Microwave sintering of complex shapes: From multiphysics simulation to improvements of process scalability

Charles Manière (1) , Shirley Chan (1) , Eugene A. Olevsky (1)

1 SDSU - San Diego State University

The microwave sintering homogeneity of large and complex shape specimens is analyzed. A new approach enabling the fabrication of complex shapes ceramics via 3D printing and microwave sintering is presented. The use of a dental microwave cavity is shown to enable a substantial level of densification of complex shape components while restricting the grain growth. The homogeneity of the processed samples during microwave sintering is studied by an electromagnetic-thermal-mechanical simulation. The realistic densification behavior, that phenomenologically takes into account the microwave effect, is included in the modeling framework. The simulation indicates the sharp correlation between the microwave field distribution in the cavity, the temperature profile, and the specimen's shape distortion.

Keywords: Microwaves; Sinter/Sintering; Heating; Slurries; Complex shape

Domains: Chemical Sciences; Material chemistry; Engineering Sciences [physics]; Mechanics [physics.med-ph]; Mechanics of materials [physics.class-ph]; Engineering Sciences [physics]; Chemical and Process Engineering

Charles Manière, Shirley Chan, Eugene A. Olevsky. Microwave sintering of complex shapes: From multiphysics simulation to improvements of process scalability. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 2019, 102 (2), pp.611-620. ⟨10.1111/jace.15892⟩. ⟨hal-02616810⟩