Overvoltage pulse development upon electrical explosion of thin wires

Experimental data are presented on the electrical explosion of wires of micrometre diameters with a 10 kA current having a rise time rate of up to 50 A ns-1. The influence of circuit and wire parameters and properties of the wire material on the process of possible rupture of current in the circuit and resulting overvoltage at the discharge gap is evaluated. A large amount of experimental data on electrical explosion of wire in various media and in vacuum in the micro- and nanosecond range is analysed. The data are compared with theoretical estimations.