**2. Selection of materials**

The materials used in the experimentation process were chosen based on functional requirements, as we intend to develop an electromechanical aeronautical application product, and thus, aluminum is the best product, with silicon carbide for high

*Experimentation and Optimization of Multilayered Aluminum-Based Functionally Graded… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107284*

#### **Figure 1.**

*Powdered form of (a) Al 356 (98% purity, 100 mesh size), (b) SiC (150 mesh size), and (c) Nickel (180 mesh size).*

#### **Figure 2.** *SEM morphological images of Al 356, SiC, and Nickel.*


#### **Table 1.**

*Depiction of layerwise composition of the matrix and the reinforcements in FGM.*

toughness and hardness and nickel for good wear and corrosive resistance, and all materials were obtained from Raghavendra spectro metals LTD, Hyderabad, and are in powdered form as shown in **Figure 1**.

### **2.1 Blending of powders by weight ratio**

The matrix and the reinforcements are successfully blended by considering weight percentages with the aid of digital weighing balance with least count of 1 milligram, and the uniform mixing of matrix and the reinforcements are successfully blended with ball milling machine with 1000 kg capacity as per ASTM D7152 standardization, which is depicted in **Figure 2** and **Table 1**.
