chuck wrote:

Peak current of 100,000 A for 1 microsecond in wire with resistance of
(say) one ohm gives energy of 10,000 Joule.

If the wire is No. 12, that would warm it up pretty well, but vaporize?

Where have I gone astray?

TIA

Chuck

So far, correct. But, that 10,000 J equates to 1E16
[100,000,000,000,000,000] watts peak power.

There is a thermal shock wave that occurs in the wire. There is a
transient magnetic wave in the wire.

The failure mechanism has been empirically correlated to peak power
times [pulse width^1/2].

The wire, or portions of it goes away!!