Ignition Performance of Cu-wire Electrical Explosion Plasma on Energetic Materials

Electrohydraulic shock waves has been widely used in many fields. Energy and repetition frequency are key factors for shock wave practical application. We proposed a method of using electrical wire explosion igniting energetic materials (EMs), which could increase shock wave energy and enhanced its damage effect under a proper working frequency,and analyzed the discharge property of electrical wire coated with energetic material. By analyzing the discharge waveforms and the shock wave waveforms, we studied the influences of wire diameters on ignition performances under different charging voltages. Results show that these EMs wrapped around the Cu-wire will absorb the shock wave energy to some extent, which will decrease shock wave peak pressure, while increase the impulse, and generally enhance the shock wave damaging ability. When the stored energy is low, an optimal wire dimension exists to ignite EM most effectively; when the stored energy is high, ignition performance is not sensitive to the wire parameters. Electrical explosion ignition may be a heat-radiation-shock combined process, and the three effects happen synchronously, so it is hard to distinguish their separate contributions.