Conclusion
Metal matrix composites

Metal matrix composites are now available. They have made significant progress in terms of manufacturing technologies and knowledge of mechanical and physical behavior. Designers and engineering departments have a wide range of CMMs at their disposal, offering different levels of cost/performance compromise:

• CMM semi-finished products: isotropic and inexpensive, they can be shaped from ingots or billets using traditional metallurgical technologies;

• CMM parts: made-to-measure, they enable the reinforcement to be located or oriented in a preferential way, to adapt to the component's specifications.

The technical and economic assessment of substitution by a CMM solution must be carried out globally by the user, based on the indications of the material designer. The success...