Virginia Tech. Department of Mechanical EngineeringVirginia Tech. Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer EngineeringWu, X.Thomas, J. R.Davis, William A.2015-05-262015-05-262002-09-15Wu, X., Thomas, J. R. & Davis, W. A. (2002). Control of thermal runaway in microwave resonant cavities. Journal of Applied Physics, 92(6), 3374-3380. doi: 10.1063/1.15017440021-8979http://hdl.handle.net/10919/52620This article reports direct experimental evidence of the so-called "S curve" of temperature versus electrical field strength when materials with positive temperature dependence of dielectric loss are heated in a microwave resonant cavity applicator. A complete discussion of how the experimental results were achieved is presented. From the experimental results, we believe the S curve theory provides an incomplete explanation of thermal runaway in microwave heating. To understand microwave heating in a resonant cavity, cavity effects must be considered. To explain the experimental results, a theoretical model based on single-mode waveguide theory is developed. Finally, a method to control thermal runaway is described. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.8 pagesapplication/pdfen-USIn CopyrightMicrowavesCavitationDielectric lossDielectric materialsStress strain relationsArticle - Refereedhttp://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/jap/92/6/10.1063/1.1501744https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1501744