The thermochemical properties of Al micropowder after exposure to microwave irradiation were investigated. The Al micropowder was exposed to microwave irradiation in air with a frequency of 2.85 GHz, a power density of 8 W/cm2, and a pulse duration of 25 ns and 3 µs. The thermochemical parameters of the irradiated metal powders were determined by the method of thermal analysis at the heating in air. It was found that an increase in the duration of microwave pulses and irradiation time leads to the thermal annealing of the metal particles, and the thermal processes of melting and sintering begin to dominate over non-thermal processes. The specific thermal effect of irradiated Al micropowder oxidation increases from 7744 J/g to 10,154 J/g in comparison with the unirradiated powder. The modeling of thermal heating processes of aluminum (Al) micropowder under the action of pulsed microwave radiation has been performed. It is shown that with an increase in the duration of microwave pulses and irradiation time, a significant heating of the Al micropowder occurs, leading to its melting and sintering. The results of modeling on the action of microwave radiation on the Al micropowder were compared with experimental results.
Keywords: metal powder; microwave radiation; thermal analysis.