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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 March 2006
Water jets are produced by vertically accelerating a rotating cone partially filled with water. It is shown that the acceleration of the parabolic meniscus results in a motion similar to that observed in a shaped explosive charge (Monroe jet). Acceleration of the cone is effected by means of an inductive electromagnetic accelerating device (conical pinch) whose theory is developed in terms of the WKB approximation. A second-order inviscid theory for the motion of the fluid in the cone in terms of the Penney-Price linearization procedure is presented and it is shown that good agreement for the jet head velocity can be achieved for low velocities. At higher velocities, experimental results appear to lag behind the theoretical ones, probably owing to the dispersal of the jet head through viscous drag with the surrounding atmosphere. The shape of the jet at early times is well represented by first-order theory.