Cavitation and formation of foam-like structures inside exploding wires

Large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to study explosions of aluminum wires heated by electric current pulses. It is shown that the observed nonuniform radial expansion of the heated wire is associated with a liquid-vapor phase transition, which is caused by convergence of a radial tensile wave towards the center of the wire. Tension within the wave leads to cavitation in stretched melt that subsequently forms into a low-density foam-like material surrounded by a dense liquid shell. The foam decays into liquid droplets before the outer shell breaks apart. Simulated density profiles demonstrate good qualitative agreement with experimental high-resolution X-ray images showing the complex hollow structures within the long-living dense core.