| The focus of this thesis is to research mechanisms that constitute ice fracturing via pulsed power. This research will employ and build upon results from previous studies of the complex process employed in the destruction of solid materials by electrical means. Two approaches will be employed in this endeavor to study the influence of fusing wave-shape on ice breaking. The first method includes the use of exploding wire induced flashover. Metallized polypropylene film, a surrogate exploding wire will be used in the second approach as a fuse. The feasibility of these approaches in terms of energy efficiency is of interest and will be studied. Unlike previous studies where ice samples were fractured by discharge on the surface of the ice, wire and film will be frozen inside ice samples. This will allow for discharge to occur in ice samples instead of propagating on the surface of the ice, yielding a better acoustic coupling to the ice. As a result, the necessity of several discharges to fracture ice will be alleviated. One of the main goals is to successfully fracture ice with one pulse discharge, unlike previous research were several discharge was required to successfully fracture ice. Fracturing ice with one discharge will increase the energy efficiency of the process. |
