Fabrication of Functionally Graded Material (FGM) Set-Up

Abstract

Functionally graded materials (FGMs) are advanced composites with graded properties that are novel concepts in the structural design of materials and have extensive applications in the aerospace engineering, aircrafts and automotive industry. FGMs with the continuous variation of microstructures and properties are expected to have the reduction of residual and thermal stresses. In case of metal-ceramic FGMs advancement over heat and corrosion resistance of ceramics and mechanical strength of metals in such applications as thermal or chemical barriers. FGMs can also be designed to take.an improved adhesive bonding strength between metals and ceramics. Multifunctional metal-ceramic structures are suitable for applications where toughness and hardness are two essential requirements for engineering and scientific research applications. The objective of the research paper is to fabricate graded metal-ceramic composites in bulk manufacturing processes for commercial applications. This paper aims at control of the evolution of mechanical properties through the use of a nanoparticle sintering aid and fabrication of graded metal-ceramic composites using pressureless sintering and bulk molding technology. A new sintering aid TiO2 was introduced to control the evolution of mechanical properties of graded Nickel-Alumina composites. The evolution of mechanical properties was then used in a recently developed two-dimensional micro thermo-mechanical analysis to determine the effects of develop gradient architectures. Finally, a laboratory-scale FGM setup is designed based on a powder metallurgy (PM) and Rapid Prototyping (RP) technology to process geometrically complex gradient structures.