Patent ID: 11946320
Assignee: US SYNTHETIC CORPORATION
Field: Materials, metallurgy (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC E  B  C | IPC B  C  E

Claim 17:
18. A method of fabricating a polycrystalline diamond element, the method comprising:
placing a diamond particulate volume into a pressure transmitting medium, the diamond particulate volume comprising:
a first volume of diamond particles including an interstitial material; and
a second volume of diamond particles having a lower concentration of the interstitial material than the first volume of diamond particles, the second volume of the diamond particles positioned to define at least a portion of a working surface of the polycrystalline diamond element;

enclosing the first volume of diamond particles and the second volume of diamond particles in the pressure transmitting medium to define a cell assembly;
subjecting the cell assembly to a high-pressure/high-temperature process to define a polycrystalline diamond table;
leaching at least a portion of the polycrystalline diamond table to define a leached portion of the polycrystalline diamond table and a substantially unleached portion of the polycrystalline diamond table; and
defining a non-linear boundary between at least one of:
the leached portion and the substantially unleached portion of the polycrystalline diamond table;
the first volume of diamond particles and the second volume of diamond particles of the diamond particulate volume.