Extreme states of water obtained by generating converging shock waves by underwater electrical explosions of wire arrays

Abstract

Underwater electrical explosion of wire arrays is a promising method of obtaining extreme states of water (T > 1 eV, P > 1010 TPa). These extreme states are obtained in the vicinity of implosion of strong converging shock waves generated by the array explosion. Explosions of cylindrical and spherical wire arrays were studied in which the latter results in higher water parameters due to the shock wave convergence to a smaller region (origin of a sphere as opposed to an axis of a cylinder). Latest results obtained in our laboratory show that one can achieve even higher water parameters with the same amount of stored energy than with the spherical wire array. This is achieved by introducing parabola shaped boundaries (super-spherical geometry) in the space where the generated strong shock wave is propagating. The experimental and numerical results of this recent research will be reported.