Patent ID: 9707531
Date: 2017-07-18
CPC Classifications: B01J,B24D,B29C,B82Y,C01B

Claim:
1. A sintering system for sintering a particle mixture to form a polycrystalline diamond compact, comprising: a pressure cell comprising a container configured to contain a particle mixture to be compacted within the pressure cell during a sintering cycle; at least one device configured to increase a pressure within the pressure cell to at least 5.0 GPa; at least one heating device external to the container and configured to increase a temperature within the pressure cell to at least 1,300° C.; and an electrically conductive pathway including a first segment extending to a first side of the pressure cell and a second segment extending to a second side of the pressure cell, the first segment and the second segment of the electrically conductive pathway configured to provide electrical current through the container and the particle mixture such that electrical current is conducted through the particle mixture using the electrically conductive pathway during at least a portion of the sintering cycle, each of the first segment and the second segment of the electrically conductive pathway comprising: