The Effect of ZrO₂ Nanoparticles on the Microstructure and Properties of Sintered WC-Bronze-Based Diamond Composites

Youhong Sun; Haidong Wu; Meng Li; Qingnan Meng; Ke Gao; Xiaoshu Lü; Baochang Liu

doi:10.3390/ma9050343

The Effect of ZrO₂ Nanoparticles on the Microstructure and Properties of Sintered WC-Bronze-Based Diamond Composites

Materials (Basel). 2016 May 6;9(5):343. doi: 10.3390/ma9050343.

Authors

Youhong Sun^{1

2

3}, Haidong Wu^{4

5}, Meng Li^{6

7}, Qingnan Meng^{8

9}, Ke Gao^{10

11}, Xiaoshu Lü^{12

13}, Baochang Liu^{14

15

16}

Affiliations

¹ College of Construction Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130000, China. syh@jlu.edu.cn.
² State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Changchun 130000, China. syh@jlu.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Drilling and Exploitation Technology in Complex Conditions of Minsitry of Land and Resources, Changchun 130000, China. syh@jlu.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Construction Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130000, China. wuhd12@mails.jlu.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Drilling and Exploitation Technology in Complex Conditions of Minsitry of Land and Resources, Changchun 130000, China. wuhd12@mails.jlu.edu.cn.
⁶ College of Construction Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130000, China. mli14@mails.jlu.edu.cn.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Drilling and Exploitation Technology in Complex Conditions of Minsitry of Land and Resources, Changchun 130000, China. mli14@mails.jlu.edu.cn.
⁸ College of Construction Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130000, China. qingnanmeng@jlu.edu.cn.
⁹ Key Laboratory of Drilling and Exploitation Technology in Complex Conditions of Minsitry of Land and Resources, Changchun 130000, China. qingnanmeng@jlu.edu.cn.
¹⁰ College of Construction Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130000, China. gaokenm@jlu.edu.cn.
¹¹ Key Laboratory of Drilling and Exploitation Technology in Complex Conditions of Minsitry of Land and Resources, Changchun 130000, China. gaokenm@jlu.edu.cn.
¹² College of Construction Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130000, China. xiaoshu.lu@aalto.fi.
¹³ Department of Civil Engineering, Aalto University, P.O. Box 12100, Espoo FIN-02015, Finland. xiaoshu.lu@aalto.fi.
¹⁴ College of Construction Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130000, China. liubc@jlu.edu.cn.
¹⁵ State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Changchun 130000, China. liubc@jlu.edu.cn.
¹⁶ Key Laboratory of Drilling and Exploitation Technology in Complex Conditions of Minsitry of Land and Resources, Changchun 130000, China. liubc@jlu.edu.cn.

Abstract

Metal matrix-impregnated diamond composites are widely used in diamond tool manufacturing. In order to satisfy the increasing engineering requirements, researchers have paid more and more attention to enhancing conventional metal matrices by applying novel methods. In this work, ZrO₂ nanoparticles were introduced into the WC-bronze matrix with and without diamond grits via hot pressing to improve the performance of conventional diamond composites. The effects of ZrO₂ nanoparticles on the microstructure, density, hardness, bending strength, and wear resistance of diamond composites were investigated. The results indicated that the hardness and relative density increased, while the bending strength decreased when the content of ZrO₂ nanoparticles increased. The grinding ratio of diamond composites increased significantly by 60% as a result of nano-ZrO₂ addition. The enhancement mechanism was discussed. Diamond composites showed the best overall properties with the addition of 1 wt % ZrO₂ nanoparticles, thus paving the way for further applications.

Keywords: Orowan strengthening; ZrO2 nanoparticles; diamond impregnated composites; hot pressing; metal matrix.