From Difficult-to-Machine Materials such as Heat-Resistant Alloys and CFRP to Process Optimization, KORLOY’s Total Machining Solution for the Aerospace Industry
Cutting Technology That Solves the Challenges of Aerospace Manufacturing: KORLOY’s New Challenge
The aerospace industry is one of the manufacturing sectors that puts cutting tool technology to the most demanding test. Aircraft engines and airframes extensively use difficult-to-machine materials such as Inconel, titanium, heat-resistant superalloys (HRSA), and carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). Their high heat resistance and strength, low thermal conductivity, and the unique structural characteristics of composite materials cause rapid tool wear and failure, making it difficult to achieve both machining quality and productivity.
This is why cutting tools play a different role in the aerospace industry. Simply supplying a high-quality tool is not enough. It is essential to comprehensively analyze materials, components, machine tools, and cutting conditions, and to provide machining technologies optimized for each customer’s process.
Celebrating its 60th anniversary, KORLOY is focusing on this very market. While expanding the development of high-performance cutting tools for heat-resistant alloys and CFRP, KORLOY has also operated a dedicated aerospace component machining team for the past eight years, building extensive experience in machining difficult-to-cut aerospace materials and cultivating specialized expertise. The goal is clear: to go beyond being a cutting tool supplier and grow into a “Total Machining Solution Partner” that works with customers to solve challenges throughout their production processes.
AEROTEC 2026, the 2nd International Aerospace Technology Exhibition, to be held on September 30 at the Changwon Exhibition Convention Center (CECO), will provide an opportunity to explore KORLOY’s aerospace technologies and strategy.
Growing Aerospace Industry: Taking on the Challenge of Localizing Cutting Tools for Difficult-to-Machine Materials
As the space, aerospace, and defense industries continue to grow, the challenges that cutting tools must address are also increasing. In particular, as advanced materials such as heat-resistant alloys and CFRP are increasingly used in aircraft engines and airframes, high-performance cutting tools capable of machining these materials reliably are becoming more important.
The challenge is that these materials are difficult to machine with conventional cutting tools. For many years, the aerospace difficult-to-machine materials market has been dominated by imported cutting tools with proven technology and performance.
However, the landscape of Korea’s aerospace industry has recently been changing. As Korean aerospace companies such as Hanwha Aerospace and KAI continue to promote the localization of components, Korea’s manufacturing technologies are also advancing rapidly. In response to these changes, KORLOY is pursuing technological self-reliance and stronger market competitiveness by localizing cutting tools for the aerospace industry.
In the short term, the primary focus is the Korean market. Since access to aerospace and defense manufacturing sites is often restricted due to technology security and other considerations, KORLOY’s phased strategy is to first verify product performance and production stability through collaboration with Korean customers and then expand into overseas markets based on the results achieved.
At the same time, KORLOY is strengthening its ability to respond to the global market by leveraging the sales networks of its eight overseas subsidiaries and group companies DINE and WIDIN. KORLOY also plans to expand its business beyond commercial aviation into defense, the space industry, and aviation MRO (Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul).
Super Endmill for HRSA: Taking on Difficult-to-Machine Materials in Aircraft Engines
Heat-resistant alloys used in aircraft engines and other applications offer superior high-temperature strength and corrosion resistance compared with conventional alloys. They are classified into nickel-based (Ni), nickel-iron-based (Ni-Fe), and cobalt-based (Co) heat-resistant superalloys, with Inconel 718, Hastelloy, and Waspaloy being representative examples.
The challenge lies in machinability. Due to their low thermal conductivity, heat generated during cutting is concentrated at the cutting edge, while their high-temperature strength and work-hardening characteristics accelerate cutting-edge wear and chipping. Simply increasing the cutting speed is also difficult.
One of KORLOY’s solutions for machining these heat-resistant alloys is the Super Endmill for HRSA.
The Super Endmill features a positive rake angle and unequal indexing geometry to improve cutting performance and machining stability. It is designed with a high-toughness carbide substrate and coating technology that provides excellent oxidation resistance and high-temperature hardness, helping suppress cutting-edge chipping and improve wear resistance during machining. The flat type features a corner gash-land geometry to reduce corner-edge breakage during machining.
More recently, the Super Endmill for HRSA 6F was introduced to improve machining efficiency. It features six cutting edges and ST Coating (Super Thermal Resistance Coating), which offers excellent hardness and thermal barrier properties. The tool is designed to reduce frictional resistance and improve chip evacuation by enhancing lubricity through a smooth, thin-film surface finish.
