Composite sintered body

Abstract

A composite sintered body includes a first phase and a second phase. The first phase is a diamond phase, and the second phase is a phase formed of one or more types of elements or compounds or both thereof and applying strain to the first phase. A contained amount of the second phase is larger than 0 ppm and not larger than 1000 ppm. As a result, there is provided a high wear-resistant, high local wear-resistant, and high chipping-resistant diamond-containing composite sintered body.

Claims

1. A composite sintered body comprising a first phase and a second phase, the first phase being a diamond phase, the second phase being a phase formed of one or more types of elements or compounds or both thereof and applying strain to the first phase, a contained amount of the second phase being larger than 0 ppm and not larger than 1000 ppm, wherein a value of a linear expansion coefficient of the second phase is larger than a value of a linear expansion coefficient of the first phase, and the second phase includes SiC.

2. The composite sintered body according to claim 1, wherein an average particle size of particles forming the first phase is not larger than 1000 nm.

3. The composite sintered body according to claim 1, wherein an average particle size of particles forming the second phase is not larger than 500 nm.

4. The composite sintered body according to claim 1, wherein a Knoop hardness of the composite sintered body is not lower than 60 GPa.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Description of Embodiment of the Present Invention

(1) First, an overview of an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter also denoted as the present embodiment) will be listed in (1) to (5) below for the purpose of explanation.

(2) (1) A composite sintered body according to the present embodiment is a composite sintered body including a first phase and a second phase, the first phase being a diamond phase, the second phase being a phase formed of one or more types of elements or compounds or both thereof and applying strain to the first phase, a contained amount of the second phase being larger than 0 ppm and not larger than 1000 ppm.

(3) Since the composite sintered body according to the present embodiment has the aforementioned configuration, the wear resistance, the local wear resistance and the chipping resistance are enhanced, and the occurrence of cracking can be prevented.

(4) (2) In the composite sintered body according to the present embodiment, a linear expansion coefficient of the second phase is preferably higher than a linear expansion coefficient of the first phase. As a result, the wear resistance, the local wear resistance and the chipping resistance of the composite sintered body are further enhanced.

(5) (3) In the composite sintered body of the present embodiment, an average particle size of particles forming the first phase is preferably not larger than 1000 nm. As a result, the wear resistance, the local wear resistance and the chipping resistance of the composite sintered body are further enhanced.

(6) (4) In the composite sintered body of the present embodiment, an average particle size of particles forming the second phase is preferably not larger than 500 nm. As a result, the wear resistance, the local wear resistance and the chipping resistance of the composite sintered body are further enhanced, and the occurrence of cracking can be prevented.

(7) (5) In the composite sintered body of the present embodiment, a Knoop hardness of the composite sintered body is preferably not lower than 60 GPa in order to enhance the wear resistance.

Details of Embodiment of the Present Invention

(8) While the composite sintered body according to the present embodiment will be described in more detail below, the present embodiment is not limited thereto.

(9) (Composite Sintered Body)

(10) The composite sintered body according to the present embodiment is a composite sintered body including a first phase and a second phase. The first phase is a diamond phase, and the second phase is a phase formed of one or more types of elements or compounds or both thereof and applying strain to the first phase. A contained amount of the second phase is larger than 0 ppm and not larger than 1000 ppm.

(11) The aforementioned composite sintered body may include the other components such as a sintering aid and a catalyst, in addition to the first phase and the second phase.

(12) The presence of the diamond phase is recognized as a bright field in observation of a cross section (one arbitrarily specified cross section, and the same is also applied to the following description) of the composite sintered body by an SEM (scanning electron microscope) or a TEM (transmission electron microscope), and is identified with composition and crystal structure analysis.

(13) In order to enhance the local wear resistance and the chipping resistance of the composite sintered body, an average particle size of particles forming the diamond phase is preferably not larger than 1000 nm, and more preferably not larger than 500 nm. In addition, the average particle size of the particles forming the diamond phase is not smaller than 50 nm, and preferably not smaller than 200 nm. Here, the average particle size of the particles forming the diamond phase is obtained by taking a photograph under a condition that allows distinguishing among the diamond phase, the second phase and a grain boundary therebetween, in observation of the cross section of the composite sintered body by the SEM or the TEM, and thereafter, performing image processing (such as binarization) to calculate an average of areas of the respective particles forming the diamond phase, and calculate a diameter of a circle having the same area as this area.

(14) In the composite sintered body according to the present embodiment, the second phase is a phase formed of one or more types of elements or compounds or both thereof and applying strain to the first phase. The aforementioned second phase is linearly expanded by frictional heat and applies compressive stress to matrix diamond during the use of the composite sintered body, and as a result, the hardness of the matrix is increased and the wear is reduced.

(15) A linear expansion coefficient of the second phase is preferably higher than a linear expansion coefficient of the first phase. As a result, the effect of increasing the hardness and reducing the wear can be further enhanced. Measurement of the linear expansion coefficient of the second phase is performed by using the following method. First, a composition and a crystal structure of the second phase of the composite sintered body are specified by using the SEM and TEM method. Next, a raw material having this composition is prepared separately and a sintered body including only the second phase is fabricated by using a desired method. Finally, the obtained sintered body is measured by using the JIS R1618 method, to obtain the linear expansion coefficient.

(16) Examples of the aforementioned second phase can include SiC, Al, Ti, V and the like.

(17) In order to prevent the occurrence of cracking and fracture at the composite sintered body caused by excessive expansion of the first phase or the second phase, a contained amount of the second phase in the composite sintered body is not larger than 1000 ppm, and preferably not larger than 700 ppm. In order to reduce the friction and the wear in the second phase, the contained amount of the second phase in the composite sintered body is more preferably not larger than 500 ppm. In addition, in order to apply appropriate compressive stress to the diamond phase, the contained amount of the second phase is larger than 0 ppm, preferably not smaller than 100 ppm, and more preferably not smaller than 400 ppm. The presence of the second phase in the composite sintered body is recognized as a dark field in observation of the cross section of the composite sintered body by the SEM or the TEM, and is identified with composition analysis and X-ray diffraction.

