Polycrystalline diamond

PCD (Polycrystalline Diamond)

Additional recommended knowledge

Recognize and detect the effects of electrostatic charges on your balance

What is the Sensitivity of my Balance?

Essential Laboratory Skills Guide

PCD (Syndite)

PCD is a synthesised, extremely tough, intergrown mass of randomly orientated diamond particles in a metal matrix. It is produced by sintering together selected diamond particles at high pressure and temperature. The sintering process is rigidly controlled within the diamond stable region and an extremely hard and abrasion resistant structure is produced.

Practical Uses

Diamond is the hardest, most abrasive-resistant, material known to man. These properties make diamond an ideal cutting tool. Within the crystal structure, however, fracture planes, used by the diamond cutter to produce the gem diamond from the rough, can cause catastrophic breakage of the tool edge, when subjected to impact.

PCD tools incorporate Polycrystalline Diamond blanks produced under conditions of high pressure (1 million PSI) and temperature (1700 Degrees C), similar to those of diamond synthesis. Randomly orientated, carefully selected synthetic diamond crystals are grown together on a hard metal substrate.

This results in a material with the hardness, abrasive resistance and high thermal conductivity of diamond with the toughness of hard metal. Using the hard metal substrate the PCD blank is brazed to a carrier, either steel or hard metal, and machined by [grinding] or E.D.M to produce the cutting edge.