Conduction in Electrically Exploded Wires of Nonuniform Diameters

Abstract

Recent work by Me-Bar and Harel, intended to characterize the conduction characteristics of exploding segmented wires, is extended. A set of experiments on conductors composed of various materials and in various geometries was undertaken. The experimental work is complemented by two-dimensional calculations in which the magnetic diffusion equation is solved for the problems at hand. Results from these calculations are used to explain the behavior observed in the experiments. It is also observed from the calculations that different results for segmented wires might be obtained if the plasma, resulting from partial explosion of the wires, is confined radially around the wire. A set of experiments to test this contention was undertaken and produced results in good qualitative agreement with the theoretical predictions. Physical reasons for the observed behavior, as well as possible methods for ameliorating undesired effects, are indicated.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1998
Accession Number
ADA358916

Entities

People

  • Charles R. Hummer
  • Clinton E. Hollandsworth
  • John D. Powell
  • Michael J. Keele

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Coaxial Cables
  • Conductivity
  • Diameters
  • Diffusion
  • Electromagnetic Fields
  • Energy
  • Equations
  • Exploding Wires
  • Explosions
  • Explosives
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Geometry
  • Lorentz Force
  • Materials
  • Military Research
  • Photographs
  • X Rays

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics