LAUSR

Strong shockwaves can be formed by pulse discharge in water, and are applicable in fields such as control blasting, oil production, and national defence construction. Wave front-time is an important parameter in shockwave theory and effect. In order to reveal the relationship between the wave front-time and electrical energy and hydrostatic pressure, this study proposed a wave front-time analysis model. The relations between these conditions and shockwave front-time were derived and combined with theoretical information. The shockwave front-time was obtained at several sites under different conditions of hydrostatic pressure, breakdown energy, and propagation distance. Results indicate that shockwave front-time decreases with increasing breakdown energy, when electrical energies are in the range of 15003500 J. Wave front-time increases with increasing hydrostatic pressure, when hydrostatic pressures are in the 0-4 MPa range. Wave front-time increases with increasing propagation distance within 4 m. The breakdown energy and hydrostatic pressure have significant effects on the increase of the front-time as the propagation distance increases. The findings provide references for experiments on pulse discharge in water and evaluation of shockwave performance.