Electrodynamic acceleration of thin plates at high current densities

Abstract

Processes accompanying the electrodynamic acceleration of a thin plate liner at a high accelerating current density are investigated. In addition to determining the electrical characteristics, shadow filming of the plate profile was carried out during the acceleration and the deformation of the profile in the region of fixed attachment to the current leads was monitored. A new experimentally reproducible effect in which the plate splits into three separate fragments, which is explained by nonuniform overheating by the current of the plate’s cross section and the electrodynamics of the process, was found. It was detected that, on the acceleration of copper liners, the current sheath is separated from the metal body of the liner and diverges in two directions. The nature of this phenomenon has not yet been determined.