Nanostructured aluminum powders were obtained by means of planetary ball milling with methanol as the Process Control Agent (PCA). The behavior, during milling, was considered measuring the microhardness and grain size at different milling times. Bulk near-full density samples were sintered using the Spark Plasma Sintering technology with different schedules: temperature of and , pressure of 30 MPa and 60 MPa and different modes of applying the pressure were changed in order to understand the behavior during sintering. All the samples retained their nanostructure with an increase of the grain size from about 46 up to 70-90 nm.

Ceramic-Metal Functionally Graded Materials (FGM) are of great interest for application as Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) or Wear Resistant Coating (WRC). Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) is a promising techniques for time-saving consolidation of laminated/graduated powder systems: SPS is a pressure-assisted electrical sintering method which directly applies a pulsed DC current as heat source. In the present work, production of FGMs by means of Spark Plasma Sintering is considered; effect of sintering condition on density, hardness and fracture toughness is studied. Problems correlated to this new processing technology are discussed.