Plastic Deformation and Perforation of Metal using Metallic Jet.

Pulsed underwater electrical discharges have been used in the past to generate pressures of the order of several tens of kilobars, for applications such as rock fragmentation and metallic jet production. Preliminary results for a metallic jet system have been reported earlier. A modified design for a metallic jet production system is reported here. With this arrangement, we are able to perforate 11 mm thick aluminium sheet. Such a system, at higher energy levels, could be used for oil and gas well perforation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]