Polycrystalline Diamond Compacts with Segmented Core and Annular Regions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional polycrystalline diamond compacts (PCD) exhibit uniform properties, which limits their ability to optimize abrasion resistance, thermal stability, and toughness, as they lack regions with differing characteristics that could enhance specific performance attributes like abrasion resistance and impact resistance.
Innovation Solution
A method of creating PCD bodies with an annular region and a core region, each with distinct diamond particle size distributions and non-catalyst material concentrations, subjected to a high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) process to form diamond-to-diamond bonds, allowing for enhanced material properties and improved wear resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If uniform materials are incorporated throughout the PCD body, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but abrasion resistance, thermal stability, and toughness are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating distinct regions within the PCD body with different material compositions and properties. The annular region contains different diamond particle size distributions and non-catalyst material concentrations compared to the core region, allowing each region to be optimized for specific functions such as abrasion resistance at the periphery and toughness in the core
Solution Approach 2:
The PCD body is segmented into multiple regions (annular region and core region) with distinct characteristics. This segmentation allows different material properties to be distributed throughout the body, with the annular region containing finer diamond particles for abrasion resistance and the core region containing coarser particles for toughness, thereby resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and performance optimization
2Reliability
If different materials are introduced to improve specific properties, then abrasion resistance and toughness are enhanced, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-positioning diamond grains with different size distributions into specific regions (annular and core) before the HPHT sintering process. The non-catalyst material is mixed with the diamond grains in advance, and the annular configuration is established prior to bonding, allowing the complex multi-region structure to be created in a single manufacturing step rather than requiring multiple post-processing operations
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The PCD bodies demonstrate increased abrasion resistance and fracture toughness by selectively positioning materials with different properties, enhancing their performance in applications like down-hole drilling by resiliently coupling the core and annular regions.
Implementation Method 1
mixing a non-catalyst material into the second quantity of diamond grains; and during the HPHT process, melting the non-catalyst material so as to sweep the non-catalyst material from the second quantity of diamond grains into the first quantity of diamond grains
Implementation Method 2
subjecting the low-reactivity cup, the first quantity of diamond grains, and the second quantity of diamond grains to a HPHT process in which adjacent diamond grains are sintered to one another and form diamond-to-diamond bonds
Data Source
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AI summary
Polycrystalline diamond bodies having an annular region of diamond grains and a core region of diamond grains and methods of making the same are disclosed. In one embodiment, a polycrystalline diamond body includes an annular region of inter-bonded diamond grains having a first characteristic property and a core region of inter-bonded diamond grains bonded to the annular region and having a second characteristic property that differs from the first characteristic property. The annular region decreases in thickness from a perimeter surface of the polycrystalline diamond body towards a centerline axis.