Ringwood Diamond Material Technologies, based in Canberra, Australia, is now manufacturing and selling, what it claims is the thickest machineable polycrystalline diamond (PCD) compact cylinder-measuring 32mm Ř x 40mm (h). The large cylindrical PCD material is electrically conductive so it can be easily cut into more complex 3-dimensional shapes using conventional Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) equipment.

Called DiaComŽ, the diamond compact is in excess 70% diamond and the balance, silicon carbide binder. Sintered under a special set of pressure and temperature conditions, it is biocompatible due to the 'Cobalt free' manufacturing process and customers have reported the PCD material to be thermally stable to 1400° Celsius.

"Our unique patented sintering process enables DiaComŽ to be cut and shaped into virtually any design our customers require," said Len Kosharek, CEO, Ringwood Diamond Material Technologies. "This new degree of freedom will enable engineers, requiring a material with diamond like properties, the opportunity to develop application solutions, that up until now were unavailable due to size limitations of existing PCD material and its ability to be easily shaped".

DiaComŽ is already being used or tested in traditional PCD applications such as cutting tools, wear and bearing parts, oil and rock excavation and high pressure/high temperature research experiment apparatus.

Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) tested the performance of DiaComŽ against three other PCD manufacturers in wear rate, wear resistance and length of cut trials. The results showed DiaComŽ outperformed its nearest competitor in all tests.

"In wear rate tests, DiaComŽ performed 3 times better than its nearest competitor," said Dr Jim Boland, Research Group Manager, Rock Cutting and Drilling Technologies, CSIRO. "In the wear resistance tests we conducted, DiaComŽ achieved at least 50% greater wear resistance and a greater length of cut".

It is anticipated the combination of diameter size (currently 32mm) and height (40mm) will open the door to new market applications.

Ringwood Diamond Material Technologies encourages enquiry from all interested parties to discuss how DiaComŽ can best be used to suit particular application needs.