Simulation of thin aluminum wires electrical explosion

Distribution of matter in the discharge channel formed upon a nanosecond electrical explosion of an Al wire in vacuum was studied via numerical simulation. The parameters of the wire ($25~\mu m$ diameter $12~mm$ long) and the electric current pulse ($I_\mathrm{max}\sim10~kA$ peak value and $dI/dt\sim50~A/ns$ rise time) were fitted to the experiment carried out in the Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI RAS). Several series of radiative magneto hydrodynamics (RMHD) simulations were performed. The influence of the radiative energy transfer was investigated. The simulation of “cold start” including phase transitions and possible metastable states was also implemented. Numerical results are analyzed via comparison with experimental data.