Characterisation methods for functionally graded materials

In this paper the characterisation of functionally graded materials is elucidated by several different methods. These methods described here are used for the quantitative analysis of materials with a local dependence of microstructure parameters. Using X-ray microscopy (computed tomography) for 3D-measurements and optical microscopy on polished sections for 1D and 2D measurements on the same sample, a ceramic filter consisting of sintered spherical particles, various mathematical evaluation methods are described and compared. C 2006 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc