The experiments demonstrated a strong dependence of the spatial structures of exploding aluminum wires on ambient pressures. Depending on whether having a current pause, electrical explosion of wires processes was classified into two types and analyzed by stage division. Through shadow, schlieren, and interference images, the spatial structures of exploding wires in two breakdown modes (internal and shunting) were observed. It was indicated that the basic difference is the relative positions of the wire core and the plasma channel. The breakdown mode makes a transition from the shunting mode to the internal mode with increasing pressures. Radial positions of the wire core boundary and the shockwave front were determined by comparing shadowgraphs and multi-frame photographs at different moments. The results demonstrated a gradual separation of the wire core and the shockwave, as well as their parabolic expansion trajectories. Furthermore, the average expansion velocity of wire cores decreases from similar to 1.41km/s to similar to 0.78km/s with the pressure varying from 50kPa to 400kPa. Published under license by AIP Publishing.
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