Thermal damage mechanisms of Si-coated diamond powder based polycrystalline diamond

The polycrystalline diamond (PCD) composites were synthesized from Si-coated diamond or diamond powder mixtures with Si. The characterizations of phase structures, morphologies and thermal stability of PCD were investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermal gravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC). The thermal damage mechanisms of PCD were studied under air condition up to 750 ℃ by thermal weight loss, XRD, SEM and wear tester. The results showed that the PCD was successfully synthesized by the Si-coated diamond with a homogeneous structure. The thermal stability and wear resistance of PCD with Si-coated diamond were better than those of PCD with uncoated diamond. It was determined that the chemical thermal damage mechanism with oxidation reaction dominated the damage of the PCD after high temperature annealing and the physical thermal damage mechanism also took effect on the exfoliation of binder and fine diamond grains from PCD.