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# Numerical Studies on Microwave Heating of Thermoplastic-Ceramic Composites Supported on Ceramic Plates

[+] Author and Article Information
Tanmay Basak1

Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Chennai 600036, Indiatanmay@iitm.ac.in

Sankaran Durairaj

Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Chennai 600036, India

1

Corresponding author.

J. Heat Transfer 132(7), 072701 (Apr 22, 2010) (12 pages) doi:10.1115/1.4000948 History: Received December 01, 2008; Revised November 18, 2009; Published April 22, 2010; Online April 22, 2010

## Abstract

A detailed theoretical analysis has been carried out to study efficient microwave assisted heating of thermoplastic (Nylon 66) slabs via polymer-ceramic-polymer composite attached with ceramic plate at one side. The ceramic layer or plate is chosen as $Al2O3$ or SiC. The detailed spatial distributions of power and temperature are obtained via finite element simulation. It is found that uniform heating with enhanced processing rate may occur with specific thickness of $Al2O3$ composite, whereas SiC composite leads to enhanced processing rate with higher thermal runaway for thick Nylon samples attached with $Al2O3$ plate. SiC composite is effective due to enhanced processing rate, whereas $Al2O3$ is not effective due to reduced processing rate for thin samples attached with $Al2O3$ plate. For samples attached with SiC plate, thermal runaway is reduced by SiC composite, whereas that is not reduced by Alumina composite. Current study recommends efficient heating methodologies for thermoplastic substances with ceramic composite to achieve a higher processing rate with uniform temperature distribution.

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## Figures

Figure 1

Schematic illustration of sample exposed to a plane electromagnetic wave: (a) polymer sample with ceramic plate (case 1) and (b) discrete polymer sample with ceramic plate (cases 2a-2d). (c) The chart for thickness ratios of cases 2a-2d. Note that the continuous or discrete sample is attached with ceramic plate either at the left side or right side. The dotted lines with plate denote the case with ceramic plate attached at left face and solid line with plate denote the case with attached plate at right face only.

Figure 2

Processing time; temperature difference for continuous sample versus sample thickness (LS) with/without ceramic plates corresponding to type 1 incidence ((a) and (b)) and type 2 incidence ((c) and (d))

Figure 3

Processing time; temperature difference for first and second polymer layers versus intermediate layer thickness (la) for all cases corresponding to Nylon 66 attached with Alumina plate at right side due to one side incidence. Note that Alumina is composited as intermediate layer corresponding to (a) LI, (b) LII, (c) LIII, and (d) LIV length scales.

Figure 4

Processing time; temperature difference for first and second polymer layers versus intermediate layer thickness (la) for all cases corresponding to Nylon 66 attached with Alumina plate at left side due to one side incidence. Note that Alumina is composited as intermediate layer corresponding to (a) LI, (b) LII, (c) LIII, and (d) LIV length scales.

Figure 5

Processing time; temperature difference for first and second polymer layers versus intermediate layer thickness (la) for all cases corresponding to Nylon 66 attached with SiC plate at right side due to one side incidence. Note that SiC is composited as intermediate layer corresponding to (a) LI, (b) LII, (c) LIII, and (d) LIV length scales.

Figure 6

Power, temperature, and temperature difference (ΔTp) distributions for LIII length scale of Nylon 66 attached with Alumina plate at right side and with Alumina as intermediate layer corresponding to case 2b due to one side incidence with (a) la=0 cm, (b) la=0.05 cm, (c) la=0.1 cm, and (d) la=0.3 cm. The shaded regime denotes intermediate Alumina layer and Alumina plate. The symbols I and II in last column of figures represent first layer (- - -) and second layer (⋯), respectively, to illustrate ΔTp and T¯. The inset shows average temperature (T¯) versus t.

Figure 7

Power, temperature, and temperature difference (ΔTp) distributions for LIII length scale of Nylon 66 attached with Alumina plate at left side and with Alumina as intermediate layer corresponding to case 2d due to one side incidence with (a) la=0 cm, (b) la=0.05 cm, (c) la=0.1 cm, and (d) la=0.3 cm. The shaded regime denotes intermediate Alumina layer and Alumina plate. The symbols I and II in last column of figures represent first layer (- - -) and second layer (⋯), respectively, to illustrate ΔTp and T¯. The inset shows average temperature (T¯) versus t.

Figure 8

The optimal processing strategies for sample-ceramic composites attached with various ceramic plates

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