Patent Grant
10060192
Wear-resistant, polycrystalline diamond compacts (“PDCs”) are utilized in a variety of mechanical applications. For example, PDCs are used in drilling tools (e.g., cutting elements, gage trimmers, etc.), machining equipment, bearing apparatuses, wire-drawing machinery, and in other mechanical apparatuses.
PDCs have found particular utility as superabrasive cutting elements in rotary drill bits, such as roller-cone drill bits and fixed-cutter drill bits. A PDC cutting element typically includes a superabrasive diamond layer commonly known as a diamond body or table. The diamond table is formed and bonded to a substrate using a high-pressure/high-temperature (“HPHT”) process. The PDC cutting element may also be brazed directly into a preformed pocket, socket, or other receptacle formed in a bit body. The substrate may often be brazed or otherwise joined to an attachment member, such as a cylindrical backing. A rotary drill bit typically includes a number of PDC cutting elements affixed to the bit body. It is also known that a stud carrying the PDC may be used as a PDC cutting element when mounted to a bit body of a rotary drill bit by press-fitting, brazing, or otherwise securing the stud into a receptacle formed in the bit body.
Conventional PDCs are normally fabricated by placing a cemented carbide substrate into a container or cartridge with a volume of diamond particles positioned on a surface of the cemented carbide substrate. A number of such cartridges may be loaded into an HPHT press. The substrate(s) and volume of diamond particles are then processed under HPHT conditions in the presence of a catalyst material that causes the diamond particles to bond to one another to form a matrix of bonded diamond grains defining a polycrystalline diamond (“PCD”) body or table. The catalyst material is often a metal-solvent catalyst (e.g., cobalt, nickel, iron, or alloys thereof) that is used for promoting intergrowth of the diamond particles.
In one conventional approach, a constituent of the cemented carbide substrate, such as cobalt from a cobalt-cemented tungsten carbide substrate, liquefies and sweeps from a region adjacent to the volume of diamond particles into interstitial regions between the diamond particles during the HPHT process. The cobalt acts as a metal-solvent catalyst to promote intergrowth between the diamond particles, which results in the formation of a matrix of bonded diamond grains having diamond-to-diamond bonding therebetween, with interstitial regions between the bonded diamond grains being occupied by the metal-solvent catalyst.
Despite the availability of a number of different types of PDCs, manufacturers and users of PDCs continue to seek improved PDCs.
Embodiments of the invention relate to methods of forming a PDC by bonding a previously formed PCD body (i.e., a preformed PCD body) to a substrate using a number of different techniques. For example, embodiments disclosed herein may provide improved bonding between the PCD body from the substrate for increasing impact resistance and/or delamination resistance of the PCD body from the substrate during cutting operations.
In an embodiment, a method for forming a PDC is disclosed. The method includes forming a precursor assembly including a substrate, a preformed PCD body, and an infiltrant having carbon material therein. The infiltrant is positioned between the substrate and the preformed PCD body. The method further including subjecting the precursor assembly to an HPHT process to bond the preformed PCD body to the substrate and form the PDC.
In an embodiment, a method for making a PDC is disclosed. The method includes forming a PCD body having an upper surface, a lower bonding surface generally opposite the upper surface, and at least one lateral surface extending therebetween. The method further includes providing a substrate having an interfacial surface including at least one substrate bonding feature thereon having a PCD portion. The method further includes positioning the interfacial surface of the substrate including the at least one substrate bonding feature having the PCD portion adjacent to the lower bonding surface of the PCD body, and subjecting the substrate and PCD body to at least one of an HPHT process or a brazing process to bond the PCD body to the substrate.
In an embodiment, a method of making a PDC is disclosed. The method includes providing a substrate having an interfacial surface including at least one substrate bonding feature. The method includes providing a plurality of segments of a multiple segment PCD body. Each of the plurality of segment includes an outer side; a first end; a second end; an upper, working surface; and a lower, bonding surface. The method includes positioning each of the plurality of the segments such that each individual segment engages an adjacent segment at the first end or the second end until all segments are placed adjacent to one another to thereby form an assembled multiple segment PCD body. The resulting assembled multiple segment PCD body has an upper, working surface; a lower, bonding surface generally opposite the working surface; at least one lateral surface therebetween; and a configuration complementary to the shape of the substrate bonding feature. The method further includes bonding to the assembled multiple segment PCD body to the substrate, by placing the assembled multiple segment PCD body on or around the substrate bonding feature, and performing at least one of an HPHT process or a brazing process.
In an embodiment, a multiple segment PDC is disclosed. The PDC including a substrate having an interfacial surface including a raised portion extending above the interfacial surface and a preformed PCD body bonded to the substrate. The preformed PCD body includes a plurality of PCD segments laterally arranged with respect to one another (e.g., circumferentially adjacent) to form a collective PCD body having a complementary configuration to the raised portion of the substrate bonding feature.
In an embodiment a PDC is disclosed. The PDC includes a substrate including an interfacial surface; a first preformed PCD body having a working surface, a bonding surface, at least one lateral surface, an interior surface defining at least one hole extending therethrough from the working surface to the bonding surface; and a second PCD body at least partially filling the at least one hole in the first PCD body. The second PCD body may be bonded to the first preformed PCD body at the interior surface of the first preformed PCD body and to the substrate on at least the interfacial surface inside the hole of the first preformed PCD body. The first preformed PCD body may be bonded to the substrate at least partially by the second PCD body.
In another embodiment, a PDC is disclosed. The PDC may include a substrate including an interfacial surface having a raised portion extending a height above the interfacial surface; and a lower PCD body that at least partially extends around the raised portion of the PCD body. The lower PCD body includes a working surface having a height about the same or less than the raised portion, a bonding surface, and a lateral surface therebetween. The PDC includes an upper PCD body bonded to the raised portion of the substrate. The upper PCD body exhibits a larger lateral dimension than the raised portion.
Features from any of the disclosed embodiments may be used in combination with one another, without limitation. In addition, other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art through consideration of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.
The drawings illustrate several embodiments of the invention, wherein identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar elements or features in different views or embodiments shown in the drawings.
Embodiments of the invention relate to methods of forming a PDC by bonding a previously formed PCD body to a substrate using a number of different techniques. For example, embodiments disclosed herein may provide improved bonding between the PCD body from the substrate for increasing impact resistance and/or delamination resistance of the PCD body from the substrate during cutting operations. Embodiments herein may provide a greater mechanical and/or chemical bond between the PCD body and the substrate, thereby providing improved impact resistance and/or reduced incidence of delamination or separation. For example, embodiments may provide at least one of disruption of residual stresses in the PCD body, limit crack propagation in the PCD body, or the transfer of heat and/or stresses through the PCD body during operations. For example, a PDC having a multiple segment PCD body may contain breakage and/or damage to a specific region or segment of the multiple segment PCD body, which segment may be replaced or the PDC rotated to position another segment or portion of the PCD body in the cutting position without replacing the entire PCD body or PDC.
Generally and with reference to
The substrate 102 may be generally cylindrical or another selected configuration, without limitation. The substrate 102 may include, without limitation, cemented carbides, such as tungsten carbide, titanium carbide, chromium carbide, niobium carbide, tantalum carbide, vanadium carbide, or combinations thereof cemented with iron, nickel, cobalt, or alloys thereof. For example, in an embodiment, the substrate 102 comprises cobalt-cemented tungsten carbide.
