This paper attempts to shed light on why the stand alone microwave processing of technical
ceramics, despite being one of the most popular field with respect to volume of research performed,
is still struggling to achieve priority status with respect to commercialisation. To obtain some
answers to this enigma and determine when microwaves should be used to process technical
ceramics, three case studies are explored. The conclusion is that microwaves should be used to
process technical ceramics when specific advantage can be taken of the intrinsic nature of microwave
energy and not simply as an alternative energy source. In addition, it is concluded that from a
commercialisation view point hybrid processing is often a better approach than the use of pure
microwaves.
History
School
Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering
Department
Materials
Citation
BINNER, J.G.P. and VAIDHYANATHAN, B., 2009. When should microwaves be used to process technical ceramics? Materials Science Forum, 606, pp. 51-59 [doi:10.4028/0-87849-350-6.51]