Results of one-dimensional numerical simulations
of the parameters of the converging strong shock wave
generated by electrical underwater explosions of a cylindrical
wire array with different array radii and different deposited
energies are presented. It was shown that for each wire array
radius there exists an optimal duration of the energy deposition
into the exploding array, which allows one to maximize
the shock wave pressure and temperature in the vicinity
of the implosion axis. The simulation results agree well with
the 130-GPa pressure in the vicinity of the implosion axis
that was recently obtained, which strongly indicates the azimuthal
symmetry of the converging shock wave at these
extreme conditions. Also, simulations showed that using a
pulsed power generator with a stored energy of ∼200 kJ,
the pressure and temperature at the shock wave front reaches
∼220 GPa and 1.7 eV at 0.1 mm from the axis of implosion
in the case of a 2.5 mm radius wire array explosion. It
was found that, in spite of the complicated equation of state
of water, the maximum pressure at the shock wave front at
radius r can be estimated as P ≈ (P∗(r ∗/r)α, where P∗ is
the known value of pressure at the shock wave front at radius
r ∗ ≥ r and α is a parameter that equals 0.62±0.02. A rough
estimate of the implosion parameters of the hydrogen target
after the interaction with the converging strong shock wave
is presented as well