The PCD body 106 includes a plurality of diamond grains directly bonded together via diamond-to-diamond bonding (e.g., sp3 bonding) to define a plurality of interstitial regions therebetween. At least a portion of the plurality of interstitial regions, or in some embodiments, substantially of the interstitial regions may be occupied by a metal-solvent catalyst, such as iron, nickel, cobalt, or alloys of any of the foregoing metals. The PCD body 106 may exhibit an average diamond grain size of about 50 μm or less, such as about 30 μm or less or about 20 μm or less. For example, the average grain size of the diamond grains may be about 10 μm to about 18 μm and, in some embodiments, about 15 μm to about 25 μm. In some embodiments, the average grain size of the diamond grains may be about 10 μm or less, such as about 2 μm to about 5 μm or submicron. It is noted that the as-sintered diamond grain size may differ from the average particle size of the diamond particles prior to sintering due to a variety of different physical processes, such as grain growth, diamond particles fracturing, carbon provided from another carbon source (e.g., dissolved carbon in the metal-solvent catalyst), or combinations of the foregoing. A PDC or a portion thereof (e.g., a portion of the PCD body 106) as described above may be used to form a portion of the PCD bodies and/or PDC in the embodiments described herein. For example, the PCD body 106 may be formed on the substrate 102. The PCD body 106 may be removed from the substrate 102 and be further processed for use in any embodiment described herein by bonding the removed PCD body to another substrate, as desired.
Referring to
In some embodiments, the diamond particles of the diamond powder 105 may have a single mode or mixtures of more than one mode of diamond particle sizes. Such diamond powders 105 may exhibit at least one average diamond particle size. Suitable average diamond particle sizes include 100 μm and smaller, such as, 50 μm and smaller, 20 μm and smaller, 10 μm and smaller, about 10 μm to about 50 μm, about 15 μm to about 30 μm, about 10 μm to about 20 μm, about 20 μm, about 10 μm, about 5 μm, or submicron particles.
In embodiments, the diamond powders 105 may be a mixture comprising a multi-modal diamond particle size distribution, such as a bimodal, trimodal, or greater average diamond particle size distribution. For example, a bimodal diamond powder 105 (e.g., diamond particle mixture) may exhibit a first average diamond particle size and a second average diamond particle size. By way of non-limiting example, a suitable bimodal diamond powder 105 may include the first average diamond particle size of about 10 μm or greater (e.g., 10 μm to about 50 μm, about 15 μm to about 40 μm, about 20 μm to about 30 μm, about 15 μm, about 18 μm, about 20 μm, about 25 μm, or about 30 μm) and the second average diamond particle size of about 1 μm to about 20 μm (e.g., about 2 μm to about 15 μm, about 4 μm to about 10 μm, about 2 μm, about 5 μm, about 10 μm, or about 15 μm). Further, smaller average particle size distributions are contemplated herein. For example, a multimodal diamond powder 105 may include any of the above average diamond particle size distributions in the first mode and include the second mode exhibiting the average diamond particle size distribution of less than about 1 μm, such as, about 1 nm to about 500 nm, about 10 nm to about 250 nm, about 20 nm to about 100 nm, about 5 nm, about 10 nm, about 20 nm, about 50 nm, about 100 nm, about 250 nm, or about 500 nm. In an embodiment, any one of the average diamond particle sizes recited herein may be used in combination with another average diamond particle size to create a multimodal diamond powder 105, so long as the average diamond particle sizes differ from each other.
With continued reference to
In some embodiments, the metal-solvent catalyst may be placed in, on, and/or adjacent to the diamond powder 105, in the form of a powder, foil, disc, or constituent of a substrate. For example, the diamond powder 105 may include cobalt particles intermixed with the diamond particles. In an embodiment, a cobalt-containing foil, disc, or powder may be placed on or adjacent to the diamond powder. In an embodiment, a cobalt-containing substrate (e.g., cobalt-cemented tungsten carbide substrate) or substrate particle mixture containing a cobalt cementing constituent may be placed in contact with the diamond powder. During HPHT sintering, the metal-solvent catalyst may at least partially melt and sweep into the diamond powder or sintered diamond grains, the melted cobalt aiding the dissolution of sp2 carbon and/or precipitation of sp3 carbon, which may increase diamond-to-diamond bonding in the resulting sintered PCD body 106.
An HPHT bonding process may be substantially similar to the HPHT sintering process disclosed above for sintering diamond particles, including temperature and pressure conditions (i.e. diamond stable conditions) in which an infiltrant such as a metal-solvent catalyst from the cemented carbide substrate infiltrates into the interstitial regions of the at least partially leached PCD table and bonds the infiltrated PCD table to the cemented carbide substrate upon cooling from the HPHT process. In some embodiments, the cell pressure in the pressure transmitting medium in the HPHT bonding process may be lower than the pressure used to sinter the PCD body 106. For example, the HPHT bonding pressure may be about 4 GPa to about 7 GPa, about 5 GPa to about 6 GPa, about 4 GPa, about 5 GPa or less, about 6 GPa or less, or about 7 GPa or less, wherein the HPHT bonding pressure is lower that the HPHT sintering pressure used to form the PCD body 106. In some embodiments, the HPHT bonding temperature may be lower than the HPHT sintering temperature. For example, the HPHT bonding temperature may be at least about 1000° C., such as about 1000° C. to about 2000° C., about 1100° C. to about 1600° C., about 1200° C. to about 1500° C., about 1100° C., about 1200° C., about 1300° C., about 1500° C., about 1000° C. or greater, about 1200° C. or greater, about 500° C. less than the HPHT sintering temperature, about 400° C. less than the HPHT sintering temperature, about 300° C. less than the HPHT sintering temperature, about 200° C. less than the HPHT sintering temperature, or about 400° C. less than the HPHT sintering temperature.
Generally, a one-step PDC may be formed by placing a plurality of diamond particles (i.e. un-bonded diamond particles, diamond powder 105) adjacent to a cemented carbide substrate 102 to form a precursor assembly as illustrated in
The metal solvent catalyst that occupies at least a portion of the interstitial regions of the PCD body 106 may be present in an amount of about 7.5 weight % (“wt %”) of the PCD body 106 or less, such as about 1 wt % to about 7.5 wt %, about 1 wt % to about 6 wt %, about 3 wt % to about 6 wt %, less than about 3 wt %, or a residual amount to about 1 wt %. By maintaining the metal-solvent catalyst content below about 7.5 wt %, the PCD body 106 may exhibit a desirable level of thermal stability suitable for subterranean drilling applications.
Additional details of examples of one-step and two-step processes for fabricating a PDC are disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 12/961,787 filed 7 Dec. 2010; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,866,418 issued on 11 Jan. 2011, both of which are incorporated herein, in their entirety, by this reference. Any portions of a PDC or PCD body or process of making the same disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 12/961,787; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,866,418 may be used herein for all or a portion of a PCD body and/or PDC.
After bonding to a final substrate (or in the case of a two-step PDC, before and/or after bonding to a substrate), the one-step and two-step PDCs or portions thereof (i.e., PCD body) may be subjected to a leaching process to remove at least a portion of the metal-solvent catalyst or infiltrant from the PCD body to a selected depth therein and from one or more exterior surfaces. Leaching may be carried out by placing at least a portion of the PCD body into an acid bath in a leaching vessel for a predetermined period of time. Leaching may include elevated temperatures and pressures inside of the leaching vessel (e.g., Teflon coated pressure vessel). Removal of the metal-solvent catalyst or infiltrant may help improve thermal stability and/or wear resistance of the PCD body during use.
Examples of acids used in leaching include, but are not limited to, aqua regia, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, and mixtures thereof. For example, leaching the PCD body 106 may form a leached region that extends inwardly from the working surface 114, the lateral surface 116, and the chamfer 117 to a selected leached depth. The selected leached depth may be about 100 μm to about 1000 μm, about 100 μm to about 300 μm, about 300 μm to about 425 μm, about 350 μm to about 400 μm, about 350 μm to about 375 μm, about 375 μm to about 400 μm, about 500 μm to about 650 μm, or about 650 μm to about 800 μm. Alternatively, the PCD body 106 may be leached substantially the entire depth of the PCD body 106 depending on leaching conditions. A leached region of the PCD may still include a residual amount of metal-solvent catalyst therein.
The one-step and two-step PDCs made according to the above may resemble the PDC 100 in
In some embodiments, any of the above-described methods, materials (e.g., diamond powders, catalysts, substrates, at least partially leached PCD's) and variations thereof may be used to make or otherwise provide at least a portion of the PCD bodies for the embodiments of PDC's and components (e.g., PCD body and/or substrate) thereof described in more detail below. For example, a PDC comprising a PCD body and a substrate may be formed from a diamond powder exhibiting an average diamond particle size of about 20 μm or less. The diamond powder may have been positioned on the substrate, loaded into a refractory metal can, and subjected to HPHT sintering conditions including a sintering temperature of about 1200° C. to about 1200° C. and a sintering cell pressure of at least about 7.0 GPa. The resulting PCD body may be separated from the substrate, at which point the PCD body may be further processed and/or at least partially leached. The PCD may be subjected to further processing such as shaping or dimensioning (e.g., cutting, grinding, lasing, EDM, etc.) to provide a final dimensioned PCD body or a portion thereof, such as an annular PCD body, a PCD body having a reduced thickness in a portion thereof (e.g., a PCD disk), a portion or segment of a PCD body having protrusions or indentations thereon, or combinations thereof. The shaped or dimensioned portion or PCD body may be used as at least portion of a PDC. A substrate or a portion thereof may be made or provided for use in any of the embodiments described herein, in a substantially similar manner as the PCD body described above.
The diamond seed material is present in the infiltrant 104 may aid in forming new diamond in the resulting PDC 100 at least at the interface between the PCD body 106 and the substrate 102 when the diamond seed material dissolves in the at least partially liquefied infiltrant material. If the substrate bonding feature 109 having PCD therein is present, diamond seed material present in the infiltrant 104 may enhance bonding between the diamond material in PCD body 106 and any diamond material in the substrate bonding feature 109 of the substrate 102 by increasing bonding therebetween.
In some embodiments, the carbide material in the substrate 102 may be partially leached (i.e., only a fraction of the cementing constituent is removed therefrom (e.g., only from the surface to an intermediate depth therein) by a process using less concentrated acid solutions or shorter soak times than described above (e.g., less than ½, ⅓, or ¼ as long a conventional PCD leaching process) to remove a portion of the cementing constituent (e.g., cobalt) therefrom. Subsequently, such partially leached substrates may be infused with boron, notably at the interfacial surface, to slow the flow of cobalt from the substrate 102 and/or the infiltrant 104 into the PCD body 106 during HPHT bonding. Boron may be infused into the cobalt-cemented tungsten carbide material heating the at least partially leached substrate in the presence of B4C, SiC, graphite, and KBF4. Temperatures suitable for infusing boron are about 850° C. and above, such as about 850° C. to about 1100° C., or about 1000° C. Heating times sufficient to infuse a cobalt-cemented tungsten carbide substrate include about 2 hours or more, such as about 2 hours to about 10 hours, about 40 hours to about 8 hours or about 6 hours. The resulting bonded PCD body 106 may have a smaller difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion (“CTE”) throughout the PCD body 106 due to less cobalt being infiltrated therein during HPHT bonding. Thus, such a configuration may provide excellent thermal characteristics to the PDC during high temperature operations.
The infiltrant 104 may include a material suitable for forming new diamond, such as cobalt, iron, nickel, alloys of the foregoing. The infiltrant 104 may be in one or more forms such as a powder (e.g., grains or particles), a disc, a foil, or combinations of the foregoing. The infiltrant 104 may be thin enough such that the infiltrant is not discernable in the bonded product (i.e., the entire infiltrant melts and sweeps into the interstitial regions of adjacent PCD body and/or layer). The disk or foil may exhibit a thickness of about 20 μm or more, such as about 25 μm to about 750 μm, about 50 μm to about 500 μm, about 75 μm to about 300 μm, about 100 μm to about 200 μm, about 75 μm or more, about 100 μm or more, about 200 μm or more, or about 250 μm. The disk or foil may exhibit a thickness determined on proportion of the thickness of the PDC body 106. For example, the infiltrant comprising a disk or foil may exhibiting a thickness of about ⅛ of the thickness of the PCD body 106 or less such, about ⅛ the thickness of the PCD body 106 to about 1/128 the thickness of the PCD body 106, about ⅛ of the thickness of the PCD body 106, about 1/16 the thickness of the PCD body 106, about 1/32 the thickness of the PCD body 106, about 1/64 the thickness of the PCD body 106, or about 1/128 the thickness of the PCD body 106.
As noted above, the infiltrant 104 may include an infiltrant material in powder (i.e., granular or particle) form. For example, a thin layer of infiltrant powder may be placed on or adjacent to the interfacial surface 108 of the substrate 102 or a substrate bonding feature 109. The infiltrant 104 in powder form may exhibit thicknesses substantially similar to those discussed above for a disk or foil thickness. In some embodiments, the infiltrant 104 may also contain diamond seed material (e.g., material containing carbon). For example, diamond may nucleate and grow from diamond seed material provided by, but not limited to, dissolved carbon in liquefied infiltrant (e.g., liquefied cobalt) infiltrating into and/or to the PCD body being processed, partially graphitized diamond particles, carbon from a substrate, carbon from another source (e.g., graphite particles and/or fullerenes mixed with the diamond particles), or combinations of the foregoing. Diamond seed material may include single digit micron or smaller (e.g., sub-micron) diameter diamond particles; sp2 hybridized carbon-containing particles such as graphite, fullerenes, carbon onions, or detonated diamond (i.e., diamond having an outer layer of sp2 hybridized carbon over an inner layer of diamond); carbon ions, or combinations of the foregoing. In some embodiments, the diamond seed material may exhibit an average individual particle size of less than about 5 μm, or less than about 2 μm, such as about 5 nm to about 2 μm, about 10 nm to about 1 μm, about 50 nm to about 500 nm, about 100 nm to about 300 nm, about 2 μm, about 1 μm, about 500 nm, about 200 nm, about 100 nm, about 50 nm, or about 10 nm, or about the size of individual carbon atoms (i.e., carbon ions). More details about the types and amounts of sp2-carbon-containing particles that may be employed are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,516,804; U.S. Pat. No. 7,841,428; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,972,397. U.S. Pat. No. 7,516,804; U.S. Pat. No. 7,841,428; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,972,397 are each incorporated herein, in their entirety, by this reference.
The amount of diamond seed material associated with an infiltrant may be present in a sufficiently small amount so that the infiltrant is not overwhelmed by the diamond seed material. Put another way, the diamond seed material may be present in an amount to ensure that substantially all of the diamond seed material associated with an infiltrant dissolves in the liquefied infiltrant. Additionally, the amount and distribution of the diamond seed material associated with the infiltrant may be controlled in order to limit uneven loading or distribution of diamond particles in one or more regions of the resulting PDC. In some embodiments, the diamond seed material may be present in and/or on the infiltrant 104 in an amount of about 10% by weight or less of the total infiltrant 104 including the diamond seed material, such as about 5% by weight or less, about 2% by weight or less, about 1% by weight or less, about 0.5% by weight or less, more than 0% by weight to about 10% weight, about 1% by weight to about 5% by weight, about 1% by weight, about 2% by weight, about 3% by weight, about 5% by weight, about 8% by weight, or about 10% by weight of the total infiltrant 104 including the diamond seed material therein. In an embodiment, the infiltrant 104 may include a cobalt disk infused with diamond particles exhibiting an average diamond particle size of less than about 2 μm, in an amount of about 5% by weight of the total weight of the infiltrant including the diamond seed material therein.
In some embodiments, the diamond seed material may be infused into or onto the infiltrant 104 using any number of methods including, but not limited to, one or more of high pressure compaction (e.g., pressing), roll compaction, carburization, paint, application of a tape or foil (e.g., high shear compaction tape), or chemical vapor deposition (“CVD”) coating, of micron sized (e.g., about 1 μm to about 9 μm) or sub-micron sized diamond particles into or onto an infiltrant 104. Further, in the case of infiltrant including infiltrant powders, diamond seed material may be combined or otherwise associated with the infiltrant material by way of a ball mill, attritor mill, any other suitable mill, or combinations of the foregoing sufficient to mix the infiltrant material and the diamond seed material to achieve a substantially homogenous mixture of diamond seed particles in the infiltrant. In an embodiment, the infiltrant 104 may also contain cemented tungsten-carbide particles, such as cobalt-cemented tungsten carbide particles mixed therein.
