Manufacturing and mechanical behavior of (Al/SiC) functionally graded material using powder metallurgy technique

Abstract

This research focuses on manufacturing and mechanical characterization of functionally graded materials using powder metallurgy techniques. Owing to its low density and high strength to weight ratio, pure aluminum with mesh size No. 200 is chosen as the matrix. Silicon carbide with mesh size No. 220, which has a wide range of applications due to its high hardness, is selected as reinforcement. Specimens of two functionally graded materials(FGM) with 4 layers (0%, 3%, 7%, 10%)(FGM-1) and 5 layers (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%) (FGM-2) are sintered by varying the SiC composition from layer to layer. From the microstructure, it is clearly evident that four layered specimens achieved more homogeneous mixture than five layered. Also, mechanical properties of four layered specimens attained better results than five layered specimens.