Underwater electrical wire explosion (UEWE) is supposed to be one of the most promising methods for the generation of strong shock waves (SSWs). A systematical study of SW propagation characteristics can be valuable reference for the industrial applications. In this work, a test platform was established, which included a pulse capacitor (6uF, 30kV), a three-electrode switch and a Cu wire (80mm length, 0.5mm diameter) placed in water. Voltage and current waveforms of the wire were obtained by voltage divider and Pearson coil, respectively. Two PCB 138A pressure gauges were used to measure SWs directly. In addition, a simplified model based on the principal assumption that the exploding wire instantly turned into uniform discharge plasma channel (DPC) after the onset of explosion was also proposed. The initial temperature of DPC was obtained by fitting the calculated pressures with experimental data. The injected energy of DPC was provided by the measured discharge current after wire explosion. Finally, the plasma properties of DPC and SW propagation characteristics were also discussed and analyzed.
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