In some embodiments, the diamond seed material in the form of carbon ions may be implanted into the infiltrant using plasma that includes carbon ions. Such carbon ions may be generated from a carbon-containing gas using electron cyclotron resonance (“ECR”), a large-area pulsed frequency, discharge of carbon-containing case, supper erosion of carbon electrode using a plasma. The generated carbon ions may then be accelerated at the infiltrant using a high-voltage source. Such accelerated carbon ions may be in the form of a high-energy beam of carbon ions. Suitable techniques for implanting carbon ions into an infiltrant are described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,080,071, which is incorporated herein, in its entirety, by this reference.
In an embodiment, upon application of HPHT conditions to the cell assembly containing the substrate 102, the PCD body 106, and the infiltrant 104 including the diamond seed material therein, the diamond seed material may dissolve in the at least partially molten infiltrant material and may be swept into the interstitial regions of the PCD body 106 with the infiltrant where the diamond seed material precipitates as new diamond grains in the PCD body 106 and/or at the interface between the PCD body 106 and the substrate 102. However, as previously discussed, in other embodiments, the infiltrant may not substantially infiltrate into the PCD body 106 and diamond may nucleate substantially at the interface between the substrate 102 and the PCD body 106. In embodiments where the interface includes a diamond-on-diamond interface, the diamond seed material may be used to increase or create bonding therebetween.
In some embodiments, such as that illustrated in
The substrate bonding feature 409 including the PCD layer such as that illustrated at 409 may include sintered diamond particles bonded to the substrate 402. Diamond particles (i.e., diamond powder) suitable for use in the PCD layer forming at least a portion of a substrate bonding feature may include any of the diamond particles disclosed above, in any of the combinations or particle size distributions described above. It may be desirable that the PCD layer exhibit a different average diamond particle or grain size distribution than the average diamond particle or grain size distribution of the PCD body in order to provide for beneficial residual stresses in the resulting PDC or provide for a different or sufficient amount of infiltration into one PCD material over another.
The PCD layer comprising the substrate bonding feature 409 may be bonded to the substrate 402 in a one-step sintering process substantially as described above, a two-step process including HPHT bonding substantially as described above, or by brazing. In some embodiments, it may be desirable to leave the catalyst material in the PCD layer (i.e., an unleached PCD layer). For example, it may be desirable to leave the catalyst material (e.g., cobalt-containing metal-solvent catalyst) in the PCD layer in order to provide for bonding and/or complete dissolution of diamond seed material in the infiltrant 404 placed between the substrate 402 including the substrate bonding feature 409 and the PCD body 406. During HPHT bonding, the catalyst material from the PCD layer may at least partially melt and sweep into the interstitial spaces of the PCD body 406, thereby bonding the PCD layer and the substrate 402 attached thereto to the PCD body 406 upon cooling of the catalyst material therein. In some embodiments, the PCD layer may be at least partially leached of catalyst material prior to bonding to the PCD body 406 to the substrate 402. The corresponding PCD body 406 may also be at least partially leached prior to bonding or may be left unleached prior to bonding to the substrate 402. Further, embodiments of PDCs including a PCD body and a substrate including a substrate bonding feature comprising a polycrystalline diamond layer described below may have similar characteristics as the PDC and components thereof described above, such as by way of non-limiting example, PCD body and compositions thereof, substrate bonding feature including a PCD layer and compositions thereof, use of leaching of the PCD body and/or PCD layer including extent of leaching, use of an infiltrant including diamond seed material therein, and combinations thereof. In embodiments including an unleached PCD body and/or PCD layer, the infiltrant having diamond seed material therein may melt and dissolve the diamond seed material therein during HPHT bonding. The melted infiltrant having dissolved diamond seed material (i.e., carbon) may not infiltrate or only infiltrate on a limited scale into the mostly filled interstitial spaces of the unleached portions of the PCD body and/or PCD layer. In such embodiments, the dissolved diamond seed material in the melted infiltrant may facilitate bonding between the PCD body and the PCD layer.
In some embodiments, a substrate bonding feature 409c may exhibit a three-dimensional pattern (e.g., a raised or recessed pattern) formed in or on a substrate 402c, a PCD layer attached to the substrate 402c, or combinations of the foregoing. For example as illustrated in
Three-dimensional patterns may be formed in one or both of the substrate bonding feature of the substrate and the bonding surface of the PCD body using techniques including but not limited to electrical discharge machining (e.g., wire or sinker EDM), laser erosion, lapping, grinding, combinations thereof, or any other method suitable to form intricate patterns in polycrystalline diamond and/or substrate material.
The three-dimensional pattern between a substrate bonding feature 409c increases the surface area of the interface between the substrate 402c at the substrate bonding feature 409c and the bonding surface 415c of the PCD body 406c. For example, the three-dimensional pattern may be configured such that the surface area of the interface between the substrate bonding feature 409c and the bonding surface 415c is increased to more than 100% of the surface area of a flat interface between the same substrate bonding feature 409c and the bonding surface 415c. For example, the surface area may be increased to more than about 110% of the surface area of the flat interface between the substrate bonding feature 409c and the bonding surface 415c, such as about 110% to about 200%, about 120% to about 180%, about 130% to about 160%, or about 150% of the surface area of the surface area of a flat interface between the substrate bonding feature 409c and the bonding surface 415c. Such an increase in the surface area of the interface between a substrate bonding feature 409c and the bonding surface 415c may serve to improve mechanical characteristics of the bonding between the PCD body 406c and the substrate 402c.
In embodiments in which a three-dimensional substrate bonding feature (e.g., three-dimensional pattern) is used, the size and/or amount of the infiltrant 404c may be correspondingly increased to account for the increase in surface area between the substrate bonding feature and the bonding surface of the PCD body. For example, when a grooved pattern, such as that illustrated in
In an embodiment as illustrated in
The embedded PCD portions 409dd may exhibit any number of geometries including, but not limited to, annular rings, bars, strips, cylinders, disks, spheres, dots, polyhedrons (e.g., cuboids, prisms, pyramids, etc.), any other suitable shape, or combinations of the foregoing. For example, the embedded PCD portion 409dd may exhibit a circular or disk-like geometry in substantially a center portion of the interfacial surface 408d of the substrate 402d extending a distance therein, similar to that illustrated in
A precursor assembly including the PCD body 406d, the substrate 402d having a plurality of embedded PCD portions 409dd therein, and the infiltrant 404d therebetween may be loaded into a pressure transmitting medium substantially similar to any disclosed herein. The infiltrant 404d may have diamond seed material infused therein and/or coated thereon. The precursor assembly may be loaded into an HPHT press and subjected to HPHT bonding conditions substantially similar to any of those described therein. Optionally, a peripherally extending edge chamfer 417e may be formed between the working surface 414d and the lateral surface 416d prior to or after bonding the PCD body 406d to the substrate 402d. A chamfer 417d may be formed using techniques including but not limited to electrical discharge machining (e.g., wire or sinker EDM), laser erosion, lapping, grinding, or any other method suitable to cut, machine, shape, or erode polycrystalline diamond material.
In embodiments including a substrate bonding feature comprising a PCD layer, such as any of those illustrated and described in
In some embodiments, a catalyst free diamond powder volume and/or sp3 and/or sp2 carbon containing material (having no infiltrant and/or catalyst material therein), may be placed on top of an unleached PCD body prior to HPHT processing in order to pull catalyst material therefrom and allow a flow of catalyst material from a substrate and/or PCD layer into the PCD body for improved bonding of all of the PDC components. When an unleached PCD body is positioned on a substrate, a diamond powder volume positioned on top of the PCD body during HPHT bonding may substantially improve bond strength therebetween. A gradient of catalyst material, such as cobalt, may be exhibited in the resulting bonded PCD body and/or sintered diamond powder volume after such bonding. Such a method may be used with any of the PDCs described herein. A thickness of the catalyst-free diamond powder volume may be used or selected based on how much catalyst material is selected to be moved across the PCD body. Suitable thicknesses may include a diamond powder layer having a thickness of about 250 μm or more, such as about 250 μm to about 2 mm, about 500 μm to about 1 mm, about 500 μm, or about 1 mm. Suitable thicknesses may be about 1 percent to about 25 percent of the thickness of the PCD body, such as about 2 percent to about 10 percent of the thickness of the PCD body. The resulting sintered diamond powder layer on top of the PCD body may be surface finished for use as an additional PCD layer or may be removed by any one of grinding, lapping, EDM, lasing, machining, or other suitable technique to remove PCD material.