KORLOY Super Endmill for HRSA for machining heat-resistant alloys. It was developed to provide stable machining of
difficult-to-machine heat-resistant alloys used in aircraft engines and other applications while improving tool life.
Super Series: Premium Grades for Machining Heat-Resistant Alloys
When machining heat-resistant alloys, cutting tools are subject to various types of damage, including chipping, built-up edge, notch wear, and plastic deformation.
KORLOY addresses these challenges with the Super Series, which takes the technologies accumulated through the Ultra Series, based on the existing Ultra Coating technology, to the next level.
For turning applications, the lineup includes SNC805, a premium grade focused on wear resistance, and SPC810, a general-purpose grade offering excellent chipping resistance and resistance to built-up edge. For milling applications, KORLOY offers SNC840 for high-speed machining and SPC845, a high-efficiency grade designed for enhanced machining stability and toughness.
The Super Series features enhanced wear resistance, chipping resistance, and resistance to built-up edge through the latest coating technology and optimized carbide substrate design. In aerospace component machining, where stable tool life during long periods of continuous machining is directly linked to productivity, reducing unexpected tool failure and ensuring process stability are particularly important.
KORLOY Super Series for machining heat-resistant alloys in aerospace applications. With SNC805-SPC810 for turning and
SNC840-SPC845 for milling, the series addresses a wide range of difficult-to-machine material applications.
From Metals to Composites: Expanding Aerospace Solutions to CFRP Machining
As the drive toward lighter aircraft accelerates, the range of materials that cutting tools must handle is also expanding. One of the most representative materials is carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP).
CFRP has a lower density than metals while offering high stiffness and excellent fatigue properties, making it a key material for next-generation aircraft. However, due to the anisotropic structure and high abrasiveness inherent to composites, problems such as delamination, burr formation, and rapid tool wear can easily occur during machining.
To address these challenges, KORLOY developed the ND2100 grade for CFRP machining. ND2100 features a multilayer diamond coating technology in which nano-diamond and micro-diamond particles are alternately layered. The key is to enhance delamination resistance and lubricity, thereby reducing friction and tool wear during CFRP machining while ensuring machining quality.
The Composite Router Endmill with ND2100 is designed to produce a smooth machined surface and minimize burr formation when cutting CFRP, while the MSD Plus CFRP Drill is engineered to suppress delamination during high-precision hole machining and ensure extended tool life.
In mass production of aircraft structural components, what matters is not simply the life of an individual tool, but how consistently tool replacement intervals and repeatable machining quality can be maintained. KORLOY’s dedicated CFRP product lineup is also designed to meet the demands of these aerospace manufacturing environments.
KORLOY ND2100 diamond coating solution for CFRP machining.
Its multilayer coating of nano- and micro-diamond particles enhances delamination resistance and lubricity.
CFRP Stack Technology Applied to Korean Fighter Aircraft Structural Component Machining
One of the key examples demonstrating KORLOY’s aerospace solutions is CFRP Stack machining.
CFRP Stack is a material composed of layers of CFRP and aluminum or titanium in sheet form. By combining the high specific strength and lightweight properties of CFRP with the mechanical strength of metals, it is widely used as an important structural material in the aerospace and defense industries.
From a machining perspective, however, it is highly challenging. This is because highly abrasive CFRP and metals with different cutting characteristics must be machined consecutively using a single tool. During machining, multiple issues must be controlled simultaneously, including CFRP delamination, burr formation on the metal side, and rapid tool wear.
To meet a customer’s requirements for drilling Stack materials, KORLOY developed a dedicated tool geometry and customized Nano Dia-Coating technology. KORLOY collaborated closely with the customer from the development stage through stabilization of mass production. As a result, the KORLOY products developed through this process are now being supplied for machining structural components of Korean fighter aircraft, replacing imported cutting tools.
KORLOY is now taking this technology a step further by advancing its diamond coating technology to develop tools capable of machining stacks with different material properties, such as CFRP+Al and CFRP+Ti, using a single tool. The goal is to reduce the number of tool types required and ease the customer’s tool management burden while improving process efficiency.
This case is also significant because it demonstrates KORLOY’s strategy of localizing aerospace cutting tools in actual manufacturing applications.
Eight Years of Dedicated Aerospace Engineering Expertise
Another key strength of KORLOY’s aerospace business lies in the engineering expertise behind its products.
For the past eight years, KORLOY has operated a dedicated aerospace component machining team, focusing on market analysis and technical support for cutting tools. Through these efforts, KORLOY has developed specialists with hands-on experience in machining difficult-to-machine aerospace materials and established a system that connects its in-house carbide material development, coating technologies, and tool geometry design capabilities with customers’ actual manufacturing processes.
