Electric discharge in the form of sparks in the place of explosives can also be used to generate a shock wave in a fluid. An operation using the principle of generating a shock wave is called electrohydraulic forming. The characteristics of this process are very similar to those of explosive forming. The capacitor bank is charged through the charging circuit; subsequently the switch is closed resulting in a spark within the electrode gap to discharge the capacitors. The energy level in this process is lower than in explosive forming. The peak pressure developed over the workpiece is a function of the amount of energy discharged (through the spark) and the standoff distance.
Leave a Reply