In some embodiments, the substrate bonding feature may include a raised portion (i.e. a protrusion) extending across less than the entire interfacial surface of the substrate and the PCD body may have a complementary cavity (i.e., a blind or through hole) cut or otherwise formed therein corresponding to the raised feature. The PCD body may be positioned to fit over (e.g., at least partially engage/interlock with) the substrate bonding feature comprising a raised portion to thereby provide a mechanical lock against lateral movement of the PCD body on the substrate and a greater bonding surface area between the PCD body and the substrate. For simplicity, the following substrate bonding features comprising raised portions discussed in relation to
In an embodiment, such as that illustrated in
A PCD body 506, HPHT sintered from any of the pluralities of diamond particles (e.g., diamond powders, diamond particle mixtures), including any of the diamond particle sizes or size distributions described herein, may include an upper, working surface 514; a bonding surface 515 generally opposite the working surface 514; a lateral surface 516 therebetween; and an optional chamfer 517 formed between the working surface 514 and the lateral surface 516. In some embodiments, the PCD body 506 may include a cavity 518 extending a depth “Dc” inwardly from the bonding surface 515. The cavity 518 may exhibit a complementary shape or geometry corresponding to the raised portion 510 defining the substrate bonding feature 509; such that the cavity 518 formed in PCD body 506 may fit over the substrate bonding feature 509 and allow the interfacial surface to contact the bonding surface 515.
Other suitable shapes, configurations, and materials for raised features include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,689,913 issued Apr. 8, 2014; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/037,548 filed Mar. 1, 2011, each of which are incorporated herein, in its entirety, by this reference.
The PCD body 506 may be positioned over the substrate 502 so that the substrate bonding feature 509 fits inside of the cavity 518 and/or at least partially interlocks within the PCD body 506. Such a configuration may limit lateral movement of the PCD body 506 with respect to the substrate 502. The PCD body 506 and the substrate 502 may be subjected to HPHT bonding conditions, substantially similar to any described herein, so that infiltrant material present in the substrate adjacent the bonding surface 515 and the interfacial surface 508 (e.g., cobalt, iron, nickel, or combinations thereof) may at least partially melt and promote forming a bond between the substrate 502 and the PCD body 506 upon cooling.
The substrate bonding feature 509 in
The substrate bonding feature 509 including raised portion 510 is illustrated as having a height Hr from the interfacial surface 508. Suitable heights Hr may be more than about 500 μm or more, such as about 500 μm to about 12 mm, about 1 mm to about 10 mm, about 1.5 mm to about 8 mm, about 2 mm to about 6 mm, about 4 mm, about 1 mm, about 1.5 mm, about 2 mm, about 2.5 mm, about 3 mm, or less than about 5 mm. In some embodiments, the substrate bonding feature 509 comprising and defined by a raised portion may exhibit a height Hr of about 1/25 the total thickness of the PCD body 506 or more, such as about 1/25 to about the total thickness of the PCD body 506, about 1/20 to about 9/10 the total thickness of the PCD body 506, about 1/16 to about ¾ the total thickness of the PCD body 506, about 1/10 to about ⅝ the total thickness of the PCD body 506, about ⅛ to about ½ the total thickness of the PCD body 506, about ⅕ to about ½ the total thickness of the PCD body 506, about ¼ to about ⅓ the total thickness of the PCD body 506, or about 1/10, about ⅛, about ⅕, about ¼, about ⅓, about ½, or about ¾ the total thickness of the PCD body 506. The PCD body 506 having the cavity 518 complementary to the substrate bonding feature 509 exhibiting the raised portion having the height Hr substantially as any described above, may exhibit a complementary shape and depth Dc substantially the same as any of those heights Hr described above. In some embodiments, substantially all of the surfaces of the substrate bonding feature 509 and the cavity 518 are in contact with each other when the PCD body 506 having the cavity 518 therein is placed over the substrate 502 having the substrate bonding feature 509 comprising the raised portion thereon. For example, in
In some embodiments, the substrate bonding feature 509 including the raised portion 510 may exhibit a width “Wr” of about 5 mm or larger, such as about 5 mm to about 13 mm, about 6 mm to about 10 mm, about 7 mm to about 9 mm, about 6 mm, about 7 mm, about 8 mm, about 10 mm; or the width “Wr” may be about 1/25 or more of the total width of the PCD body 506, such as about 1/25 to about 9/10 the width of the PCD body 506, 1/10 to about ¾ the width of the PCD body 506, ⅛ to about ⅔ the width of the PCD body 506, ⅕ to about ⅝ the width of the PCD body 506, ¼ to about ½ the width of the PCD body 506, about ¼, about ⅓, or about ½ the width of the PCD body 506. The corresponding PCD body 506 having the cavity 518 complementary to the substrate bonding feature 509 may have a width Wc exhibiting substantially similar widths as the substrate bonding feature width Wr.
In some embodiments, the cavity 518 may exhibit the width Wc slightly larger than the width “Wr” to provide a tighter or looser mechanical fit (e.g., a slip fit compared to a press fit), and/or in embodiments wherein an infiltrant is utilized, to provide an allowance or offset for the thickness of the infiltrant between the substrate 502 and the PCD body 506. The measure of the difference (i.e. distance) between the widths Wc and Wr may be characterized as an offset distance. A similar offset distance may be formed and used between the substrate bonding feature height “Hr” and the cavity depth “Dc,” wherein the depth “Dc” may be slightly larger or smaller than the height “Hr.” The offset distance may be about 25 μm or greater, such as about 50 μm to about 1 mm, about 100 μm to about 500 μm, about 200 μm to about 400 μm, about 50 μm to about 300 μm, about 50 μm, about 100 μm, about 20 μm, about 250 μm, or about 300 μm. In some embodiments, the offset may be increased to accommodate the thickness of the infiltrant between the substrate bonding feature 509 and the cavity 518.
While the substrate bonding feature 509 is referred to in many instances herein in the singular, In some embodiments, one or more substrate bonding features 509 each defined by one of the raised portions 510 may be formed and used on the substrate 502 in substantially the same manner, size, shape, or orientation as any of those described herein. Reductions in size and accommodations in shape and/or position of the substrate bonding features 509 comprising the raised feature may be made to fit more than one substrate bonding feature 509 in the outer interfacial surface 508 of the substrate 502. Complementary sizes, shapes and/or positions may be formed in the PCD body 506 (i.e. multiple cavities 518) to provide a complementary fit to the substrate 502 comprising one or more substrate bonding features 509 defined by the raised portion.
The substrate bonding feature 609 including the raised portion of the substrate 602 and the cavity 618 formed in the PCD body 606 may exhibit substantially the same dimensions, shapes or geometries, placements, amounts, sidewall 612 angles and corresponding cavity angles, thicknesses (wherein the height Hr of the substrate bonding feature 609 is at least the thickness of the PCD body 606), and offset distances as any of those described above with respect to
While
For example, as illustrated in
Further shapes for the substrate bonding feature 609 including the raised portion and the complementary cavity 618 are contemplated. For example, as illustrated in top views of
As illustrated in
In some embodiments, a method of making a PDC such any of as those illustrated in
It may be desirable to disrupt the residual stresses in a PCD body and/or to create breaks in a PCD body to limit crack propagation or the transfer of stresses through a PCD body during operations. One of the benefits of such a PCD body is that breakage and/or damage may be contained to a specific region of a PCD body and a PDC having such a PCD body may be turned or rotated to utilize an undamaged portion of the PCD body. A PCD body including multiple segments may provide such benefits. Additionally, one or more damaged segments of a multiple segment PCD may be replaced after being damaged, such that the rest of the PDC may be utilized.
In some embodiments, the PCD body may include multiple PCD segments that are positioned adjacent to one another or fit together (i.e., circumferentially abut one another) to form a whole multiple segment PCD body. For example,
The segments may be in direct contact with or placed adjacent to one or more segments. The segments may interlock/abut with adjacent segments. Each PCD segment 721-724 may exhibit at least one segment interlocking feature 725 and/or 726 thereon configured to at least partially interlock one end of the segment with another end of the adjacent segment using either a protrusion or indentation. Each protruding segment interlocking feature 725 may exhibit one of many configurations (e.g., shapes and sizes) for the protrusion defining the protruding segment interlocking feature 725. Each indented segment interlocking feature 726 may exhibit one of many configurations (e.g., shapes and sizes) for the indentation defining the indented segment interlocking feature 726. The shape of the indentations and protrusions defining the segment interlocking features 725 and 726 may exhibit any shape suitable to provide mechanical interlocking between adjacent segments, such as a generally dovetail or T-shaped shape (as illustrated in
In some embodiments, such as for example, those illustrated in
As illustrated in
While embodiments of multiple segment PCD bodies 706 have been described herein without a infiltrant used between the substrate an the PCD body, in some embodiments, a infiltrant, substantially similar to any of those described herein, may be used between the multiple segment PCD body and the substrate, and/or between individual segments of the multiple segment PCD body. In embodiments in which a infiltrant is used between the multiple segment PCD body and the substrate (including a substrate bonding feature thereon) and/or between the segments in the multiple segment PCD body during HPHT bonding substantially as any of the HPHT bonding processes describe herein, an offset distance substantially similar to the offset distance described above may be used between the multiple segment PCD body and the substrate (including a substrate bonding feature thereon) and/or between the segments in a multiple segment PCD body in order to provide for a satisfactory engagement, bonding, and/or infiltration between parts. Similarly, offsets such as those described herein may be used in embodiments whereby the multiple segment PCD body and the substrate, and/or individual segments of the multiple segment PCD body are brazed together with suitable braze alloys, such as when Ticusil or another carbide forming braze material is used as a braze alloy between the parts.
In some embodiments, individual segments in a multiple segment PCD body may exhibit differing compositions and/or properties compared to adjacent segments, such as different average diamond grain sizes, different amounts and/or types of catalyst and/or infiltrant materials therein, and/or formation by differing HPHT processes. Individual segments may be formed using any of the materials or material proportions described herein (e.g., diamond particle sizes, grain sizes, modes, catalyst materials and amount, presence and composition of any infiltrant materials), and any of the process conditions described herein (e.g., sintering temperature, sintering pressure, infiltrant use, leaching use and conditions, etc.).
In some embodiments, a method of making a PDC such any of as those illustrated in
As illustrated in
In an embodiment, the upper PCD body 856 may be bonded directly to the raised portion 803 of the substrate 802 (i.e., the upper substrate 852 is omitted). The annular PCD body 806 may include the working surface 814, a lateral surface 816, and an optional chamfer 817 therebetween. Likewise, the upper PCD body 856 may include a working surface 864, a lateral surface 866, and an optional chamfer 867 therebetween. The annular PCD body 806 and the upper PCD body 856 may be formed in substantially the same manner using substantially the same materials as any of the PCD bodies described herein including material composition (e.g., diamond powder sizes and modes, and catalyst materials and amounts), material amount or proportion, dimensions, HPHT sintering process conditions, leaching conditions, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the annular PCD body 806 and the upper PCD body 856 may be at last partially leached or may remain unleached prior to assembly into the multi-tiered PDC 800 or 800c. The upper PCD body 856 and, when used, the upper substrate 852 may exhibit at least one larger lateral dimension (e.g., larger diameter) than the raised portion of the substrate 802, the lateral dimension being sized and configured effective to retain (at least by a partial overlap) the annular PCD body 806 on the substrate 802 upon bonding the upper PCD body 856 to the raised portion 803 of the substrate 802. For example, the larger lateral dimension of the upper substrate 852 and/or the upper PCD body 856 may extend a lateral distance of 250 μm or more beyond the outer surface of the raised portion 803 of the substrate 802, such as about 500 μm to about 5 mm, about 1 mm to about 4 mm, about 2 mm to about 3 mm, about 2.5 mm, about 1 mm, about 500 mm, or about 250 mm. The upper substrate 852 may be configured to exhibit substantially the same or a different geometry (e.g. shape, size, lateral dimensions) as the upper PCD body 856.
In some embodiments, the substrate 802 may include a raised portion 803 extending from and to a height above the interfacial surface 808 of the substrate 802. The raised portion 803 may be substantially similar in composition, size (including height and width), shape, position, or combinations of the foregoing as any of the substrate bonding features 509, 609 or 709 having a raised portion thereon as described herein with respect to
In some embodiments, the material layer 811 may include a bushing or impact resistant (e.g., impact damping) material such as but not limited to, a PCD material containing at least one low-carbon-solubility material such as copper or tin as disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 13/027,954 which is incorporated herein, in its entirety, by this reference; non-PCD materials such as a refractory metal material (e.g., tungsten, niobium, molybdenum, vanadium, alloys thereof, or other suitable material; or other suitable impact dampening materials. For example, the material layer 811 may include any barrier materials and processes disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,971,663, which is incorporated herein, in its entirety, by this reference. In embodiments including the material layer 811, the annular PCD body 806 may be bonded to the material layer 811 using any of the bonding techniques described herein, including, but not limited to HPHT bonding, brazing, and adhesion using an adhesive such as an epoxy or other suitable adhesive.
In an embodiment, the annular PCD body 806 may freely rotate around the raised portion 803. In such embodiments, the annular PCD layer may not be bonded to the substrate 802 and/or the upper substrate 852 may not be in contact with the annular PCD body 806. In embodiments, such as 800c in which the upper substrate 852 is not in contact with the annular PCD body 806, the upper substrate may be spaced from the annular PCD body 806 by a distance “G,” as shown in
While the working surface 864 of the upper PCD body 856 is illustrated as substantially planar, In some embodiments, the upper, working surface 864 may be substantially non-planar exhibiting by way of non-limiting example, a domed geometry, a polygonal geometry, a patterned geometry (e.g., stippling), or combinations of the foregoing. When the upper PCD body 856 exhibits a domed geometry, the upper PCD body 856 may act as an engagement limiter, which may prevent excessive depth of cut and the resulting forces therefrom. A domed geometry may also minimize bit damage if the annular PCD body 806 were to break prematurely.
In some embodiments, the raised portion 803 and/or corresponding annular PCD body 806 may be configured in to include and shape, size, and/or interlocking features described herein. In some embodiments, the annular PCD body 806 may include multiple segments similar to any described herein.
In some embodiments, a multi-tiered PDC may include a substrate having an upper portion with a flange extending therefrom. Such embodiments may be substantially similar to those described above with respect to PDCs 800 and 800c. In some embodiments, a multi-tiered PDC may include an upper PCD body that extends laterally to the outer surface of the substrate.
The multi-tiered PDC 800d may include the annular PCD body 806, substantially as described above and having an outer surface 816. The annular PCD body 806 may be integrally formed on and with the substrate 802d, or the annular PCD body 806 may be performed, and the preformed PCD body 806 may be a multiple segment PCD as disclosed herein that may be assembled around the raised portion 803d, positioned under the flange 830. For example, the annular PCD body 806 may exhibit a height equal to or less than the distance D, and the raised portion 803d including the flange 830 may extend a height above (and over at least a portion of) the annular PCD body 806. In this manner, the flange 830 may help retain the annular PCD body 806 therebelow. The annular PCD body 806 may extend laterally to the periphery of the substrate 802d.
The multi-tiered PDC 800d may include an upper PCD body 856d. The upper PCD body 856d may include a working surface 864d, a bonding surface 865d, and a lateral surface 866d therebetween. The upper PCD body 856d may include a chamfer 867d extending between the working surface 864d and the lateral surface 866d. The bonding surface 865d may include a configuration (e.g., geometry) complementary to that of the raised portion 803d extending above the annular PCD body 806. The upper PCD body 856d may be attached or affixed (e.g., bonded) to the substrate 802d at the upper surface 832 and/or lateral surface 836 of the flange 830, by any suitable method such as those described herein. The upper PCD body 856d may or may not contact the annular PCD body 806. The upper PCD body 856d in contact with the annular PCD body 806 may be bonded to the annular PCD body 806 by any suitable method for bonding PCD to PCD, such as those described herein.
