Surface discharge during electrical explosion of conductors in strong magnetic fields

Abstract

Abstract In experiments on the electrical explosion of conductors in rapidly growing mega-Gaussian magnetic fields, it was found that at the initial stage of the explosion, “hot spots” up to 500 pieces/mm2 were recorded on the surface. At a later stage, a plasma layer was formed on the surface of the conductor, in which filaments, that is, current channels, were formed. In this work, on the basis of the ecton theory, a model of the development of a surface discharge is constructed. The model makes it possible to estimate, firstly, the magnitude of the current flowing through the surface plasma, and secondly, the thickness of the plasma layer.