Possibility of Changing the Plasma Formation Time during Conductor Electrical Explosion in the Skin Mode

A mathematical model is developed that describes the process of the initial stage of electrical explosion of cylindrical conductors in the skin current mode. The model describes: nonlinear diffusion of the magnetic field; Joule heating; dynamics of the conducting material under the action of the Ampere force and thermoelastic stresses; phase transitions “solid–liquid” (melting) and “liquid–vapor” (evaporation). The influence of a non-uniform initial spatial profile of specific electrical resistance $${{\rho }_{e}}(r)$$ near the conductor surface on the processes under study is analyzed. Profiles $${{\rho }_{e}}(r)$$ with different abruptness of transition from surface to volume values, and with different effective thickness of the modified layer are considered. The possibility of delaying plasma formation on the surface due to the use of initial profiles $${{\rho }_{e}}(r)$$ with increased values of specific resistance on the surface is discovered.