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Updated: Oct 29, 2025
Determination of Thermodynamic Properties of Alkaline Earth-liquid Metal Alloys Using the Electromotive Force Technique
Published on: November 3, 2017
Determining the electrical conductivity of metals using the 2 MA Thor pulsed power driver
Andrew Porwitzky1, Kyle R Cochrane1, Brian Stoltzfus1
1Sandia National Laboratories, 1515 Eubank Blvd. SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87123, USA.
Abstract:
We present the development of a pulsed power experimental technique to infer the electrical conductivity of metals from ambient to high energy density conditions. The method is implemented on Thor, a moderate scale (1-2 MA) pulsed power driver. The electrical conductivity of copper at elevated temperature (>4000 K) and pressure (>10 GPa) is determined, and a new tabular material model is developed, guided by density functional theory, which preserves agreement with existing experimental data. Minor modifications (<10%) are found to be necessary to the previous Lee-More-Desjarlais model isotherms in the vicinity of the melt transition in order to account for observed discrepancies with the new experimental data. An analytical model for magnetic direct drive flyer acceleration and Joule heating induced vaporization based on the Tsiolkovsky "rocket equation" is presented to assess sensitivity of the method to minor changes in electrical conductivity.
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