MECHANISM OF SHOCK-WAVES GENERATION AND MATERIAL DESTRUCTION IN A WIRE INDUCED SURFACE FLASHOVER

Explosive wire induced surface flashover has been studied as a promisi ng method for shock wave generation and destruction of solid materials . This method exhibits very high efficiency of electric energy transfo rmation into the discharge and effective shock wave generation. The fr aming photography and spectrography with temporal resolution were appl ied in order to clarify the discharge dynamics and the mechanism of th e shock wave formation and propagation. The experiments performed allo w to suggest the model of the pressure wave generation in the wire exp losion process.