The annular PCD body 806 may be spaced from the interfacial surface 808 of the substrate 802d by an material layer, such as any material layer described above with respect to PDCs 800 and 800c. In an embodiment, the annular PCD body 806 may extend a height less than the distance D, and the annular PCD body 806 may also remain unbonded to the substrate 802d (e.g., the annular PCD body 806 may freely spin about the raised portion 803d). In an embodiment, the annular PCD body 806 may be separated from the upper PCD body 856d by a material layer such as any described herein.
In an embodiment shown in
In an embodiment as shown in
The annular PCD body 806f may exhibit a geometry substantially complementary to the raised portion 803f including the flange 830f For example, the annular PCD body 806f may include a cavity 818f sized and configured to allow the annular PCD body 806f to receive and fit over the raised feature 803f including the flange 830f having discrete sections. The cavity 818f may be defined by an interior surface 819f of the annular PCD body 806f extending between a working surface 814f and a bonding surface thereof. The interior surface 818f defines an inner periphery of the annular PCD body 806f generally opposite the lateral surface 816f that extends about the outer periphery of the annular PCD body 806f The cavity 818f may be further defined by one or more protrusions 840f sized and configured to fit between the sections of the flange 830f For example, the one or more protrusions 840f may extend inwardly a distance toward the center of the cavity 818f. In an embodiment, the one or more protrusions 840f may be sized and configured to match the geometry of the gap 837f such that there is only enough clearance for the one or more protrusions 840f to slide down through the gaps 837f yet still have a sufficient amount of material to mechanically secure/hold the annular PCD body 806f under the flange 830f when the annular PCD body 806f is lowered and twisted into a position whereby the flange 830f is directly over the one or more protrusions 840f. In some embodiments, there may be an offset between outer shape of the raised portion 803f including the flange 830f and the interior surface 819f including any of the one or more protrusions 840f thereon. The offset distance may be substantially similar to any described herein.
An upper PCD body 856f may be bonded to the upper surface of the raised portion 803f (e.g., the upper surface 832f of the flange 8300 by any technique disclosed herein, such as being formed integrally with the raised portion 803f via HPHT sintering diamond powder thereon, or brazing or HPHT bonding a preformed PCD body that may be leached or unleached. The upper PCD body 856f may be substantially similar to any upper PCD body described herein. The upper PCD body 856f may include a working surface 864f a lateral surface 866f. The lateral surface 866f may extend to the lateral surface 836f of the flange 830f, or may extend beyond the lateral surface 836f (e.g., substantially similar to the upper PCD body 856d).
In some embodiments (not shown), the section of the raised portion (e.g., 803, 803d or 8030 extending above the annular PCD body, including any flange (e.g., 830 or 8300, may instead include or be formed substantially entirely from an upper PCD body or separate substrate portion (e.g., an upper substrate). Such an upper PCD body or separate substrate portion may be sized and configured substantially the same as any raised portion extending above the annular PCD body, including any flange, described herein. The PCD body may be integrally formed or bonded (e.g., friction bonded, brazed, or fused) to the raised portion of the substrate. In another embodiment, the upper substrate may be bonded (e.g., friction bonded, brazed, or fused) to the raised portion of the substrate.
In some embodiments, a method of making a multi-tiered PDC 800 or 800c may include providing or forming a substrate 802 having a raised portion 803 extending from an interfacial surface 808 thereon, positioning an annular PCD body 806 including a working surface having a height about the same, greater than, or less than the raised portion, the bonding surface, and a lateral surface extending therebetween on the substrate 802. In some embodiments, the raised portion 803 may extend through the annulus (e.g., cavity or hole) in the annular PCD body 806, and bonding the substrate to the annular PCD body. Optionally, a material layer 811, such as any of those describe herein, may be positioned between the annular PCD body 806 and the substrate 802. The method may include positioning an upper substrate 852 on or adjacent to the raised portion 803 of the substrate 802, the upper substrate 852 may be bonded to an upper PCD body 856 prior to or after positioning the upper substrate 852 on the raised portion using any bonding process described herein, such as by way of non-limiting example, brazing, HPHT bonding. The upper PCD body 856 may be integrally formed on the on the upper substrate 852 (i.e., a one-step PDC) or may be formed separately from the upper substrate 852 and subsequently be bonded thereto using any bonding technique described herein. The method may include bonding the upper PCD body 856 (optionally having a lateral dimension larger than the lateral dimension of the raised portion 803) directly to the raised portion 803 of the substrate 802 in a substantially similar manner as any bonding process described herein. The PCD body 806, the substrate 802, the upper PCD body 856, and optionally, the upper substrate 852 may be bonded together substantially simultaneously (e.g., in a single HPHT bonding step) or at differing times. In some embodiments, the annular PCD body 806 may be positioned on but not bonded to the substrate 802 or material layer 811 thereon.
In some embodiments, the raised portion having a flange thereon may be formed by machining, lasing, or eroding, a substrate to create any of raised portions and/or a flanges described above. In some, embodiments, the annular PCD body having a cavity therein may be formed by machining, lasing, or eroding, a PCD body to create any of the cavities described above. In some embodiments, forming a PDC may include positioning (e.g., sliding) an annular PCD body having a cavity including protrusions, over a raised portion of a substrate including any flange thereon. The raised portion and cavity having a corresponding geometry and size. For example, where the raised portion includes a flange extending from the raised portion in discrete sections, the annular PCD body may have correspondingly shaped and configured protrusions further defining the cavity. The protrusions may be aligned with the gaps between the sections of the flange. The annular PCD body may be lowered over the raised portion until it contacts the interfacial surface of the substrate. The annular PCD body may be rotated about the raised portion until the protrusions therein are positioned under the flange. Such a configuration provides for mechanical vertical locking of the annular PCD body on the substrate. The annular PCD body and the substrate may be subjected to bonding by any of the methods described herein. In an embodiment, the annular PCD body may remain unbonded (e.g., free spinning under the flange).
Referring to
The preformed annular PCD body 906 may include an upper, working surface 914; a lower, bonding surface 915; a lateral surface 916 defining the outer periphery of the preformed annular PCD body 906; and an interior surface 918 defining an inner periphery of the of the preformed annular PCD body 906 defining a hole 919 therein. Optionally, a peripherally extending edge chamfer 917 may be formed between the lateral surface 916 and the working surface 914. The substrate 902 includes an interfacial surface 908. The interfacial surface 908 may be planar or non-planar. The preformed annular PCD body 906 may include any of the materials in any of the amounts described herein, may exhibit any configuration (e.g., shape, leaching state, and size) described herein, and may be manufactured using any of the techniques described herein. In an embodiment, such as shown in
The annular PCD body 906 may be formed with any of the materials described herein to form a PCD body and by any of the processes disclosed herein to form a PCD body, including but not limited to, a one-step process, a two-step process, average particle size, number of average particles size modes, sintering pressure, sintering temperature, and catalyst material and amount. After an HPHT sintering process, the preformed annular PCD body 906 may include at least one catalyst material (e.g., a metal-solvent catalyst) within the plurality of interstitial spaces formed between bonded diamond grains during the HPHT sintering process. The catalyst material therein may be at least partially removed via a leaching process substantially similar to any described herein and to any leach depth described herein, or the annular PCD body 906 may be left in an unleached condition.
