Metallic Functionally Graded Materials: A Specific Class of Advanced Composites

Functionally graded materials, including their characterization, properties and production methods are a new rapidly developing field of materials science. The aims of this review are to systematize the basic production techniques for manufacturing functionally graded materials. Attention is paid to the principles for obtaining graded structure mainly in the metal based functionally graded materials. Several unpublished results obtained by the authors have been discussed briefly. Experimental methods and theoretical analysis for qualitative and quantitative estimation of graded properties have also been presented. The article can be useful for people who work in the field of functionally graded structures and materials, and who need a compact informative review of recent experimental and theoretical activity in this area.