Metal/ceramic composites are in high demand in several industries because of their superior thermo-mechanical properties. Among various composite types, the interpenetrating phase composites (IPCs) with percolating metallic and ceramic phases offer manifold benefits, such as a good combination of strength, toughness, and stiffness, very good thermal properties, excellent wear resistance, as well as the flexibility of microstructure and processing route selection, etc. The fabrication of metal/ceramic IPCs typically involves two steps - i) processing of an open porous ceramic body, and ii) infiltration of metallic melt in the pores to fabricate the IPC. Although significant progress has been made in recent years for developing both porous ceramics and melt infiltration methods, to the best of the knowledge of the authors, no review article summarizing all the aspects of processing and properties of IPCs has been published till date. This review article is aimed at filling this gap. Starting with a brief introduction about the current status and applications of IPCs, the various processing routes for fabricating open porous ceramic preforms and melt infiltration techniques have been discussed. Subsequently, the data available for various important physical, mechanical, and thermal properties for IPCs have been critically analyzed to thoroughly understand their dependence on various structural and processing parameters. To compare the properties of IPCs with other relevant materials, seven different Ashby material property maps have been used, and the domains for IPCs have been created in them. For each map, the concept of material indices has been employed to critically discuss how IPCs perform in relation to other material classes for various optimum design conditions. Finally, a detailed future outlook for further research on IPCs has been provided.

金属/陶瓷复合材料因其卓越的热机械性能而在多个行业中需求量很大。在各种复合材料类型中，具有渗透金属相和陶瓷相的互穿相复合材料 (IPC) 具有多种优点，例如强度、韧性和刚度的良好结合、非常好的热性能、优异的耐磨性以及柔韧性微观结构和加工路线选择等。金属/陶瓷 IPC 的制造通常包括两个步骤 - i) 开孔陶瓷体的加工，以及 ii) 金属熔体在孔隙中的渗透以制造 IPC。尽管近年来在开发多孔陶瓷和熔体渗透方法方面取得了重大进展，但据作者所知，迄今为止，还没有发表过总结 IPC 加工和性能所有方面的评论文章。这篇评论文章旨在填补这一空白。首先简要介绍 IPC 的现状和应用，讨论了制造开孔陶瓷预制件的各种工艺路线和熔体渗透技术。随后，对 IPC 各种重要物理、机械和热性能的可用数据进行了严格分析，以彻底了解它们对各种结构和加工参数的依赖性。为了将 IPC 的特性与其他相关材料进行比较，我们使用了七种不同的 Ashby 材料特性图，并在其中创建了 IPC 的域。对于每张地图，材料指数的概念已被用来批判性地讨论 IPC 在各种最佳设计条件下相对于其他材料类别的表现。最后，提供了对 IPC 进一步研究的详细未来展望。