The geometry (i.e., overall shape) of the preformed annular PCD body 906 may be formed before and/or after the annular PCD body 906 is initially sintered and/or leached. The preformed annular PCD body 906 may exhibit the geometry illustrated in
The width “w” of the hole 919 may be at least partially defined by the dimension “t” of the annular PCD body 906. The total diameter or other lateral dimension of the annular PCD body 906 is defined by the total of the width “w” and two times the dimension “t.” The thickness “t” may be selected based upon the desired working surface area, impact strength, wear resistance, or cost of the resulting annular PCD body 906. For example, a larger dimension “t” may impart a greater impact strength to the annular PCD body (i.e. a larger polycrystalline diamond mass through which an impact may be absorbed) but may cost more to form. The dimension “t” may be about 7/16 the total diameter of the annular PCD 906 body or less, such as about 7/16 to about 1/32 the total diameter of the annular PCD body 906, about ⅜ to about 1/16 the total diameter of the annular PCD body 906, about ½ to about ⅛ the total diameter of the annular PCD body 906, about ¼ to about ⅓ the total diameter of the annular PCD body 906, about 7/16 to about 1/10 the total diameter of the annular PCD body 906, about 7/16, about ⅜, about ⅓, or about ¼ of the total diameter of the annular PCD body 906. For example, the dimension “t” of the annular PCD body 906 may be about 14 mm or less, such as about 1 mm to about 14 mm, about 2 mm to about 12 mm, about 4 mm to about 10 mm, about 1 mm to about 8 mm, about 2 mm to about 7 mm, about 2 mm, about 4 mm, or about 6 mm.
The width “w” of the hole 919 in the annular PCD body 906 may be about 15/16 the total diameter or other lateral dimension of the annular PCD body 906 or less, such as about 15/16 to about 1/32, about ¾ to about 1/16, about ½ to about ⅛, about ⅓ to about ¼, about 1/10, about ¼, about ⅓, about ½, or about ⅝ the total diameter or other lateral dimension of the annular PCD body 906. For example, the width w of the hole 919 in the annular PCD body 906 may be about 200 μm or more, such as about 300 μm to about 14 mm, about 1 mm to about 10 mm, about 2 mm to about 8 mm, about 3 mm to about 6 mm, about 3 mm, about 4 mm, about 5 mm, or about 6 mm.
The diamond powder volume 905 may be made using any of the pluralities of diamond particles (e.g., diamond powder) described herein including, but not limited to, average diamond particle size, number of modes, and, optionally, an amount of catalyst and/or infiltrant materials therein. For example, in some embodiments, the diamond powder volume 905 may include no catalyst material therein and a larger average diamond particle size than used to form the annular PCD body 906 to improve bonding of the annular PCD body 906 to the substrate 902. For example, the average diamond particle size of the diamond powder volume 905 may be about 1.5 to about 5 times (e.g., about 1.5 to about 2.5) larger than that of the diamond particles used to form the annular PCD body 906. However, in other embodiments, a smaller average diamond particle size may be selected for the diamond powder volume 905 to create greater wear resistance in the second PCD body 920 or 920d. For example, the annular PCD body 906 may exhibit an average diamond particles size of about 20 μm or less, such as about 2 μm to about 20 μm, about 5 μm to about 15 μm, or about 10 μm to about 20 μm; and the diamond powder volume 905 may exhibit an average diamond particle size of about 30 μm or more, such as about 30 μm to about 100 μm, about 45 μm to about 80 μm, or about 30 μm to about 60 μm.
While embodiments illustrated therein show the hole 919 having a substantially cylindrical shape, other shapes such as any of those describe herein with respect to the substrate bonding features may be used.
While embodiments described and illustrated herein show interior surfaces 918 substantially perpendicular to the working surface 914 of the annular PCD body 906, alternative embodiments may include an interior surface 918 that may be substantially non-perpendicular to the working surface 914. For example, as illustrated in
In some embodiments, it may be desirable to provide a larger working surface with respect to the bonding surface in order to provide more bonding between the second PCD body 920e and the substrate 902e. In embodiments in which the angle θ is larger than 90 degrees (not illustrated) the surface area of the working surface 914e may be larger than the surface area of the bonding surface 915e.
In some embodiments, the angle θ may be selected to provide a desired ratio of working surface 914e area to bonding surface 915e area of the annular PCD body 906e. For example, the angle θ may be selected to provide a smaller ratio of working surface 914e area to bonding surface 915e area in the annular PCD body 906e, such as by way of non-limiting example, less than 1, less than about 1 to more than zero, about 1 to about 0.1, about 0.8 to about 0.2, about 0.6 to about 0.4, about 0.3, about 0.5, or about 0.7. In an embodiment, the angle θ may be selected to provide a larger ratio of working surface 914e area to bonding surface 915e area in the annular PCD body 906e, such as by way of non-limiting example, more than 1, more than about 1 to less than 2, about 1.1 to about 1.9, about 1.2 to about 1.8, about 1.4 to about 1.6, about 1.3, about 1.5, or about 1.7.
While a single hole 919 is illustrated and described herein with respect to the annular PCD body 906, a plurality of holes may be formed in the a PCD body according to any of the shapes, and widths described herein. A plurality of holes 919 may be positioned and spaced throughout a PCD body in any configuration. For example, a plurality of holes may be formed in a ring configuration substantially parallel to and interior to the lateral surface of a PCD body. A cluster, rectangular, triangular configuration may be used. A hole 919 may be positioned at the center of or off center of the working surface 914 of the annular PCD body 906 to provide a larger working surface on a portion of the resulting PDC.
In some embodiments, any of the elements, configurations (e.g., shapes, sizes, angles, compositions, segments, holes, substrate bonding features, interlocking features, etc.) or portions of configurations disclosed herein may be used in combination with each other without limitation to provide a desired combination of improved performance characteristics including but not limited to reduced residual stresses, decreased crack propagation during operation, increased bonding strength between the PCD bodies and the substrate, greater impact resistance, or combinations of any of the foregoing. For example,
In an embodiment (not illustrated), the PCD body 906 may including a plurality of segments such as those described above, optionally including interlocking features on an interior surface (e.g., inner periphery) therein. Subsequent filling of the annular region with powder material and HPHT sintering process may form second PCD body 920g having substrate interlocking features thereon, the substrate interlocking features comprising at least a portion of the angled interior surface. Differing angles θ similar to any of those described herein may be used and differing segment configurations similar to any of those described herein may be used in such an embodiment.
As noted above, in the embodiments discussed with respect to
The PCD bodies and PDCs described herein may be used in a variety of applications, such as PCD cutting elements on rotary drill bits.
The PCD bodies and PDCs disclosed herein may also be utilized in applications other than cutting technology. For example, the disclosed PCD bodies and/or PDCs may be used in wire dies, bearings, artificial joints, inserts, cutting elements, and heat sinks. Thus, any of the PCD bodies disclosed herein may be employed in an article of manufacture including at least one superabrasive element or compact.
Thus, the embodiments of the PCD bodies and PDCs disclosed herein may be used in any apparatus or structure in which at least one conventional superabrasive compact is typically used. In one embodiment, a rotor and a stator, assembled to form a thrust-bearing apparatus, may each include one or more superabrasive compacts configured according to any of the embodiments disclosed herein and may be operably assembled to a downhole drilling assembly. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,410,054; 4,560,014; 5,364,192; 5,368,398; and 5,480,233, the disclosure of each of which is incorporated herein, in its entirety, by this reference, disclose subterranean drilling systems within which bearing apparatuses utilizing PCD elements disclosed herein may be incorporated. The embodiments of the PCD bodies and PDCs disclosed herein may also form all or part of heat sinks, wire dies, bearing elements, cutting elements, cutting inserts (e.g., on a roller-cone-type drill bit), machining inserts, or any other article of manufacture as known in the art. Other examples of articles of manufacture that may use any of the superabrasive compacts disclosed herein are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,811,801; 4,268,276; 4,468,138; 4,738,322; 4,913,247; 5,016,718; 5,092,687; 5,120,327; 5,135,061; 5,154,245; 5,180,022; 5,460,233; 5,544,713; 6,793,681; and 7,870,913, the disclosure of each of which is incorporated herein, in its entirety, by this reference.
While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments are contemplated. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting. Additionally, the words “including,” “having,” and variants thereof (e.g., “includes” and “has”) as used herein, including the claims, shall be open ended and have the same meaning as the word “comprising” and variants thereof (e.g., “comprise” and “comprises”).
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