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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
The role of intergranular glassy phases in the microwave joining of alumina ceramic rods has been investigated. Alumina ceramics of different purities have been examined using a TE102 single mode rectangular resonant cavity operating at 2.45 GHz. Temperature and axial pressure were varied and the resultant join microstructures analyzed. The presence of a glassy grain boundary phase has been shown to improve the ability to microwave join alumina ceramics by increasing the dielectric loss of the ceramic and, when softened, by enabling the alumina grains to flow under the imposed load. Evidence has also been found for the sintering of individual grains where they have come into contact across the join line.