Characterization of Al-Al2Cu functionally graded material produced by using horizontal centrifugal casting

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characterizations of high energy thick-walled functionally graded (FG) cylinder containing Al-26%Cu fabricated by horizontal centrifugal casting technique. Design/methodology/approach Field emission scanning electron microscopy in conjunction with image analyser software and energy dispersion spectroscopy is applied to measure the variations of constituent phase's content and elemental ratios along the radial direction, respectively. Distributions of the FG properties are measured through hardness, CTE, E and sigma(y) along the radial direction to investigate the mechanical and physical properties corresponding to the variations in microstructure. In addition, the variations of wear rate along the thickness are evaluated through a series of dry sliding wear tests using the pin-on-disk wear machine. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy is employed to characterize the worn-out surfaces and morphology of wear debris in order to clarify the dominant operative wear mechanism. Findings Results showed that Al2Cu content gradually decreases from the inner wall containing 33.3vol.% to outer wall containing 26.4vol.% in the FG cylindrical shell. The elastic modulus and yield strength measured through compression tests reveal that these mechanical properties are limited up to certain value of Al2Cu. The obtained optimum value of Al2Cu content for studied Al-Al2Cu FG is almost 31vol.%. Originality/value The obtained optimum value of Al2Cu content for studied Al-Al2Cu FG was almost 31vol.%.