abstract

The results of experiments on single Cu and Al wire electrical explosions with a current density of $10 8 A/cm 2 in water and glycerol on ns-and ls-timescales are presented. Framing and streak images of the exploding wires and generated shock waves were used for the analysis of the possible contribution of Al and glycerol combustion to the shock wave velocity and pressure behind its front. It was shown that on nanosecond and microsecond timescales of wire explosions, one obtains Al and glycerol combustion. However, Al combustion does not contribute to the velocity of the generated shock wave because of a relatively slow rate of energy density deposition into the water flow. Nevertheless, electrical explosion of Al and Cu wires in glycerol showed a significant increase in the generated shock wave velocity and consequently in the pressure behind its front as a result of glycerol's higher density and combustion. Published by AIP Publishing.

Phase transitions of copper, aluminum, and tungsten wires during underwater electrical explosions

“…The experiments were carried out using two ls-timescale pulse generators. 47,48 Each of these generators is based on four low-inductance high-voltage (HV) capacitors, connected in parallel and having a total capacitance of either 0.88 lF or 9.6 lF, charged to either 35 kV or to 25 kV, respectively, and discharged by spark gas switches (see Fig. 1).…”

Electrical wire explosion as a source of underwater shock waves

“…EWE has been operated in various mediums (e.g. vacuum, air [15][16][17][18][19][20][21], water, glycerol [22][23][24], and other organic compounds [25,26]) and over a wide parameter range, with current amplitudes ranging from kA to MA and time scales from tens of ns to ms. The state of the exploding product (EP) largely depends on the Joule energy deposition (E dep ) into the wire, which is often compared to the energy of vaporization (E vap ) of the wire [27].…”

Density evolution of a copper wire during nanosecond timescale underwater explosions

“…These data agree with the earlier published results where laser backlighting streak images of exploding wires were used to estimate the radial expansion of the wire. 27 Here, let us note that at earlier times, backlighting can only be used as an estimate of the wire expansion, because the shock wave and wire radius expansions cannot be distinguished.…”

“…Framing and streak laserbacklit shadow imaging with $10 À3 cm space and $10 À8 s time resolution are applied to measure the radial expansion of the exploding wire and follow the generated shock wave. [26][27][28] The waveforms of the discharge current, the resistive voltage, and the radial expansion of the exploding wire are then compared with the results of numerical simulations. If the experimental data and the numerical results do not agree, the EOS and the conductivity models are modified accordingly.…”