PSI - Issue 71

Sameer S. Gajmal et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 71 (2025) 430–437

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Fig. 3. Schematic of microwave aided casting [11]

The experimental microwave-aided casting setup is shown in Fig. 4 showing different elements of the setup. The die assembly and raw material are exposed to microwave where the cavity gets heated up. Here, microwave hybrid heating (MHH) occurs Gajmal and Raut (2021). Conduction allows the charge to absorb microwave and thermal energy. Fast heating occurs, which leads to the melting of charge. The molten metal flows into the mould cavity through the sprue and top gating system. Fig. 5 shows the die being disassembled to remove the casting.

Fig. 4. Experimental set-up of microwave casting

Fig. 5. Disassembly of casting Die

Fig. 6. Pin Castings

2.5 Development of conventional die cast pins Additionally, cast specimens (Fig.6) were created using traditional casting methods using a muffle furnace (Make: Shital Scientific Industries, Mumbai). The heating chamber of the muffle furnace is 30 x 15 x 15 cm with a maximum capacity of 3.5 kW. The furnace can operate up to 1200 ºC. 3. Testing and Analysis 3.1 Solid Shrinkage The shrinkage measurements of the cast specimens along the diameter are carried using screw gauge calipers along the top, middle and bottom position of the specimen. Total 09 nos. of conventional casting samples and 09 nos. of microwave aided castings samples were made. Total 18 nos. of casting samples (Conventional + Microwave) were made.