EVOLUTION OF MICROSTRUCTURE AND HARDNESS OF AL-SI FUNCTIONALLY GRADED MATERIAL CAST THROUGH CENTRIFUGE TECHNIQUE USING HYPEREUTECTIC AND EUTECTIC AL-SI

Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs) are a new class of inhomogeneous materials wherein the composition and the microstructure is varied to alter the material property within a component. The present study is to fabricate a Functionally Graded Al-Si in-situ material and to characterize. Al-Si alloys with 17wt%Si (hyper eutectic) and 11.7wt%Si (eutectic) have been used to fabricate Al-Si FGMs by centrifuge casting process. The microstructural characteristics and hardness profiles of these FGMs have been evaluated. The study shows the structure of Al-Si samples produced by this method show Hyper eutectic through Eutectic to Hypo eutectic structure along their depth. It also reveals that hardness of the sample and the silicon content decrease steeply along the depth of the sample.