Slip Casting of Continuous Functionally Gradient Material

Abstract

This is the first study of slip cast continuous FGM. The material system used here is Al2O3, W, Ni, and Cr. For preliminary investigation and evaluation of sample properties, several tests were conducted. These analyses yielded the following results:(1) Samples produced in this study contain three distinguishable zones: the filtrated low metal content zone, the sedimented high metal content zone, and the sedimented low metal content zone.(2) Since a continuous compositional gradient exists in the sedimented zones, FGM having a gradually increasing Al2O3 content and a gradually decreasing metal content can be obtained by eliminating the filtrated low metal content zone either during green finishing or during final finish ing.(3) The thermal expansion characteristic of these samples is similar to that of pure Al2O3 because these samples contain Al2O3 rich matrix throughout their bodies. Other properties such as fracture toughness, hardness, and electrical resistance of this material vary along the sample length in the forming direction.