Abstract: | Results of the experimental studies of the commutation characteristics of an electroexplosive breaker upon heating of a copper foil by a current pulse of duration τ≈1msec are given. The dependences of the electric-field strength and the specific power of the circuit breaker during an electroexplosion of the foil on the specific power of the source Ps are found and it is shown that the transition of the plasma-free regime of electroexplosion of the foil to a plasma regime occurs for Ps=30–40GW/g. Institute of Experimental Physics, Sarov 607190. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 14–20, January–February, 2000. |