A multi-physics model for microwave heating in metal casting applications embedding a mode stirrer

Microwave heating can be employed to improve the metal casting process. However, the usage of microwave ovens for casting imposes some specific problems which do not occur in conventional heating processes. In this paper, an approach is described in which a mechanical mode stirrer is used to provide a homogeneous electromagnetic field, while the heat input is controlled by the placement of susceptors. Due to the temperature dependency of the dielectric parameters a multi-physics model has been developed for the solution of the electro-thermal problem. A statistical method is implemented to include the rotating mode stirrer in the model. The results of the simulation are validated by experiments in order to create a simulation environment for the development of a microwave furnace casting process.