This thesis describes a new method to accelerate flyer plates for high-pressure experiments utilising the pulsed power driven explosion of a planar wire array submerged in a water bath as a pressure source. The typical acceleration dynamics of such a system are described, including the contribution of magnetic acceleration via induced current and shock reverberation in an aluminium flyer plate. Maximum usable velocity achieved from a peak current of 550 kA was 1100 m/s. Analysis of the shocks in water and aluminium indicate a particle velocity in the water of 1020 m/s and shock pressure in the water of ~ 3 GPa, leading to shock pressure in the aluminium of 7 GPa. 3D and 2D MHD simulations of this system, performed using the GORGON MHD code, are also discussed, allowing calculation of shock properties and uniformity as they propagate through the water and plate, showing reasonable agreement with experiment up to shock breakout. We have experimentally demonstrated a configuration for the use of such a flyer in a shock experiment setup, and found that the explosion of a foil appears to produce similar results to a wire array with similar properties.

To further understand the underlying effects behind this wire explosion, we have performed experiments performed at the ESRF synchrotron performing radiography on exploding wires. These allowed us to map the position of the shock front and expanding wire material against time, and verify the shock launch time relative to the resistive voltage temporal profile. We also describe experiments performing radiography along the axis of a cylindrical array, showing the formation of secondary and tertiary shocks and their significance in balancing a corrugated shock front generated by the explosion of discrete wires into a smooth shock front.

In all cases, we compare the results of these experiments to magnetic stripline flyer plates accelerated with the same machine. ~ 2× greater maximum usable velocity was achieved using magnetically accelerated flyer plates, but promise is shown for using underwater electrical wire explosions to accelerate larger area, thicker plates.