Advanced manufacture of compositionally composite graded materials : an overview

Abstract: Compositionally graded composite materials are advanced materials that consists of inhomogeneous composition as well as structure that varies across the entire volume and with changing properties. Functionally graded materials are produced through different manufacturing processes which include centrifugal method, powder metallurgy method, and additive manufacturing technology. Additive Manufacturing (AM) is an advanced manufacturing process used to produce three dimensional objects simply by adding materials in layers using the digital image of the component. In this chapter, the production of compositionally graded composite materials using an advanced manufacturing method, laser additive manufacturing technologies, which include selective laser melting/sintering and laser metal deposition/laser material deposition (LMD) processes are reviewed and the recent research progress are also presented