A novel method for investigating the underwater explosion loads and bubble evolution

This paper presents an innovative experimental method for studying the evolution and energy output characteristics of underwater explosion bubbles. We independently constructed an experimental testing system for underwater electrical wire explosions (UEWE), in which electrodes connected to a metal wire serve as the load, and underwater explosions are initiated through instantaneous high-voltage discharge. By varying the diameter of the metal wire and configuring parallel wire arrays, we analyzed and discussed the explosion characteristic parameters and the current–voltage (I–V) signals under different conditions. The maximum bubble radius of the underwater metal wire explosion was compared with the corresponding equivalent explosive simulation results, and a numerical model for underwater metal wire explosion equivalent to explosive detonation was established. Subsequently, we discussed the characteristics of bubble generation and evolution under various conditions, clarifying the similarities and differences between wire explosions and explosive detonations. On this basis, we explored the propagation laws of shock waves and secondary pulsation waves (SPW) under different conditions. We also calculated and analyzed energy output characteristic parameters, such as shock wave energy and bubble energy. The results indicate that there are significant differences between copper wire and aluminum wire loads in UEWE. For copper wires with a diameter greater than 0.4 mm, the shock wave overpressure peak value significantly decreases, while for aluminum wires with a diameter greater than 0.5 mm, it slightly decreases. Both metals exhibit similar trends in parallel wire arrays, with the shock wave overpressure peak value initially increasing and then decreasing as the number of wires increases. Unlike underwater explosive detonations, the SPW peak value in UEWE may exceed that of the shock wave. For single wires, the SPW peak value of copper wires is generally higher than that of aluminum wires, but in wire arrays, the trend is reversed. The multi-wire parallel connection can improve the energy conversion efficiency of the shock waves. However, for bubble energy, under all conditions, a single aluminum wire with a diameter of 0.5 mm produced the maximum bubble energy, reaching 1023.1 J. These findings provide new insights into the energy features of UEWE.