Percent Reduction in Transverse Rupture Strength of Metal Matrix Diamond Segments Analysed via Discrete-Element Simulations

The percent TRS reduction, D(TRS), which is the percent reduction of the transverse rupture strength of metal matrix diamond segments with or without diamonds, is a key metric for evaluating the bonding condition of diamonds in a matrix. In this work, we build, calibrate, and verify a discrete-element simulation of a metal matrix diamond segment to obtain D(TRS) for diamond segments with various diamond-grain sizes, concentrations, and distributions. The results indicate that D(TRS) increases with increasing diamond-grain concentration and decreases with increasing diamond-grain size. Both factors can be explained by the total diamond contact length, the increase of which causes the increase in D(TRS). The distribution of diamond grains in segments also strongly influences the increase of D(TRS). The use of D(TRS) as a metric to assess the bonding condition of diamonds in matrixes is not valid unless the diamond-grain size, concentration, and distribution and total diamond contact length are the same for all diamond segments under consideration.