ABSTRACT
Magnesium is a biodegradable metal that presents in an amount of 760 mg in the human body. Consequently, magnesium, its alloys, and composites are widely used as a biodegradable biomaterial for fixation aids in arthroplasty. The degradation attribute makes this material very demanding in medical applications. This chapter discusses the need for modeling and simulation tools in the development of various artificial biomaterials, and how this software predicts the working performance of biomaterial without applying it in an actual working environment. A 3D model for microwave heating of biodegradable biomaterial is designed. This model was developed using the COMSOL Multi-physics software tool, where simulations were carried out to identify the influences of microwave energy and the electric and magnetic field distribution inside the applicator operated at 2.45 GHz and 1.45 kW. Magnesium alloy; AZ31 is used as a targeted material. AZ31 alloy pellets are simulated under similar processing conditions and analyzed the simulated data. Simulated results revealed the field distribution and temperature variation inside the metal pellets that depends on material properties. In addition, microwave heating of the same metal pallet is performed experimentally, and plotted time-temperature curve is for comparison of simulated data. These simulated and experimental data can be used for further study of other magnesium alloys and composites for optimization of process parameters during microwave processing.
