Numerical Simulation on Microwave Melting of Hastelloy C-276

Abstract

Melting of metals is of utmost importance in the manufacturing industry as it is the primary manufacturing process to obtain the desired shape and size. microwave melting is a novel technique that uses electromagnetic wave radiation to heat materials. In the present work, the melting of Hastelloy C-276 inside a multimode microwave applicator operating at 2.45 GHz and 900 W input power, is explored in numerical and experimental. This results in a significant reduction in processing time and leads to lesser material wastage. The distribution of temperature, electric field, and resistive losses was analysed to understand the microwave melting of the Hastelloy C-276 sample. The study revealed that the melting time taken was ~440 seconds for microwave melting of Hastelloy C-276.