The influence of wire parameters on the characteristics of underwater electrical explosions of aluminum wires

The experimental results, characterized by the influence of wire parameters on the explosion dynamics of the underwater electrical explosion of aluminum wires, are presented. The aluminum wires of different diameters and lengths are exploded with a fixed amount of stored energy. The discharge modes, energy deposition, and shock wave properties are systematically analyzed. The experimental results demonstrate that the wire diameter dominates the discharge modes, i.e., current-pause mode, current-oscillation mode, voltage-residue mode, optimal matching mode, and under-explosion mode. Reducing wire length lowers the energy threshold for complete vaporization and promotes discharge mode transition from the current-pause mode to the current-oscillation mode, thus enhancing energy deposition efficiency. The optimal matching mode achieves the highest energy deposition efficiency, producing a shock wave with a pressure peak of 6.6 MPa at a distance of 20 cm from the explosion center and an energy conversion efficiency of 14%. Wire parameters near the matching conditions stably generate strong shock waves, providing guidance for load optimization in applications for underwater electrical explosions of wires.