Compacted graphite iron is used more and more in industry because of its excellent mechanical properties,especially in the automobile industry to manufacture high performance and light weight diesel engine,and it has become an ideal material to replace gray cast iron.However,the excellent mechanical properties of compacted graphite iron make the processing of compacted graphite iron be a difficult problem.Too fast speed causes premature tool failure or too slow speed makes surface quality not up to standard.Based on the existing problems and the current research progress,the cutting mechanism,internal components and the influence of cutting tools on the machining of compacted graphite iron were summarized,and the research of tool angle,surface coating,cutting parameters and cooling methods were further introduced.The future research direction and development trend of compacted graphite iron were pointed out.