Consolidation of diamond tools using Cu–Co–Fe based alloys as metallic binders

The present work reports the results obtained on the evaluation of both the response of commercially available Cu–Fe–Co pre-alloyed powders during processing for the consolidation of diamond tools under several fabrication routes, and the performance of the tools during in field cutting operations. The new metallic binders look attractive since they combine good sinterability with adequate values of hardness and wear resistance, as observed from the cutting tests carried out on granite and marble. The consolidation routes under research were conventional hot pressing, pressureless sintering, and hipping after sintering. The amount of copper contained in these alloys leads to fully dense parts by hot pressing at temperatures approximately 150°C lower than those used for cobalt. Pressureless sintering experiments showed that full densification requires the application of hipping post-sintering treatments. During processing under non-reducing atmospheres, the presence of metallic oxides contained in the powder was observed to exert a direct influence on the degradation of the diamond grits.