Influence of insulating coating on aluminum wire explosions
- State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049 (China)
- State Key Laboratory of Intense Pulse Radiation of Simulation and Effect, Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology, Xi'an 710024 (China)
Single wire explosions are widely used in understanding the early stages of z-pinch experiments. This paper presents a serial of experiments conducted on the pulse power generator with ∼1 kA peak current and ∼10 ns rising time in Xi'an Jiao Tong University. Polyimide coated aluminum wires and uncoated ones were tested under three different voltages to analyze the effect of insulating coating. Experimental results showed that insulating coating can increase the energy deposition 10%∼30% in aluminum wires by delaying the voltage collapse and raising the maximum load resistance. The substantial energy deposition resulted in about 20% faster expansion rates for coated wires. Experimental evidence that plasma channel shunts the current from the wire core was observed by streak camera and schlieren graphs. This paper also briefly discussed the influence of nonuniform coating on the morphology of wire expansion.
- OSTI ID:
- 22299684
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 21, Issue 10; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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