Microwave-enhanced In-Situ casting of Al-7075 Alloy: a comprehensive experimental and numerical investigation

In today’s living environment, employing green, clean, and sustainable energy to produce each kind of product is a necessity. The use of microwaves in the processing of materials has grown more prevalent in recent years. In this research, we theoretically and practically investigate the heating characteristics of a charge (Al-7075 alloy) in a microwave environment since microwave technology has numerous benefits that directly safeguard many factors linked to the environment. Microwave in-house setups at 2.45 GHz and 2.4 kW are used for in-situ charging. In-situ pouring of charge into the mould cavity is done for 15 min at melting temperature. The COMSOL Multiphysics 5.6 version is used to model and heat the charge using the finite element approach. With a maximum inaccuracy of 7.24%, the simulated heating curve for 15 min of microwave exposure agreed well with the actual heating curve of charge in the time temperature plot. Al-7075 alloys were characterized both in their as-received and as-cast states. Corrosion resistance qualities of the as-cast Al-7075 alloy was found to be superior to those of the as-received alloy, with a microhardness value that was 8% higher.