Two-dimensional multiphysics model of microwave sintering

Recently, microwave heating has shown promise as a potential source of thermal energy to drive the materials manufacturing process known as sintering. We present here a two-dimensional model of microwave sintering that describes the physical phenomena that influence the process (i.e., electromagnetics, heat transfer and mechanical deformation), including the influence that temperature and relative density have on the dielectric and thermal properties of the sample. The model relies on finite difference methods for the electromagnetic and thermal models, and a Master Sintering Curve to construct the inverse function for density evolution, and is presented together with its computer implementation as a series of Python scripts, which runs quickly and whose accuracy is demonstrated via comparison to experimental results from literature.