Superhard constructions and methods of making same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019351487-A1
Application number	US-201716474241-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 28, 2017
Priority date	Dec 31, 2016
Publication date	Nov 21, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

A polycrystalline super hard construction has a first region comprising a body of thermally stable polycrystalline super hard material having an exposed surface forming a working surface, and a peripheral side edge, said polycrystalline super hard material comprising a plurality of intergrown grains of super hard material; a second region forming a substrate to the first region, the second region comprising a hard phase and a binder phase; and a third region interposed between the first and second regions, the third region extending across a surface of the second region along an interface. The third region comprises a composite material having a first phase comprising a plurality of non-intergrown grains of super hard material, and a matrix material. The super hard polycrystalline construction further has a fourth region interposed between the second region and the third region, a major proportion of the fourth region comprising one or more components of the binder material of the second region, the fourth region further comprising one or more reaction products between the binder material of the second region and one or more components of the third region.

First claim

1 . A polycrystalline super hard construction comprising:
a first region comprising a body of thermally stable polycrystalline super hard material having an exposed surface forming a working surface, and a peripheral side edge, said polycrystalline super hard material comprising a plurality of intergrown grains of super hard material; a second region forming a substrate to the first region, the second region comprising a hard phase and a binder phase; a third region interposed between the first and second regions, the third region extending across a surface of the second region along an interface; wherein the third region comprises a composite material having a first phase comprising a plurality of non-intergrown grains of super hard material, and a matrix material; the polycrystalline super hard construction further comprising a fourth region interposed between the second region and the third region, a major proportion of the fourth region comprising one or more components of the binder material of the second region, the fourth region further comprising one or more reaction products between the binder material of the second region and one or more components of the third region.

2 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 1 , wherein the third region extends across a surface of the fourth region along an interface, the interface, and the fourth region extends across a surface of the second region along an interface, one or other or both of the interfaces comprising at least a portion having an uneven topology and/or a substantially planar portion.

3 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 1 , wherein the composite material of the third region further comprises a second phase.

4 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 3 , wherein the second phase comprises cBN, and/or WC, and/or wBN.

5 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 3 , wherein the second phase is formed of a material having a hardness less than the hardness of the first phase of the composite material.

6 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 3 , wherein the non-intergrown grains of super hard material and the second phase of the composite material comprise between around 20 vol % to around 95 vol % of the third region.

7 .- 9 . (canceled)

10 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 1 , wherein the matrix material of the third region comprises any one or more alloys or compounds of any one or more transition metals including titanium, zirconium, vanadium, hafnium, tantalum, niobium, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, copper, cobalt, nickel, iron, manganese, and rhenium.

11 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 10 , wherein the one or more alloys or compounds of any one or more of the transition metals comprises oxides, nitrides, carbides, carbonitrides, and/or oxycarbides of said transition metals.

12 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 1 , wherein the matrix material comprises at least one of aluminium, nickel, and one or more alloys or compounds thereof.

13 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 1 , wherein the matrix material of the third region comprises any one or more of titanium carbonitride, titanium diboride, aluminium nitride, aluminium oxide, cobalt, and tungsten carbide, or alloys or compounds thereof.

14 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 1 , wherein the matrix material comprises between around 5 vol % to around 80 vol % of the third region.

15 .- 17 . (canceled)

18 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 1 , wherein the non-intergrown grains of super hard material of the composite material comprise between around 30 vol % to around 90 vol % of the third region.

19 .- 21 . (canceled)

22 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 1 , wherein the first region, the second region and the third region each have an associated hardness, wherein the hardness of the third region is greater than the hardness of the second region and less than the hardness of the first region.

23 .- 25 . (canceled)

26 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 1 , wherein the super hard material of said third region comprises diamond grains, said third region forming a body of substantially non-intergrown diamond composite material.

27 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 1 , wherein the grains of super hard material of the first region comprise diamond grains, the first region forming a body of polycrystalline diamond material.

28 . (canceled)

29 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 1 , wherein the composite material of the third region is more acid resistant than polycrystalline diamond material having a binder-catalyst phase comprising cobalt, and/or more acid resistant than cemented carbide material.

30 . The polycrystalline super hard construction of claim 29 , wherein the composite material of the third region is more resistant to boiling HCl acid than polycrystalline diamond material having a binder-catalyst phase comprising cobalt, and/or more resistant to boiling HCl acid than cemented carbide material.

31 .- 39 . (canceled)

40 . The super hard polycrystalline construction of claim 1 , wherein the first region is substantially free of a catalyst material for diamond.

41 . The super hard polycrystalline construction of claim 1 , wherein the thermally stable first region comprises at most 3 weight percent of inaccessible catalyst material for diamond.

42 .- 44 . (canceled)

45 . The super hard polycrystalline construction of claim 1 , wherein the first region is bonded to the third region along a substantially non-planar interface.

46 . (canceled)

47 . The super hard polycrystalline construction of claim 1 , wherein the construction has a longitudinal axis, the thickness of the third region along a plane parallel to the longitudinal axis being between around 0.1 mm to around 4 mm.

48 .- 53 . (canceled)

54 . The super hard polycrystalline construction of claim 1 , wherein the third region has a wear resistance at least three times less than sintered polycrystalline diamond material having the same average grain size of diamond grains as the super hard grains in the third region.

55 .- 60 . (canceled)

61 . A method of forming a super hard polycrystalline construction comprising:
forming a pre-sinter assembly comprising: a first mass of grains or particles of a super hard material; a source of catalysing material for the first mass of grains or particles of super hard material; a further mass of grains or particles of a super hard material mixed with grains or particles of a non-super hard material; and a mass of grains or particles of a material to form a substrate; treating the pre-sinter assembly at an ultra-high pressure of around 5 GPa or greater and a temperature to bond together the grains of super hard material in the first mass to form a first region comprising a body of interbonded polycrystalline super hard material bonded to an intermediate region formed of substantially non-interbonded grains or particles of the super hard material in the further mass; the intermediate region being bonded to a further region along an interface w

Assignees

• Element Six Uk Ltd

Inventors

• Ambury Rachael Fiona
• Can Nedret
• Rybak Thomasz Zbyszko
• Spits Raymond Anthony
• Ji Changzheng

Classifications

• B22F2003/244

  Leaching · CPC title

• B22F3/1035

  Liquid phase sintering · CPC title

• B22F3/14

  simultaneously · CPC title

• B22F2005/001

  Cutting tools, earth boring or grinding tool other than table ware · CPC title

• B23B2226/315

  polycrystalline [PCD] · CPC title