Semiempirical wide-range conductivity model with exploding wire verification

Abstract

Based on well-established physical relationships, a semiempirical set of equations dictating the electrical conductivity of dense, strongly coupled, partially ionized copper is presented. With the empirical coefficients, the model is tuned to experimental conductivity data obtained from exploding wire experiments [A. W. DeSilva and J. D. Katsouros, Phys. Rev. E 57, 5945 (1998)10.1103/PhysRevE.57.5945]. The result is a wide-range conductivity model, with demonstrated accuracy from room temperature-density conditions to 0.01 g/cm3 and 30 kK. Using magnetohydrodynamic simulation the ability to utilize the conductivity model for predictive simulations is demonstrated. A complete electrical conductivity dataset for copper has been made available to the public. © 2014 American Physical Society.