| Summary: | The dynamics of wire array Z pinches are greatly affected by the initial state of the
wires, which can be preconditioned by a prepulse current. Recent advances in experimental
research on preconditioned wire array Z pinches at Xi’an Jiaotong University are presented
in this paper. Single-wire explosion experiments were carried out to check the state of
the preconditioning and to obtain the current parameters needed for wire gasification.
Double-wire explosion experiments were conducted to investigate the temporal evolution of
the density distribution of the two gasified wires. Based on the results of these
experiments, a double-pulse Z-pinch facility, Qin-1, in which a 10 kA prepulse current was
coupled with the 0.8 MA main current was designed and constructed. Wire arrays of
different wire materials, including silver and tungsten, can be preconditioned by the
prepulse current to a gaseous state. Implosion of the two preconditioned aluminum wires
exhibited no ablation and little trailing mass.
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