Generation of Electrohydraulic Shock Waves by Plasma-Ignited Energetic Materials: III. Shock Wave Characteristics with Three Discharge Loads

As an important plasma-assisted technology to generate shock waves (SWs), underwater pulsed discharge has drawn much attention in recent years for its complex physical process. Based on three discharge loads, the water gap (WG) load, the electrical wire (EW) load, and the energetic material (EM) load, the discharge processes are briefly introduced and the characteristics of the associated SWs are analyzed. First, the experimental setups were built and typical structures of the three loads were presented. Second, the inherent characteristics of SWs under the three loads, such as their peak pressure, impulse, and time duration of positive pressure and power spectral density (PSD), were studied and compared. Finally, a cracking effect experiment is carried out to study the SW fracturing characteristics. The results show that SWs generated with the WG load have the lowest peak pressure, impulse, and power density, SWs generated with the EW load have a better energy conversion efficiency and the largest peak pressure, and SWs generated with the EM load have the maximum impulse and power density. Furthermore, SW fracturing characteristics are mainly affected by its inherent characteristics. The peak pressure and impulse determine the shock number of fracturing, and the fracture pattern is significantly affected by the PSD.