Author(s)

Y. Zhang, T.R. Marchant & S. Zhu

Abstract

Microwave heating is becoming an important industrial process due to its efficiency and speed, with wide applications in material processing. However, the underlying physics involved in microwave heating is not yet well understood; one such phenomenon is the occurrence of "hot-spots". Further research in understanding the occurrence of hot-spots is essential before this new industrial process can be successfully applied. In this paper, we present a numerical model, based on the dual reciprocity boundary element method (DRBEM), to study the so-called thermal runaway phenomena associated with the occurrence of "hot-spots". Our numerical estimation for the critical condition, under which thermal runaway takes place, is compared with that obtained theoretically whenever possible; a good agreement between these two is demonstrated. Key words: microwav

Keywords