Matthew Mathes

Purdue University

Project Title: Measuring Fracture toughness of Polycrystalline Diamond(PCD)
Advisor: Prof. Rodney Trice

Introduction

PCD are used in applications that require both wear resistance and fracture toughness. The current material being studied is for use in drag bits for drilling soft rock formations such as sandstone. The use of PCD materials is because it demonstrates wear resistance similar to natural diamond but is not prone to catastrophic failure due to cleavage.

Project Objectives

Adapt the precracked beam technique for measuring fracture toughness of brittle ceramics for use in testing polycrystalline diamond compacts.

Approach

Follow ASTM standards and then compare results to published values.

Findings

The project is still in the testing phase, as such no results are available at this time.


Bridge Indentor used to precrack the
PCD samples. The apparatus produces
a tensile and compresive zone in the
sample, which allow for crack
propagation and crack arrest respectively.
Three point bend apparatus used to
gather the fracture load of the
pre-cracked PCD samples.

Contact me: mmathes@purdue.edu