Mechanism of wire breaking due to sparks in proportional or drift chambers

Abstract The mechanism of wire breaking due to sparks is examined by a setup allowing for a fast change of mechanical wire tension and for optical and electronical registration of sparks. It is shown, that it is possible to choose a wire tension dependant on the capacitance (between the high voltage and ground) so that the wire will not be damaged by sparks. The effect of sparks to wires are compared between tungsten and steel wires and between two chamber gases (argon-methane and pure isobutane).