Microwave-powered welding tech developed at Punjabi varsity

Patiala: Researchers at Punjabi University have developed a metal-joining technique using microwave hybrid-heating technology, university officials said on Sunday.The research was carried out by D S Sahota of the university's department of mechanical engineering under the supervision of Vinod Kumar from Punjabi University and co-supervisor Amit Bansal from I K Gujral Punjab Technical University, Kapurthala.Researchers said the study demonstrated the use of microwave hybrid heating technology for metal welding applications and could help in joining diverse metallic materials.Sahota said welding metals using microwave energy remained challenging because of the reflective nature of metals at room temperature. He said microwave energy generated internal heat at the molecular level, reducing processing time while improving the properties of the joined materials.The researchers said the process enabled more uniform heating compared to conventional welding methods.Vinod Kumar, who guided the study, claimed the process consumed significantly less energy and processing time than conventional methods. He said the study successfully joined stainless steel grades such as Ferritic Stainless Steel (FSS-430) and Austenitic Stainless Steel (SS-316L), including both similar and dissimilar metal combinations.According to the researchers, nickel-based and stainless steel filler materials in micron and nano sizes were used during experiments conducted in an industrial microwave system operating at 2.45 GHz and 1.1 kW capacity.Punjabi University vice-chancellor Jagdeep Singh congratulated the research team and said such innovations could contribute towards cost-effective and sustainable industrial solutions.This is how it worksResearchers used microwave hybrid heating (MHH) technology to join metals instead of relying solely on conventional heat sources.In the process, microwave energy generates heat internally at the molecular level, helping metals heat more uniformly.The experiments were conducted using an industrial microwave system operating at 2.45 GHz frequency and 1.1 kW power capacity.The team used nickel-based and stainless steel filler materials in micron and nano sizes during the joining process.The technique was tested on stainless steel grades such as FSS-430 and SS-316L, including both similar and dissimilar metal combinations.Researchers claim the method can reduce processing time and energy consumption compared to conventional welding techniques.