In modern manufacturing, there has been strong renewed interest in high-efficiency machining, while use of advanced materials has increased due to their special mechanical and physical properties. Advanced materials have replaced conventional materials in various fields of application including aeronautical, aerospace, automotive, biomechanical, and mechanical, Infrastructure and other industries. As a result of these properties and potential applications, there exists an urgent need to understand questions associated with the machinability of these materials.

Machining is any of various processes in which a piece of raw material is cut into a desired final shape and size by a controlled material-removal process. The many processes that have this common theme, controlled material removal, are today collectively known as subtractive manufacturing, in distinction from processes of controlled material addition, which are known as additive manufacturing.