Comparison of CNC Machining Materials

High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) is a low-cost and easily processable plastic material. It is often used in the manufacturing of low-strength structural components in scenarios where comprehensive requirements for a material’s impact resistance, processability, and cost are required. Additionally, with its excellent dimensional stability and ease of being painted and bonded, it has become an ideal material for prototyping.

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a widely used thermoplastic polymer material characterized by excellent mechanical properties, outstanding corrosion resistance, and superior electrical insulation performance. By incorporating various additives, it can be tailored to meet customized requirements. Owing to its unique combination of properties, PVC finds extensive applications in fields such as construction, industry, packaging, and healthcare.

Nylon is a versatile and widely used material in CNC machining due to its exceptional properties. Its high tensile strength, low coefficient of friction, and resistance to wear and abrasion make it an excellent choice for applications requiring durability and reliability, such as gears, bushings, and bearings. Additionally, nylon’s low moisture absorption and good dimensional stability ensure consistent performance even in humid or varying temperature conditions.

Its ease of machining, coupled with its chemical resistance, also makes it suitable for applications in the automotive, aerospace, and medical industries. With its remarkable combination of properties, nylon stands out as a versatile and reliable material for a diverse range of CNC machining applications.

ABS (Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene Copolymer) is a well-balanced engineering plastic with good mechanical properties, excellent impact resistance, and easy processability. These characteristics have led to its widespread application in fields such as consumer electronics, household appliances, automotive industry, and daily necessities.

AISI 4140 Alloy Steel is a medium-carbon chromium-molybdenum steel with a carbon content of about 0.38–0.43%. It offers an excellent combination of strength, toughness, wear resistance, and machinability. When heat-treated, it provides outstanding mechanical properties, making it widely used in gears, crankshafts, connecting rods, bolts, and critical components in the oil and gas industry.

stainless steel 304 is also known as 18/8 stainless steel, which contains approximately 18% chromium (Cr) and 8% nickel (Ni). It not only possesses excellent oxidation resistance and corrosion resistance, but also has good workability and surface quality. Currently, it is the most widely used stainless steel grade in industrial manufacturing and civil applications.

Low carbon steel (with carbon content not exceeding 0.25%) is one of the most commonly used types of steel in both industry and daily life, thanks to its excellent plasticity, weldability, and low cost. It is widely applied in components such as pistons, screws, and drive shafts. However, due to its limited strength, it usually requires post-treatment.

C101 copper, also known as HC copper (High Conductivity Copper) or more precisely, high-conductivity copper, has a nominal electrical conductivity of 100% IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard)—a benchmark level for conductive performance. It also features excellent high thermal conductivity, making it the preferred material for various electrical components (such as terminals) and conductors (such as power transmission busbars).
Furthermore, this material possesses high ductility (enabling easy complex forming processes like stretching and bending) and reliable impact resistance. While meeting the requirements for electrical performance, it can also accommodate the structural stability demands of mechanical processing and practical operating conditions, making it truly a high-quality copper material that combines multi-functional properties with practical value.

As a versatile and widely used metallic material,aluminum 6061 alloy is well-known in the industrial field for its excellent mechanical properties and outstanding weldability. The designations “T6” and “T651,” as typical temper conditions of this alloy, correspond to specific heat treatment processes: the T6 process achieves strength enhancement through solution treatment followed by artificial aging, while the T651 process adds a pre-stretching deformation step on this basis to optimize residual stress distribution. The combined effect of these two processes significantly improves the material’s mechanical properties and effectively eliminates internal stresses. Owing to their comprehensive advantages in strength, processability, and corrosion resistance, 6061-T6 and 6061-T651 aluminum alloys are highly favored in fields such as aerospace structural components, automotive parts, shipbuilding, and general machinery processing, emerging as key foundational materials supporting modern industrial manufacturing.