The propulsion effect of plasma explosion of metal wire in water

If the high-density energy is poured into metal wire in water from high power pulse source, the metal wire will explode in a short time. The generated shock wave will spread out to arbitrary direction. By using a mechanical binding device or an electromagnetic binding set, the explosion process can show a propulsion effect in a presented direction. In the experiment, some steel wires with different diameter and length are used as conductive metal load in plasma explosion. A model tube with a bottom shape of paraboloid of revolution is used as mechanical binding device to restrain the shock wave shoot in certain direction. A current shunt and a voltage divider are used to measure the current and voltage on the wire, so the power energy poured into the load can be calculated easily. The pulse power source is consisted of 8 large Aluminum electrolytic capacitors which possess the total capacitance of 1650 μ F and can be charged to the voltage of 1600 volts. The experimental results show that with a proper binding method, the plasma explosion of metal wire in water can generate a significant propulsion effect. It may be useful for side face propelling of ships in static state.