Underwater electrical explosion of a Cu wire

Results and analysis of a microsecond time scale underwater electrical wire explosion are presented. Experiments were carried out with a Cu wire exploded by a current pulse less than or equal to100 kA with microsecond time duration. The analysis is based on shadow and spectrally resolved streak photography which were used to monitor the evolution of the discharge channel and the shock wave. The obtained data were used for hydrodynamic calculation of the generated water flow parameters, such as pressure and flow velocity distribution between the discharge channel and the shock wave. In particular, the pressure at the discharge channel boundary and the energy transferred to the water were estimated. The results of the calculation have been verified by comparing the measured and calculated trajectories of the shock wave. Based on the results of the calculation the energy transferred to the water was estimated. In addition, the analysis shows that the energy initially deposited in the discharge channel continues to produce mechanical work after the deposition of the electrical energy has ended. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.