Driven by the needs of the mechanical manufacturing industry, the late 19th century led to the rapid development of machine tools, cutting tools, and the emergence of new production methods. Cutting tools are a crucial element in any cutting operation. The material of the cutting tool determines its quality and has undergone many changes over the more than 100 years since the First Industrial Revolution. They have been continuously improved and developed, and in this process, the emergence of new cutting tool materials has created a need for changes in machine tool design trends to meet and fully utilize the cutting properties of these new materials, aiming for higher cutting productivity.
Generally, various types of cutting tool materials with diverse properties are currently used in industry. Although these cutting materials have different origins and mechanical properties, to assess the applicability of a particular cutting tool material to a specific application, several cutting performance evaluation measures are used to compare their suitability for the task. Common evaluation measures include determining hot hardness (thermal resistance), flexural strength, and wear resistance.