News Release from: Flomerics
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 3 September 2002
Software highlights the science of appliance
A test problem undertaken for the Industrial Microwave Modelling Group has clearly demonstrated the science behind the humble microwave oven.
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Ever wondered why a microwave oven does not cook food evenly all the way through or exactly why it needs a rotating base? A test problem undertaken for the Industrial Microwave Modelling Group (IMMG) using Flomerics' Micro-Stripes V6.0 electromagnetic analysis software has clearly demonstrated the science behind the humble microwave oven. IMMG was set up by Vadim Yakovlev of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Massachusetts, USA, in 1999 to encourage more industry practitioners to utilise the power of modern computational modelling software in the design of microwave thermal processing equipment.
The test problem involved modelling a 63mm diameter spherical potato in a 1kW microwave oven with a waveguide feed operating at 2.45GHz.
The IMMG test required tools within the software that made Micro-Stripes particularly well suited to solving the problem; namely the ability to accurately simulate the electromagnetic behaviour of the oven cavity, compute reflections in the frequency range and also the ability to extract the specific absorption rate (SAR).
This showed how energy was absorbed by the potato and demonstrated how uniformly it was heated.
The model built within Micro-Stripes demonstrated how the potato distorted the EM fields within the oven (see the image provided).
Higher power absorption at the centre and base effectively heat these areas while at the top of the potato there is very little absorption, resulting in slower heating at the top.
It is this non-uniform nature of microwave ovens that necessitates the rotating of the food and the requirement to leave it to stand after cooking.
In addition to these results, the Micro-Stripes V6.0 simulation is able to demonstrate power reflection coefficient at frequencies adjacent to the 2.45GHz output.
This gives designers the ability to find out what is hiding behind the scenes and help suggest modifications that can decrease the reflection, increasing the efficiency of the oven, an area of particular interest for the equipment manufacturers.
David Johns, EM Engineer, Flomerics, said, "The IMMG test problem highlighted the design optimisation potential of Micro-Stripes.
With the software we are able to look at a purely theoretical range of waveguide inputs from 2.35 to 2.55GHz, demonstrating relative levels of reflection and helping to identify potential efficiency gains within the oven.
In a real product, virtual design changes can be simulated, cost-effectively increasing the efficiency of the product at the earliest design stage".
Vadim Yakovlev of WPI commented, "The IMMG has very positive opinions of Micro-Stripes as an EM simulator and we are happy that, along with five other software companies, Flomerics decided to join this project.
The IMMG brings unbiased information to industry practitioners and strongly believes that industry should utilise modern computational modelling software in order to improve the design of Microwave thermal processing equipment.
It is beneficial to the whole business - reducing the cost and time-to-market while increasing efficiency and the theoretical understanding of the technology".
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