Perspectives of metal-diamond composites additive manufacturing using SLM-SPS and other techniques for increased wear-impact resistance

Abstract

In this paper, a new route is introduced to fabricate parts with increased wear and impact resistance for use in tunneling and mining applications. A combination of selective laser melting (SLM) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) to 3D print functionally graded lattices (FGL) that are later filled with metal-diamond composites was used. It was demonstrated that a cellular lattice plays an important role in the consolidation of diamond particles. Impact-abrasive laboratory experiments with tribological device, developed in-house, were carried out to characterize the fabricated samples. The results show that the balance of nickel, molybdenum, and chromium significantly affects the performance of the fabricated specimens. The addition of a higher content of MoCr, Ni and coated diamond particles guarantees higher impact-abrasive resistance of the composite. Our experimental results show that the FGL structure allows a more accurate distribution of diamond particles (variable metal/refractory material content) across the structure and our finite element simulations showed increased ductility and impact absorption ability due to a more uniform distribution of stresses throughout the volume.