陶瓷增强铝已有10多年的历史。成本一直是许多应用的障碍，但随着工程师们对这些材料的更好理解，它们的真正价值正在显现。将陶瓷颗粒添加到铝合金中，为可裁剪性提供了一个新的维度。结构、耐热性和耐磨性可调，以提供定制材料，可浇铸和挤压成复杂形状，接近净形状，用于各种应用。本文讨论了汽车行业的例子，以说明铝金属基复合材料（AL-MMC）的两个不同系列，以及它们的不同性能如何使它们在广泛不同的应用中具有吸引力。

Ceramic reinforced aluminum has been available for over 10 years. Cost has been a barrier to many applications but as these materials become better understood by engineers, their true value is emerging. The addition of ceramic particulate into aluminum alloys provides a new dimension in tailorability. Structural, thermal, and abrasion resistant properties are adjustable to provide customized materials that are castable and extrudable into complex shapes to near net shape for a wide variety of applications. This paper discusses examples from the automobile industry to illustrate two distinct families of aluminum metal matrix composites (AL MMC) and how their different properties make them attractive for widely different applications.