Design and application of a novel water-atomized pre-alloyed powder for diamond wire saw

• Published in: Diamond and related materials 2021-06, Vol.116, p.108439, Article 108439
• Main Authors: Xu, Hang, Sun, Shuangshuang, Qiao, Cuiya, Feng, Haizhou, Liu, Yigang, Dong, Xinran, Tao, Qiang, Jiang, Lina, Zhu, Pinwen, Dong, Shushan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alloy powders; Alloying elements; Atomizing; Copper; Diamond wire saw; Diamonds; High temperature; Iron; Matrix microstructure; Nickel; Sharpness; Sintering (powder metallurgy); Water-atomized pre-alloyed (WAPA) powder; Wear rate; Wear resistance; Wire
• ISSN: 0925-9635; 1879-0062
• DOI: 10.1016/j.diamond.2021.108439

A novel water-atomized pre-alloyed (WAPA) powder (named as YA508) with multi-element of Fe-Co-Cu-Sn-Ni for diamond wire saw was designed and prepared in this paper. The powder is composed of the immiscible separated structures of the minor copper(Cu)-rich phase dispersed around the major iron-rich phase. It is found that the Cu-rich phase can act as ‘pinning barriers’ at interfaces of powder particles to impede the coarsening and growth of the Fe-rich phase between powder particles, avoiding the occurrence of hard structure with excessive wear resistance during high-temperature sintering process. As a result, a refined sintered matrix with good strength and synchronous wear rate with diamond was obtained and the sharpness of diamond wire saw was effectively improved. The physical/chemical characteristics of YA508 alloy were systematically studied by means of several testing techniques. [Display omitted] •A novel water-atomized pre-alloyed powder used for diamond wire saw is developed.•The powder is composed of the copper-rich phase surrounding the iron-rich phase.•The Cu-rich phase can prevent the Fe-rich phase from coarsening growth.•A new way is found to refine the matrix to improve the sharpness of diamond tools.