Adaptive microwave system for optimum new material sintering

Microwave sintering has emerged in recent years as a non-conventional method for sintering materials with significant advantages against conventional procedures. Then, the design of microwave systems, including adaptive parts and control devices, becomes a very important topic to be performed. The present investigation describes the microwave cavity design and control and monitoring system for sintering alumina-zirconia nanocomposite. The samples were sintered in a multimode microwave furnace (2.45 GHz) at different temperatures (1200-1400 °C) in air. By microwave sintering are achieved higher density (~99%), hardness (18 GPa) and fracture toughness (6.3 MPa·m^1/2) properties and homogeneous microstructure compared to conventional heating.