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Electrothermal discharge by exploding of copper wires with different diameters.
F B Diab1, M A Abd Al-Halim2, M E Abdel-Kader1
1Plasma and Nuclear Fusion Department, Nuclear Research Center, Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, Nasr City, 13759, Egypt.
Scientific Reports
|September 12, 2025
Summary
This study details copper wire explosion dynamics using electrothermal discharge. Key findings show explosion time depends on voltage and wire size, with significant thermal expansion and property changes.
Area of Science:
- Physics
- Materials Science
- Electrical Engineering
Background:
- Understanding wire explosion phenomena is crucial for applications like plasma generation and materials processing.
- Accurate modeling requires incorporating thermal and electrical property variations during rapid heating.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the electrothermal explosion behavior of copper wires.
- To analyze the influence of wire diameter, charging voltage, and material properties on explosion dynamics.
- To quantify thermal expansion and changes in electrical resistivity and specific heat capacity.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an electrothermal discharge system with capacitor banks up to 1.11 kJ.
- Incorporated thermal expansion, resistivity, specific heat capacity, and phase transformation effects in calculations.
- Applied the Shomate equation for specific heat capacity and a fitting equation for resistivity.
- Calculated electrical property variations as functions of discharge time, temperature, and wire diameter.
Main Results:
- Explosion time decreases with higher charging voltage and increases with larger wire diameter.
- Observed a 9.95% increase in length and 19.9% increase in cross-sectional area due to thermal expansion.
- Wire temperature rise led to increased specific heat and resistivity.
- The specific action integral converged to a constant value (~2.1 × 10^9 A²s/cm⁴) across all diameters.
Conclusions:
- The study provides a comprehensive analysis of copper wire electrothermal explosions.
- Results highlight the critical role of temperature-dependent material properties in accurate modeling.
- The findings contribute to a better understanding of high-current electrical discharge phenomena in conductors.
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