Bifurcation analysis of thermal runaway in microwave heating of ceramics

The steady-state behavior of a ceramic slab under microwave heating by tran sverse magnetic illumination is analyzed. Local bifurcation techniques are applied to a one-dimensional model to classify the region of parametric sen sitivity (or thermal runaway). It is observed that for a certain set of par ameters, there are periodically recurring ranges of slab thickness for whic h thermal runaway may be avoided. The runaway dependence on other parameter s critical to the operation of the process is also studied. The results pre sented here may be used to prevent thermal runaway in microwave heating of ceramics. (C) 1999 The Electrochemical Society. S0013-4651(99)04-011-2. All rights reserved.