Experimental Investigations on Specific Energy Deposition and Burst Characteristics in Electrically Exploded Single Copper Wires

Experimental study has been carried out to look for the effect of varying parameters such as diameter, the rate of rise of current, and coating on the behavior of copper wire explosion in the air with an aim to, especially, observe the effect of parameters which has significance in confinement of exploded wire plasmas by inhibiting its expansion. Single-wire experiments are performed on a capacitor of 2-μF charged to voltages in the range of 11-40 kV. Effects of parameters such as dielectric coating and change in diameter (58-233 μm) of coated wires on specific energy deposition are experimentally observed at varying rates of rise of current (peak current 28-104 kA in a quarter period of 1.1 μs). Current in the circuit and the voltage across the load are measured using Rogowsky coil and voltage divider, respectively. The results indicate that the specific energy deposition can be enhanced by optimizing radial dimensions of wire, charging voltage, and surface coating. Analysis of results also suggests that the action integral is affected by the diameter of the wire and the rate of rise of currents as reported by some theoretical works so far.