Comparison of the Dimensional, Physical, Mechanical, and Operational Characteristics of AS6 and AS20 Synthetic Diamond Powders Synthesized in the Ni‒Mn‒C and Fe‒Si‒C Systems

The dimensional, physical, mechanical, and operational characteristics of AS6 and AS20 diamond powders synthesized using Ni‒Mn and Fe‒Si solvent alloys are studied. It is shown that diamond powders obtained in the Ni‒Mn‒C and Fe‒Si‒C systems differ in magnetic properties, as well as in the content of impurities and intracrystalline inclusions. As found for both diamond powder systems, the elements of the solvent alloy predominate in impurities and inclusions and account for 89‒67% of the total amount of available impurities and inclusions in diamond powders of nonmagnetic fraction, while their content in the magnetic fraction is slightly higher and contributes to 93‒90% of the total amount of available impurities and inclusions. Magnetic and nonmagnetic fractions of diamond powders synthesized in the Ni‒Mn‒C and Fe‒Si‒C systems differ from each other by a factor of about 10 in the value of specific magnetic susceptibility and by a factor of 1.5 in terms of surface defects. The strength of diamond grains of the magnetic fractions of both systems is slightly higher than the strength of diamond grains of the nonmagnetic fractions because of the higher content of metal impurities and inclusions in them: it increases by a factor of 1.25 for diamond powders obtained from raw materials synthesized in the Ni‒Mn‒C system and by a factor of 1.9 for diamond powders obtained from raw materials synthesized in the Fe‒Si‒C system. The wear resistance of wheels with diamond grains of the magnetic fraction synthesized in the Fe‒Si‒C system is 1.3 times higher than that of wheels with diamond grains of the nonmagnetic fraction of the same system and 2 times higher than that of wheels with diamond grains synthesized in the Ni‒Mn‒C system.