Investigation of microwave heating with time varying material properties

Processing of materials at microwave frequencies is made difficult by physical properties that change significantly with temperature. A microwave heating model with material properties that change slowly with time and temperature has been developed. A frequency domain finite element solution of the electric field is coupled to time domain finite element diffusion equation to study the evolution of temperature profiles. The temperature change is determined from the balance of power dissipation, thermal diffusion and thermal convection.