Method of forming a product of metal-based composite material

A method of forming a product of a metal-based composite material, comprising the steps in the order named of:

• preparing a billet of a metal-based composite material by mixing a metal matrix and particles of ceramic reinforcing material;
• heating the billet to a specific temperature, the specific temperature being equal to or above the solidus temperature of the metal matrix and a liquid phase being present in the metal matrix;
• and
• pressure forming the heated billet in a die assembly, into a formed product by reciprocating a punch relative to a die, wherein the billet and the punch and die are configured such that the billet while being pressure formed has a compression ratio H/h 1 differing from one portion of the formed product to another to thereby give the formed product a ceramic volume content differing from one portion to another, where H is the height of the billet prior to pressure forming and h 1 is a thickness of the formed product and corresponds to a height of the billet after pressure forming the formed product containing the particles of the ceramic reinforcing material distributed over the entire region thereof, wherein during the pressure forming, the punch advances toward the die at a speed not exceeding 300 mm/sec to control the ceramic volume content of the formed product and an advancing movement of the punch toward the die at the speed not exceeding 300 mm/sec causes the metal matrix to flow out from the heated billet into a space defined between the punch and the die while nearly all of the particles of the ceramic reinforcing material are caused to move in the same direction as the advancing movement of the punch, the remainder of the particles of the ceramic reinforcing material being forced by the metal matrix to flow in the same direction as the metal matrix, and wherein the ceramic volume content of the formed product is directly proportional to the compression ratio of the billet.