Diamond and cubic boron nitride (cBN) as conventional superhard materials have found widespread industrial applications, but both have inherent limitations. Diamond is not suitable for high-speed cutting of ferrous materials due to its poor chemical inertness, while cBN is only about half as hard as diamond. Because of their affinity in structural lattices and covalent bonding character, diamond and cBN could form alloys that can potentially fill the performance gap. However, the idea has never been demonstrated because samples obtained in the previous studies were too small to be tested for their practical performance. Here, we report the synthesis and characterization of transparent bulk diamond-cBN alloy compacts whose diameters (3 mm) are sufficiently large for them to be processed into cutting tools. The testing results show that the diamond-cBN alloy has superior chemical inertness over polycrystalline diamond and higher hardness than single crystal cBN. High-speed cutting tests on hardened steel and granite suggest that diamond-cBN alloy is indeed a universal cutting material.
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Diamond-cBN alloy: A universal cutting material
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7 September 2015
Research Article|
September 08 2015
Diamond-cBN alloy: A universal cutting material
Pei Wang;
Pei Wang
1Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics,
Sichuan University
, Chengdu 610065, People's Republic of China
2High Pressure Science and Engineering Center and Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Nevada Las Vegas
, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154, USA
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Duanwei He;
Duanwei He
a)
1Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics,
Sichuan University
, Chengdu 610065, People's Republic of China
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Liping Wang;
Liping Wang
2High Pressure Science and Engineering Center and Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Nevada Las Vegas
, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154, USA
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Zili Kou;
Zili Kou
1Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics,
Sichuan University
, Chengdu 610065, People's Republic of China
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Yong Li;
Yong Li
1Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics,
Sichuan University
, Chengdu 610065, People's Republic of China
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Lun Xiong;
Lun Xiong
3
Institute of High Energy Physics
, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China
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Qiwei Hu;
Qiwei Hu
1Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics,
Sichuan University
, Chengdu 610065, People's Republic of China
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Chao Xu;
Chao Xu
1Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics,
Sichuan University
, Chengdu 610065, People's Republic of China
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Li Lei;
Li Lei
1Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics,
Sichuan University
, Chengdu 610065, People's Republic of China
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Qiming Wang;
Qiming Wang
1Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics,
Sichuan University
, Chengdu 610065, People's Republic of China
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Jing Liu;
Jing Liu
3
Institute of High Energy Physics
, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China
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Yusheng Zhao
Yusheng Zhao
2High Pressure Science and Engineering Center and Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Nevada Las Vegas
, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154, USA
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a)
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: [email protected]
Appl. Phys. Lett. 107, 101901 (2015)
Article history
Received:
April 21 2015
Accepted:
August 16 2015
Citation
Pei Wang, Duanwei He, Liping Wang, Zili Kou, Yong Li, Lun Xiong, Qiwei Hu, Chao Xu, Li Lei, Qiming Wang, Jing Liu, Yusheng Zhao; Diamond-cBN alloy: A universal cutting material. Appl. Phys. Lett. 7 September 2015; 107 (10): 101901. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4929728
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