A steel filament for twisting into a steel cord for the reinforcement of rubber articles, which contains a steel substrate that is coated with a coating comprising brass. The coating is different in that the amount of iron at the surface is distinctively higher than that prior steel filaments. The coating has an average iron content of 4 or more atomic percent compared to the total of iron, zinc and copper atoms in the layer extending from the surface to a depth of 3 nanometer below the surface. The steel filaments show an improved adhesion retention under hot and humid conditions and in organic cobalt compound containing rubbers as well as rubbers that are substantially free of cobalt. The lifetime of the rubber article is extended.

In a single-crystal diamond material, a concentration of non-substitutional nitrogen atoms is not more than 200 ppm, a concentration of substitutional nitrogen atoms is lower than the concentration of the non-substitutional nitrogen atoms, and the single-crystal diamond material has a crystal growth main surface having an off angle of not more than 20°. A perforated tool includes a single-crystal diamond die, wherein in the single-crystal diamond die, a concentration of non-substitutional nitrogen atoms is not more than 200 ppm, a concentration of substitutional nitrogen atoms is lower than the concentration of the non-substitutional nitrogen atoms, and the single-crystal diamond die has a low-index plane represented by a Miller index of not less than −5 and not more than 5 in an integer, a perpendicular line of the low-index plane having an off angle of not more than 20° relative to an orientation of a hole for wire drawing.

Embodiments of the invention relate to polycrystalline diamond compacts (“PDCs”) and methods of fabricating such PDCs. In an embodiment, a PDC includes a substrate and a preformed polycrystalline diamond table including an interfacial surface bonded to the substrate and an opposing working surface. The preformed polycrystalline diamond table includes a proximal region extending from the interfacial surface to an intermediate location within the preformed polycrystalline diamond table that includes a metallic infiltrant infiltrated from the substrate, and a distal region extending from the working surface to the intermediate location that is substantially free of the metallic infiltrant. A boundary exists between the proximal and distal regions that has a nonplanar irregular profile characteristic of the metallic infiltrant having been infiltrated into the preformed polycrystalline diamond table.

A platinum-based material element wire is coated with gold or gold alloy, and drawing-processed with a carbon-containing die. The thin wire manufactured in this manner is covered with gold or gold alloy, and the coverage of gold or gold alloy is 40% or more on an area basis. The thin wire formed of a platinum-based material is manufactured in a state of suppressing breakage in a drawing processing step, and has favorable performance in electric properties and the like. In addition, this manufacturing process is capable of efficiently manufacturing a platinum-based material thin wire while suppressing breakage when the thin wire is manufactured by drawing processing.

A tool with a through hole includes a base and a diamond component held by the base, and when the length of the diamond component along a center line of the through hole is denoted as L1 and the maximum value of a diameter of a circle having the same area as a region surrounded by an outer edge of the diamond component in a cross section having the center line as a normal line is denoted as M1, the ratio L1/M1 between L1 and M1 is 0.8 or more.

A wear-resistant tool includes composite polycrystalline diamond as a core, the composite polycrystalline diamond being composed of polycrystalline diamond in which particulate diamond is directly bonded and non diamond carbon. The polycrystalline diamond in the composite polycrystalline diamond is three-dimensionally continuous in composite polycrystal and primary particles have an average particle size from 10 to 500 nm.

A diamond die includes a diamond provided with a hole for drawing a wire material, the diamond being a CVD single-crystal diamond, an axis of the hole being inclined relative to a normal direction of a crystal plane of the diamond.

A platinum-based material element wire is coated with gold or gold alloy, and drawing-processed with a carbon-containing die. The thin wire manufactured in this manner is covered with gold or gold alloy, and the coverage of gold or gold alloy is 40% or more on an area basis. The thin wire formed of a platinum-based material is manufactured in a state of suppressing breakage in a drawing processing step, and has favorable performance in electric properties and the like. In addition, this manufacturing process is capable of efficiently manufacturing a platinum-based material thin wire while suppressing breakage when the thin wire is manufactured by drawing processing.

Embodiments of the invention relate to polycrystalline diamond (PCD) exhibiting enhanced diamond-to-diamond bonding. In an embodiment, PCD includes a plurality of diamond grains defining a plurality of interstitial regions. A metal-solvent catalyst occupies at least a portion of the plurality of interstitial regions. The plurality of diamond grains and the metal-solvent catalyst collectively exhibit a coercivity of about 115 Oersteds (Oe) or more and a specific magnetic saturation of about 15 Gauss.Math.cm.sup.3/grams (G.Math.cm.sup.3/g) or less. Other embodiments are directed to polycrystalline diamond compacts (PDCs) employing such PCD, methods of forming PCD and PDCs, and various applications for such PCD and PDCs in rotary drill bits, bearing apparatuses, and wire-drawing dies.

A shaped diamond die includes a polycrystalline diamond, the polycrystalline diamond having a machining hole, wherein a length D of a side of the machining hole is 100 m or less, a corner R is 20 m or less, the shaped diamond die includes a bearing portion, a surface roughness Sa of the bearing portion is 0.05 m or less, and an average grain size of the polycrystalline diamond is 500 nm or less.