AN UNDERWATER SHOCK-WAVE RESEARCH DEVICE

It is the purpose of this article to describe the design, construction, and operation of a highly versatile, low cost experimental facility to produce, by electrical breakdown of water, weak underwater shock waves in the 50 to 2000 bar range. The device as a whole is described and then the electrical circuit used to generate the shock waves is explained in some detail. The semi-ellipsoidal or parabolic focusing mirrors, used to improve the efficiency in the transfer to the energy generated in an underwater shock wave, are also discussed. The measurement and control systems for operation of the device are described. Finally, a discussion of some of the experimental results is presented. As far as we know, this is the only apparatus of its kind with such a wide capability.