Study of density distribution of electrical exploding tungsten wire in air

The density distribution is important information in the investigation of electrical exploding wires in the air. In this study, the density profiles of the electrons, tungsten atoms, and air at different instants were reconstructed based on a two-wavelength interferometry method. The experiment was carried out on a 1 kA, 0.1 kA/ns pulsed current generator, with a fine tungsten wire (10 μm in diameter). The laser probing images of the exploding products showed a two-layer structure, exhibiting a shunting discharge scenario. The fitted expanding trajectory of the dense core indicates that the expansion of the wire starts at the instant of the voltage drop. The reconstructed densities show the distribution of particles in the expansion process of the exploding wire. It is found that the wire core has a tube-like structure, and the plasma channel is located around the core boundary.