The Development of Overheat Instabilities in a Metastable Metal

Abstract

The development of thermal (overheat) instabilities during the electric explosion of a conducting wire has been analyzed using the theory of small perturbations. At the initial stage of electric explosion (upon melting of the metal), the substance can occur in three phases: liquid, two-phase state (liquid + vapor), and metastable metal liquid (overheated liquid). Comparative analysis of the growth of overheat instabilities is performed as dependent on the phase in which the metal can occur. It is shown that, from the standpoint of development of overheat instability, the most unstable phase is the overheated metastable liquid.