In the industrial sector, it is commonly accepted that tools manufactured through free sintering are mainly restricted by inadequate service life—managing to reach 90% of the durability of hot-pressed tools is already deemed quite satisfactory.
Enabling free-sintered tools to match the performance of hot-pressed counterparts is far from an inherent state; instead, it relies heavily on the concurrent satisfaction of the following requirements:
Adoption of pre-alloyed powders featuring fine particle size and low oxygen content can minimize the bridging effect, thereby boosting sintering reactivity and liquid phase uniformity effectively.
The binder needs to produce a desired liquid phase within an accurate sintering window and maintain favorable interfacial compatibility with diamond—this compatibility can be enhanced by introducing active elements like Cr and Ti.
Sintering temperature, heating rate, soaking time, and protective atmosphere (such as vacuum or reducing atmosphere) must be accurately tailored to the material system, so as to offer optimal kinetic conditions for liquid phase generation, mass transport, and pore removal.
When all the aforementioned requirements are met, free sintering can not only achieve bulk density at the same level as hot pressing but also obtain a homogeneous structure with isotropy and no density gradient. This constitutes the essential basis for it to be recognized as a high-performance manufacturing approach.
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