Measurements of the dynamics of imploding wire arrays

Abstract

Detailed observations of the dynamics of pulsed generator driven imploding wire arrays are presented. Peak velocities up to 20 cm/μs are measured. The peak implosion velocity is given as a function of array mass and is found to decrease monotonically with increasing mass. For more massive arrays, a core plasma is observed even when the wires in the array do not appear to implode. This core plasma may represent a significant current shunt and could cause a large decrease in the array implosion efficiency.