Abstract
Functionally graded materials (FGMs) are advanced materials with improved properties that enable them to
withstand severe working environment which the traditional composite materials cannot withstand. FGM
found their applications in several areas which include: military,medicine and aerospace. Various manufacturing
processes are used to produce functionally graded materials that include: powder metallurgy, physical vapour
deposition, chemical vapour deposition process and laser metal deposition process. Laser metal deposition
(LMD) process is an additive manufacturing process that can be used to produce functionally graded material directly
from the three dimensional (3D) computer aided design (CAD) model of the part in one single process.
LMD process is a fairly new manufacturing process and a highly non-linear process. The process parameters
are of great importance in LMD process and they need to be optimized for the required application. In this
study, functionally graded titanium alloy composite was produced using optimized process parameters for
each material combination as obtained through a model that was developed in an initial study and the FGM
was characterized throughmetallurgical, mechanical and tribological studies. The results showthat the produced
FGM has improved properties when compared to those produced at constant processing parameters for all
material combinations.