The mushrooming requirement of lightweight composites in aerospace and manufacturing industries is one of the biggest factors fuelling the increasing adoption of ceramic matrix composites (CMC) throughout the globe. Owing to numerous beneficial traits such as high strength-to-weight ratios, wear resistance, and excellent mechanical properties, CMCs are being increasingly adopted in the aerospace industry and several applications pertaining to helicopter rotor blade sleeves, high-speed machine components, fans of jet engines, power transmission lines, and ventral fins of fighter aircrafts. The increasing manufacturing of aircrafts, especially in Europe, is also massively boosting the sales of CMCs.
CMCs are extensively used in electrical and electronics, energy and power, aerospace, and defense applications. Out of these, the aerospace applications recorded the highest demand for CMCs in 2015 and this trend is expected to continue during the forecast period as well. This is primarily attributed to the large-scale utilization of CMCs in various applications related to the aerospace industry and aircrafts such as wings, empennage, and fuselage, on account of their numerous beneficial traits such as thermal protection.
One of the prominent trends currently being witnessed in the ceramic matrix composites (CMC) market is burgeoning utilization of CMCs in several automotive applications. The main reason contributing toward the wide-scale usage of these materials in the automotive industry is the ability of the CMCs to reduce the weight of the vehicles and the subsequent increase in the fuel efficiency and reduction in pollution caused by the vehicles. Furthermore, the strict environmental policies and regulations being enacted by the governments of various countries are tremendously boosting the usage of CMCs in the automotive industry.
Globally, North America registered the highest sales of CMCs in 2015, mainly because of the large-scale usage of these materials in the defense and aerospace industries of the U.S. However, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is predicted to observe the fastest growth in the usage of ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) during the forecast period. This is mainly credited to the rising energy consumption, defense spending, and investments being made, especially in the developing nations of APAC such as India and China, for promoting the development of various space exploration programs.
Therefore, the sales of CMCs is certain to shoot-up throughout the world in the coming years, primarily on account of their increasing requirement in the defense and aerospace industries in several countries all around the world.
