Analysis of Microwave Welding of Stainless Steel

Welding is a process in joining of metals which are done by using or without using of filler materials. Generally this is done by melting the work pieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material (the weld pool) that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes used in conjunction with heat to produce the weld. A more versatile, faster and cleaner process could have a huge impact on production. Investigations reveal that application of microwave energy as a tool in materials processing is not only a green manufacturing process, but also significantly faster at relatively low investment. Microwave welding is a form of electromagnetic welding, similar to radio frequency, laser, induction and IR welding, using a radiation frequency of typically 2.45 GHz. Ease of processing and environmental hazards, are some of the issues that need to be addressed, so this type of welding. Microwave materials processing can give an alternative to high energy consumption heating techniques that are commonly used in industries In microwave processing, energy is directly transferred to the material through interaction of electromagnetic waves with molecules leading to volumetric heating. Heat is generated internally within the material, instead of originating from the external sources, and gets transmitted outward. In the present work, microwave joining of two similar and non-similar materials has been successfully carried out using a multimode applicator at 2.45 GHz and 900 w and mild steel in plate forms have been successfully joined through microwave heating within 660 s of exposure time.