page_title: Synthetic diamond
section_title: Machining and cutting tools
hierarchical_section_title: Synthetic diamond / Applications / Machining and cutting tools
caption_attribution_description: English: A very macro picture of a diamond blade. This is the same blade as File:Diamond blade macro.jpg, but with a close-up lens added to get a closer picture.
context_page_description: Synthetic diamond is a diamond made of the same material as natural diamonds: pure carbon, crystallized in an isotropic 3D form. Synthetic diamond are different from both natural diamond, which is created by geological processes, and imitation diamond, which is made of non-diamond material.
  Records of attempted diamond synthesis date back to the turn of the twentieth century. Numerous scientists claimed to have successfully synthesized diamonds between 1879 and 1928, but none was confirmed. In the 1940s, systematic research began in the United States, Sweden and the Soviet Union to grow diamonds, which culminated in the first reproducible synthesis of diamond in 1954.
  This early research of diamond synthesis in the U.S., Sweden and the Soviet Union yielded the discovery of the CVD diamond and HPHT diamond processes. These two processes still dominate the production of synthetic diamond, but researchers have since discovered a third and fourth method of diamond synthesis. A third method, known as detonation synthesis, entered the diamond market in the late 1990s. In this process, the detonation of carbon-containing explosives creates nanometer-sized diamond grains.
context_section_description: Most industrial applications of synthetic diamond have long been associated with their hardness; this property makes diamond the ideal material for machine tools and cutting tools. As the hardest known naturally occurring material, diamond can be used to polish, cut, or wear away any material, including other diamonds. Common industrial applications of this ability include diamond-tipped drill bits and saws, and the use of diamond powder as an abrasive. These are by far the largest industrial applications of synthetic diamond. While natural diamond is also used for these purposes, synthetic HPHT diamond is more popular, mostly because of better reproducibility of its mechanical properties. Diamond is not suitable for machining ferrous alloys at high speeds, as carbon is soluble in iron at the high temperatures created by high-speed machining, leading to greatly increased wear on diamond tools compared to alternatives.
  The usual form of diamond in cutting tools is micron-sized grains dispersed in a metal matrix (usually cobalt) sintered onto the tool. This is typically referred to in industry as polycrystalline diamond (PCD). PCD-tipped tools can be found in mining and cutting applications. For the past fifteen years, work has been done to coat metallic tools with CVD diamond, and though the work shows promise, it has not significantly replaced traditional PCD tools.
caption: Diamonds in an angle grinder blade
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