Effect of Current Rate on Energy Deposition of Electrical Wire Explosion in Air

The electrical explosions of copper and aluminum wires in air were researched at different pulsed current rate. The different current rates of $dI/dt~sim 3$ and 30 A/ns were achieved with two series of circuit parameters. Based on the measurement waveforms of the current and voltage in wire explosion, the three stages of melting, liquid state, and vaporization were divided by the definition of four critical time points, and the deposited energy in the three stages was calculated by mathematical method. The differences of process between the fast and slow explosion and effect of current rate on deposited energy in the three stages mentioned above were analyzed by experiments and calculation, respectively. Although the charging voltage of capacitor and peak power were higher in fast explosion, the peak voltage in the fast explosion was lower than that in the slow explosion. For Cu wire, the deposited energy in the stage of liquid state and vaporization was higher in the fast explosion. Compared with Cu wire, the effect of the current rate on deposited energy for Al wire was explicit in the stage of liquid state but obscure in the vaporization stage.