);  
[EMAIL_ADDRESS] (B.V)  
2 Materials Engineering and Welding Department, Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering,  
Transilvania University of Brasov, 29 Eroilor Bld., 500036 Brasov, Romania;  
[EMAIL_ADDRESS] (B.V)  
3 Department of Product Design, Mechatronics and Environment,  
Transilvania University of Brasov, Colina Universitati Street, no. 1, 500068 Brasov, Romania;  
[EMAIL_ADDRESS] (C.G. );of them focused on the analysis of the production process of these materials as well as on the modelling and simulation of the process [2; 3; 4; 5; 6] while others turned their attention to the inevitably generated residual stresses of FGMs due to thermal mismatch of each basic material using experimental and analytical methods [7; 8] or their characterization [1]. Over time, a number of techniques have been developed in order to obtain FGMs: Powder metallurgy, vapor deposition, solid free form fabrication, centrifugal casting, and additive manufacturing [9; 10]. In the large family of new developed materials, composites materials play an important role nowadays. Taking into account that an assembly of two or more materials with completely different properties leads to a composite with superior properties surpassing those of each component basic material, we realize why significant amounts are invested in researching these materials. Precisely for this improvement in terms of properties when compared to those of each component, these materials have special applications, for example in the aerospace industry [11; 12; 13], in the biomedical industry as well as in other engineering applications that require new materials with superior properties. Composites of aluminum metallic matrix with various types of reinforcers already show a wide spread in various industries, such as automotive, aviation, military, etc. Al matrix reinforced with SiC composite materials are of great interest especially for the automotive industry [14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 20; 21; 22]. Compared to aluminum alloys, they have superior properties such as high strength, high fatigue strength, high specific modulus, and high hardness. Due to the high thermal conductivity (180-200 W\(\cdot\)m\({}^{-1}\)K\({}^{-1}\)) they can be successfully used as thermal radiators in the electronics industry. A large number of research from prestigious universities and/or research institutes has been conducted in the study of aluminum alloy composites reinforced with SiC particles [17; 22; 23; 24]. However, the actual published data are limited regarding the obtaining process, while most articles deal with specific properties of the composites. Most researchers reported the use of the stirring-casting method to incorporate SiC particles [25]. Therefore, deficiencies were encountered due to the fact that SiC particles cannot be moistened by the aluminum alloy. With copper being one of the elements almost perfectly wetted by aluminum, a number of articles refer to the coating of SiC particles with a thin layer of copper leading to a correct wetting by the aluminum alloy [14; 26; 27]. Increasing the wettability of SiC particles by coating them with Cu films could be an important factor in increasing the cohesion between the metal matrix and the reinforcing material when producing aluminum-based composites [24; 28; 29; 30; 31]. Based on these considerations, the present research aims to describe the process of incorporation of the free SiC particles (coated with Cu) into the basic metallic mass (aluminum alloy). Beside the non-wetting phenomenon, the resistance of the aluminum oxide layer also occurs during the embedment of the SiC particles. In order to overcome this difficulty, the use of centrifugal casting (with vertical rotation axis in this case) is proposed. It should be emphasized that the present research continues the previous ones in this field [24]. The use of centrifugal casting in the processing of metal matrix composites (MMC) with aluminum matrix and ceramic reinforcing elements (Al\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\), SiC, TiB\({}_{2}\), etc.)