(18) In order to prevent the occurrence of local cracking at the composite sintered body caused by excessive expansion of the first phase or the second phase, an average particle size of particles forming the second phase is preferably not larger than 500 nm. In addition, in order to reduce the local wear in the second phase, the average particle size of the particles forming the second phase is preferably not larger than 100 nm. In addition, from the perspective of increasing the hardness of the structure, the average particle size of the particles forming the second phase is not smaller than 10 nm, and preferably not smaller than 50 nm. Here, the average particle size of the particles forming the second phase is obtained by taking a photograph under a condition that allows distinguishing among the diamond phase, the second phase and a grain boundary therebetween, in observation of the cross section of the composite sintered body by the SEM or the TEM, and thereafter, performing image processing (such as binarization) to calculate an average of areas of the respective particles forming the second phase, and calculate a diameter of a circle having the same area as this area.

(19) In order to enhance the wear resistance of the composite sintered body, a Knoop hardness of the composite sintered body according to the present embodiment is preferably not lower than 60 GPa, and more preferably not lower than 80 GPa. Here, the Knoop hardness is measured at a measurement load of 9.8 N (1.0 kgf) by using a Knoop indenter.

(20) (Method for Manufacturing Composite Sintered Body)

(21) A method for manufacturing the composite sintered body according to the present embodiment is not particularly limited. However, in order to manufacture the composite sintered body having a high wear resistance, a high local wear resistance and a high chipping resistance in an efficient manner and at low cost, the method for manufacturing the composite sintered body according to the present embodiment preferably includes the following steps:

(22) (a) a raw material preparation step of preparing a mixture of raw material non-diamond carbon, raw material diamond and a substance forming a second phase, or a mixture of raw material non-diamond carbon and a substance forming a second phase; and

(23) (b) a composite sintered body formation step of forming a composite sintered body by sintering the aforementioned raw material under conditions of a temperature and a pressure at which a diamond phase is formed.

(24) In order to form a homogeneous composite sintered body, the raw material non-diamond carbon and the raw material diamond prepared in the raw material preparation step are preferably a powder. In addition, in order to form a composite sintered body with high quality, the raw material non-diamond carbon is preferably graphite or amorphous carbon.

(25) In the composite sintered body formation step, the sintering conditions are not particularly limited as long as the sintering conditions are conditions of a temperature and a pressure at which the diamond phase is formed. However, in order to efficiently form the diamond phase, conditions of a temperature not lower than 1800 C. and a pressure not lower than 8 GPa and not higher than 16 GPa are preferable, and conditions of a temperature not lower than 2000 C. and not higher than 2200 C. and a pressure not lower than 11 GPa and not higher than 14 GPa are more preferable. A high-temperature and high-pressure generating apparatus for generating such high temperature and high pressure is not particularly limited, and examples of the high-temperature and high-pressure generating apparatus include a belt-type apparatus, a cubic-type apparatus, a split sphere-type apparatus and the like.

EXAMPLE

Example 1

(26) 1. Preparation of Raw Material

(27) As a raw material, a mixed powder obtained by adding 400 ppm of silicon carbide to a graphite powder was prepared.

(28) 2. Formation of Composite Sintered Body

(29) By using the high-temperature and high-pressure generating apparatus, the aforementioned mixed powder was sintered under the sintering conditions of a temperature of 2300 C., a pressure of 13 GPa and 100 minutes, to thereby obtain a composite sintered body.

(30) 3. Evaluation of Properties of Composite Sintered Body

(31) With SEM observation and X-ray diffraction of one cross section of the composite sintered body, a diamond phase and a second phase in the composite sintered body were recognized and identified. A contained amount of the second phase was calculated from the aforementioned SEM observation. Then, the contained amount of the second phase was 300 ppm. An average particle size of particles forming the diamond phase was calculated from the aforementioned SEM observation. Then, the average particle size of the particles forming the diamond phase was 300 nm. An average particle size of particles forming the second phase was calculated from the aforementioned SEM observation. Then, the average particle size of the particles forming the second phase was 60 nm. A Knoop hardness of the composite sintered body was measured under a load of 9.8 N by using a Knoop indenter. Then, the Knoop hardness of the composite sintered body was 75 GPa. In addition, a linear expansion coefficient of the diamond phase was 1.110.sup.6/K, and a linear expansion coefficient of the silicon carbide phase was 6.610.sup.6/K.

(32) Furthermore, this composite sintered body was used to fabricate a wire drawing die having an opening size of 20 m, and SUS (stainless steel) was drawn at a wire drawing speed of 1000 m/min. A frequency of wire breakage until the opening size of the wire drawing die increased to 20.5 m was significantly reduced to one-fifth of a frequency of wire breakage in the conventional art.

(33) Furthermore, the composite sintered body was brazed to a superhard base metal, and a cutting tool having a tip end angle of 80 and a tip end radius of curvature (R) of 80 nm was fabricated, and a 30 mm-thick copper plate was plated with nickel to a thickness of 20 m to obtain a nickel-plated metal plate and grooves having a depth of 5 m were formed in the metal plate at pitches of 10 m. A chipped state (cracking and chipping) of the tip end portion when the tip end of the cutting tool became worn by 1 m was evaluated in terms of an amount of chipping. Then, the amount of chipping was significantly reduced to one-half of an amount of chipping in the conventional art.

(34) It should be understood that the embodiment and example disclosed herein are illustrative and not limitative in any respect. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.