Ablation mechanism of Al wires electrical explosion plasma on a propellant

This study explores the ignition and ablation of a propellant by plasma produced during the electrical explosion of aluminum wires. An experimental platform is established to investigate the mechanism underlying this process. Al wires of different diameters and single-base, double-base, and triple-base propellants are considered. The electrical explosion products of the Al wires and the ablated propellant are analyzed in detail. The results show that during the explosions, the peak voltage of a 0.1 mm-diameter Al wire is the highest and that of a 0.5 mm-diameter wire is the lowest. The discharge voltages are basically the same after the metal vapor is broken down and formed into a plasma discharge channel. The peak of the particle diameter distribution of the explosion products of a 0.1 mm-diameter wire is at about 25 nm, that of a 0.2 mm-diameter wire is around 35 nm, and that of a 0.5 mm-diameter wire is around 50 nm. The ablation effect of a single-base propellant consists mainly of thermal ablation by plasma and impact ablation by particles. The ablation of a double-base propellant is mainly thermal ablation, and the ablation of a triple-base propellant is mainly thermal ablation dominated by particle impacts. The thermal decomposition temperatures of different propellant components have a significant influence on the ablation process. These results have a wide range of applications, such as in the design of plasma generators and energetic materials in electrothermal chemical guns.