Evaluation of the residual stresses due to the sintering process of diamond–metal matrix hot-pressed tools

Abstract

The sintering process of diamond–metal matrix hot-pressed tools, usually used for cutting hard materials (e.g., stone cutting) originates residual stresses, which should be taken into account in the performance of the tool. The work concerns the use of finite element simulation for modelling of thermal residual stresses generated during the sintering process of metal matrix diamond tools normally employed by the industry. Stress distribution fields were determined for two different diamond shapes (modelled with 2D axisymmetric elements, with the sphere shape generated from the revolution of one circle and the octahedron shape generated from the revolution of one octagon, respectively) using an 8-node biquadratic axisymmetric quadrilateral, reduced integration element type CAX8. The thermal residual stress field in the nearby region of a diamond particle with the shape generated from the octagon is examined by using three different matrix materials, each one sintered at different temperatures. The analyses have demonstrated how much the residual stresses are sensitive to the stress–strain behaviour of the metal matrices.