Advances in Machining of Difficult-to-Cut Engineering Materials

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2025.

Guest Editor (1)

Salman  Pervaiz
Prof. Dr. Salman Pervaiz 
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology-Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Interests: Additive Manufacturing; Sustainable Manufacturing; Machining and Metal Cutting

Special Issue Information

The machining of advanced engineering materials continues to be a growing concern. These high performance materials, which include titanium- and nickel-based alloys, tool steels, stainless steels, hardened steels, composites, shape memory alloys, cobalt chromium alloys, and magnesium-based alloys, are employed for their unique metallurgical properties, sustaining high operating temperature, and resistance to corrosion and fatigue etc. They are extensively used in demanding applications within aerospace, biomedical, automotive, petrochemical, marine, nuclear, and sports-related sectors. Despite their advantageous properties, these materials pose significant challenges in material removal processing, displaying poor machinability and high processing costs. 

This Special Issue aims to publish original research and review articles on the machinability investigations of difficult-to-cut engineering materials, particularly those used in aerospace, biomedical, automotive, and nuclear sectors.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Machinability investigations based on cutting process physics
Surface integrity of machined surfaces
Cutting process modeling and optimization, including finite element (FE)-assisted models
Mechanics, applications, and challenges of micromachining
Advanced cooling/lubrication strategies such as minimum-quantity lubrication (MQL) and cryogenic cooling
Tribology of the cutting process
Sustainability analysis of machining processes
Non-traditional machining processes: laser, EDM, ECM, USM, water jet cutting
Precision machining, micro/nanomachining
Assisted machining processes such as vibration-assisted machining (VAM) and ultrasonic-assisted machining (UAM)
Application of artificial intelligence (AI) in machining
Performance of novel cutting tool materials and geometries

Published Papers (1 Papers)

Open Access

Review

09 July 2025

Muti-Energy Field-Assisted Grinding of Hard and Brittle Materials: Tools, Equipment and Mechanisms

Hard, brittle and difficult-to-machine materials are prone to surface cracks, subsurface damage and other defects in the traditional grinding process, accompanied by low processing efficiency and severe tool wear. As a new type of processing technology, energy field-assisted grinding provides a new approach for the efficient and high-quality processing of hard and brittle materials. This paper reviews the latest research progress of muti-energy field-assisted grinding from aspects such as the types and selection of grinding tools, processing equipment and physical-chemical coupled mechanisms. Firstly, micro-grinding tools are classified based on different surface structures and coating materials, with the aim to enhance processing efficiency, improve the surface quality and geometric accuracy of workpieces, and reduce tool wear. Secondly, the processing mechanisms, parameter selection and current difficulties faced by four energy field-assisted grinding methods, including laser-assisted grinding, electrochemical-assisted grinding, magnetic-assisted grinding and ultrasonic field-assisted grinding, are discussed under both chemical and physical effects. Thirdly, different equipment and auxiliary devices developed for energy field-assisted grinding have been introduced, providing reliable platforms for the distribution design and efficient regulation of the energy field. Finally, the cutting-edge progress, main challenges and development trends of energy field-assisted grinding are prospected, illustrating the great potential of this technology in fields such as aerospace, electronics, and optical components.

Wentao Wang
Zhiyuan Zhou
Qing  Wang
Baixuan Gao
Cong Mao*
Intell. Sustain. Manuf.
2025,
2
(2), 10022; 
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