Numerical simulation of energy deposition improvements in electrical wire explosion using a parallel wire

The energy deposition process of electrical wire explosion under vacuum or low gas pressure circumstances is usually terminated prematurely due to the flashover along the surface of wires; therefore energy deposited into wires can be far less than the amount needed to fully vaporize them. In this paper, a parallel wire is introduced in order to improve the energy deposition of the concerned wire before flashover takes place. Wire explosion driven by current with dozens of ns rise time and ~1kA amplitude was studied numerically, and results of simulation showed that by using a parallel wire of certain size, the voltage rising rate was suppressed and the flashover was delayed; therefore the energy deposited into the concerned wire was increased efficiently.