Research and analysis on bubble dynamics of metal wire electric explosion in deep water

Abstract

In this study, a set of deep-water electric explosion experimental systems were designed and built to explore the dynamics of Cu/Al wire electric explosion bubbles and the characteristics of shock wave and bubble pulsation pressure under different water depth conditions. By conducting multiple sets of experiments in deep water conditions of 100–2000 m, combined with the third-order monotonic upstream-centered scheme for conservation laws scheme and the finite volume numerical method of the approximate Riemann solver Harten-Lax-van Leer contact, the dynamics of bubbles and the propagation process of explosion pressure in the electrical explosion of wires under deep water conditions were accurately simulated. Numerical verification shows that the results are highly consistent with those of the comparative experiments in terms of peak shock wave overpressure, duration, etc., with an error of less than 6.4%. The results of the deep water electric explosion experiments indicate that, at a fixed explosion distance, the peak shock wave overpressure of Cu/Al wires does not change significantly with water depth, and the decrease range is 2%–14%. The positive pressure duration of the shock waves for both metal wires gradually decreases with increasing water depth. Regarding bubble parameters, as the water depth increases, the maximum bubble radius and the first pulsation periods of both types of metal wires decrease, and the pulsation pressure drops by up to 37%. The hydrostatic pressure restricts bubble expansion and accelerates its contraction process so that the bubble energy reaches a peak of approximately 2100 J after 1000 m and no longer increases. Overall, these research results provide valuable data support and technical references for gaining insight into the bubble dynamics in the deep sea.