Development of a Discharge Channel upon Electric Explosion of a Wire in Interrupted‐ and Uninterrupted‐Current Regimes

Experimental results on the electrical explosion of thin W, Cu and Ni wires with a current density of ∼1012 A/m2, a current rise rate (dI/dt) ∼40 A/ns and a current pulse with amplitude 9 kA are presented. The structures of the discharge channels developed in single wire explosions in air and vacuum using laser shadow and schlieren imaging have been studied under the condition that the current in the circuit was interrupted. A difference in the shock wave propagation in air and the expansion of the exploded wire dense core in interrupted‐ and uninterrupted‐current regimes has been observed. Analysis of the optical images has been performed in a shunting breakdown scenario.