Study of Electric Explosion of Flat Micron-Thick Foils at Current Densities of (5−50)×108 A/cm2

Abstract

Electric explosions of flat Al, Тi, Ni, Cu, and Та foils with thicknesses of 1−16 μm, widths of 1−8 mm, and lengths of 5−11 mm were studied experimentally on the BIN, XP, and COBRA high-current generators at currents of 40−1000 kA and current densities of (5–50) × 10⁸ A/cm². The images of the exploded foils were taken at different angles to the foil surface by using point projection radiography with an X-pinch hot spot as the radiation source, the spatial resolution and exposure time being 3 μm and 50 ps, respectively, as well by the laser probing method with a spatial resolution of 20 μm and an exposure time of 180 ps. In the course of foil explosion, rapidly expanding objects resembling the core and corona of an exploded wire were observed. It is shown that the core of the exploded foil has a complicated time-varying structure.