This type of on-site engineering capability is particularly important in the aerospace industry. Aerospace components often use expensive materials, and reworking defective parts can be difficult, making it essential to ensure process stability from the initial process design stage.
When a customer initiates a product development request, KORLOY assigns technical support engineers who remain involved throughout the project until the mass-production process is fully stabilized.
The scope of support goes far beyond simply selecting cutting tools. KORLOY supports the entire machining process, from designing optimal processes for individual customer components to optimizing Cutting Conditions, improving Tool Life, reducing Cycle Time, analyzing the causes of chatter and tool failure, and conducting tests for new processes and prior to mass production.
Ultimately, KORLOY’s Total Machining Solution represents more than just a product lineup. At its core is the integration of manufacturing technologies that enable KORLOY to develop and produce cutting tools in-house with on-site engineering capabilities that analyze and improve customers’ manufacturing processes.
KORLOY will participate in AEROTEC 2026, the 2nd International Aerospace Technology Exhibition, to be held on September 30 at the Changwon Exhibition Convention Center (CECO), where it plans to showcase the potential of Korean-made cutting tools in the market for difficult-to-machine aerospace materials.
AEROTEC 2026 to Put CFRP Machining Technology in the Spotlight
KORLOY’s aerospace strategy will be showcased in detail at AEROTEC 2026, the 2nd International Aerospace Technology Exhibition, to be held on September 30 at the Changwon Exhibition Convention Center (CECO).
At this exhibition, KORLOY will place particular emphasis on its DIA Coating Endmill and Drill for CFRP machining.
The aerospace industry is increasingly adopting CFRP to improve fuel efficiency and reduce weight, while the growth of the UAM (Urban Air Mobility) and drone markets is also driving demand for CFRP machining.
At the exhibition, KORLOY will highlight its ability to provide solutions tailored to different CFRP materials and machining environments, backed by its in-house tool design capabilities and Dia-Coating equipment. In particular, through its DIA Coating Endmill and Drill developed for high durability and high-precision machining, KORLOY aims to address not only aircraft applications but also the next-generation aerospace manufacturing market expanding into UAM and drones.
AEROTEC 2026 also holds significant meaning for KORLOY. Based on 60 years of accumulated cutting tool manufacturing technology, the exhibition will serve as an opportunity to demonstrate the potential of Korean-made cutting tools in the aerospace difficult-to-machine materials market, which has traditionally relied heavily on imported tools.
From a Cutting Tool Manufacturer to a Technology Partner for Aerospace Manufacturing
KORLOY’s key competitive strengths in the aerospace market are its carbide materials and coating technologies for difficult-to-machine materials, together with the engineering expertise required to apply these technologies to actual aerospace manufacturing processes.
As aerospace materials become increasingly diverse—from titanium, Inconel, and Rene-series heat-resistant superalloys to CFRP and CFRP Stack—it becomes increasingly difficult to solve every machining challenge with a single product. This is why the ability to design tools and optimize cutting conditions according to each customer’s components, equipment, materials, and production conditions is becoming more important.
Building on 60 years of experience in carbide materials and cutting tool development, KORLOY is further strengthening the reliability and quality competitiveness required by the aerospace industry based on the AS9100D Aerospace Quality Management System.
Going forward, KORLOY plans to further strengthen its machining solutions for difficult-to-machine materials used in aircraft engines and structures, including titanium, Inconel, and Rene-series alloys, while expanding its application areas from commercial aviation to defense, aerospace, and MRO.
KORLOY’s ultimate goal is not simply to be a manufacturer of aerospace cutting tools. It aims to become a Total Machining Solution Partner that integrates products, material technologies, coating technologies, and on-site engineering to optimize customers’ manufacturing processes together with them.
KORLOY CEO JUNGHYUN YIM said, “The aerospace industry has traditionally been a market with a high level of dependence on proven imported cutting tools. However, with the growth of Korea’s aerospace industry, the time has come to achieve technological self-reliance in cutting tools as well. Based on 60 years of accumulated cutting technology and hands-on experience, KORLOY will demonstrate the competitiveness of Korean-made cutting tools in machining difficult-to-machine aerospace materials and become a Total Machining Solution Partner that grows together with our customers.”
AEROTEC 2026 is expected to provide another opportunity for KORLOY to demonstrate to the manufacturing industry its accumulated aerospace machining technologies and the potential of Korean-made cutting tools.
