Fabrication of fiber-reinforced functionally graded materials by a centrifugal in situ method from Al-Cu-Fe ternary alloy

Ternary Al-13.8at%Cu-1.6at%Fe alloy was prepared from Al-Cu and Al-Fe alloys at 1000 °C. The ternary Al-Cu-Fe alloy was centrifugally cast to fabricate a new type of functionally graded material (FGM) by a centrifugal in situ method. The structure is expected to differ from that of binary alloys. It was found that the fabricated FGM rings consist of four different phases, namely, Al, Al2Cu, Al7Cu2Fe(ω) and Al13Fe4 phases. The shape of ω phase was fiber (needle) judging from the observation by a scanning acoustic microscope (SAM). The position dependence of the microstructure was examined on the fabricated FGM rings, and the volume fraction of ω phase was found to increase toward the outer region of the ring. Moreover, orientation and aspect ratio of the ω phase varied in the rings in a gradually graded manner. Therefore, the present study explores a method to produce fiber-dispersed FGMs by applying a centrifugal in situ method to ternary alloys.