New Al ₂ O ₃ –Cu–Ni functionally graded composites manufactured using the centrifugal slip casting

Abstract The aim of this paper was to establish the general suitability of the centrifugal slip casting technique for fabrication of graded material from the Al ₂ O ₃ –Cu–Ni system. The present investigation is a preliminary one and the obtained results may be regarded as a point for acquiring the new knowledge in the ternary ceramic metal system fabricated using centrifugal slip casting. The rheological study provided the evidence that the suspension used to fabricate composites is a non‐Newtonian slurry. Moreover, the results demonstrated that the prepared slurry is stable over time. The obtained composites has a hollow cylindrical shape with relative density of > 95%. The XRD study results revealed three phases: Al ₂ O ₃ , Ni, and CuNi. The microscopic investigations revealed a nonhomogeneous distribution of the metallic phase in the composite. It has been shown that the content of the metallic phase decreased with the increased distance from the outside to the inner edge of the ceramic‐metal composite. The study results allow to conclude that the interface between the phases is more continuous when sintering was carried out in a solid phase. However, it was found that when sintering was carried out in a liquid phase separated metal particles with spherical phase are formed.