The rapid growth of a modern industry results in a growing demand for construction materials with excellent operational properties. However, the improved features of these materials can significantly hinder their manufacturing, therefore they can be defined as hard-to-cut. The main difficulties during the manufacturing/processing of hard-to-cut materials are attributed to their high hardness and abrasion resistance, high strength at room or elevated temperatures, increased thermal conductivity, as well as their resistance to oxidation and corrosion. Nowadays the group of hard-to-cut materials includes the metallic materials, composites, as well as ceramics. This special issue, "Advances in Hard-to-Cut Materials: Manufacturing, Properties, Process Mechanics and Evaluation of Surface Integrity" provides a collection of research papers regarding the various problems correlated with hard-to-cut materials. The analysis of these studies reveals primary directions regarding the developments in manufacturing methods, and the characterization and optimization of hard-to-cut materials.
Keywords: additive manufacturing; hard–to–cut materials; machining; mechanics; surface integrity.