Electric explosion of flat copper conductors in asymmetric and symmetric configurations in the current skinning mode

Abstract

Abstract Plasma formation on the surface of conductors as a result of a skin explosion is one of the key issues of the efficiency of energy transportation along the vacuum lines of terawatt-level pulsed generators. Experimental studies of plasma formation on the surface of flat conductors were carried out on the MIG generator (current level ~ 2.5 MA, rise time ~ 100 ns). The magnitude of the magnetic field induction exceeded the values required for the explosion of the conductor surface facing the magnetic field in an asymmetric configuration or both surfaces of the conductor in a symmetric configuration. It was shown that in both configurations, a plasma channel is formed on the surface of a copper foil with a thickness of 100 microns along its longitudinal axis. Experimental data on the dynamics of plasma formation at the edges of a flat conductor have been obtained. A magnetohydrodynamic simulation of an explosion in strong magnetic fields of flat conductors whose width is much greater than their thickness showed that: the expansion of the plasma along the width of the conductor is suppressed, and the plasma expands mainly along its thickness. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental once.