On characterization of Microwave and Conventional Cast Bulk Brass

摘要

Corrosive resistant nature of brass makes it suitable for wide applications. Processing of bulk metallic materials using microwaves is still immature. Brass is taken in bulk form and melted using a 900 W domestic microwave applicator operating at 2.45 GHz frequency and modified with a controller attachment. As-cast and as-received brass is characterized for metallurgical and mechanical properties. X-Ray Diffraction pattern analysis shows dominant presence of copper-zinc phase in as-cast brass. Surface morphology of the prepared specimens is studied under electron microscope. Tensile strength of microwave melted as-cast brass is 350.88 MPa in an average, which shows 2.5% improvement than the conventionally melted as-cast brass. Hardness of microwave and conventionally melted as-cast brass are found to be 153.3 and 149.9 Hv respectively, while that of as-received brass is found to be 131.1 Hv. It is observed from the present work that bulk metals can be processed using microwaves, which has resulted in enhancement of the mechanical properties.