Study of metal conductivity near the critical point using a microwire electrical explosion in water

Abstract

Electrical explosion of aluminum and tungsten microwires in water was studied both experimentally and numerically. The experimental range of currents through the wire was 0.1–1 kA for explosion times of 40–300 ns and current densities up to 1.5×108 A/cm2. The experimental results were interpreted on the basis of magnetohydrodynamical simulation with various metal conductivity models. A comparison of the experimental and numerical results allows the conclusion to be drawn that the metal conductivity models used in this work are adequate.