Impact performance of Al/SiC functionally graded circular plates

This experimental study addresses the effect of ceramic reinforcement on the impact performance of functionally graded (FG) circular plates. The FG circular plates were produced from two different ceramic (SiC or Al 2 O 3 ) and metal (Al) combinations using powder stacking-hot pressing technique. The Al/SiC FG circular plates exhibited better impact resistance than Al/Al 2 O 3 FG circular plates. The effect of ceramic particle size was also investigated on the impact performance of specimens with different composition variations. A ceramic particle size of 50 μm improved the impact performance. In addition, the material composition and impactor velocity also affected the impact performance. Thus, the contact force increases as the composition changes from metal-rich to ceramic-rich. The peak contact force increases with increasing the velocity of impactor.