Anyone who uses a microwave knows that metals, such as aluminum foil, should not be placed in these ovens, but a team of Penn State material scientists is microwaving a wide range of powder metals and producing machine components with improved properties.
Powder metals do absorb microwave radiation and can be heated and sintered, using microwaves.
Sintering is used to manufacture many parts made from ceramics, metals and combinations of materials. Green products composed of fine particles and a small amount of binder compressed and dried, are heated to a point where the binder disappears and, over time and higher temperatures, the material is fully sintered. A solid, dense material forms after the microwave treatment. Microwave sintering allows complex shapes to be manufactured with savings in time and energy, but conventional sintering can take long periods of time and large amounts of energy. Metals included iron, steel, copper, aluminum, nickel, molybdenum, cobalt, tungsten, tungsten carbide, and tin.