Technique for determining the channel expansion rate at the stage of electrical breakdown using a grounded intercepting ring

A method is described that allows one to study the conductivity dynamics of a channel produced by explosion of a wire at the stage of electrical breakdown. Experimental data have been presented for the expansion rate of the conductivity channel in extended (up to 1.9 m long) arbitrarily shaped gapes that were produced by an exploding copper wire 90 $\mu$m in diameter. The initial stored energy and applied voltage were, respectively, 2.7–3.7 kJ and 8–10 kV. It has been shown that the expansion rate of the conductivity channel coincides with the propagation rate of a shock wave and is inversely proportional to the square root of its radius and propagation time. The radius of the shock wave is a linear function of the square root of its propagation rate. Experimental data are in satisfactory agreement with the calculated results obtained by Lin [18] in terms of the model of an intense shock wave. It has been shown that the diameter of the conductivity channel depends on the position of the trailing edge of the shock wave.