Diamond Coated Cutting Tools for Biomedical Applications

摘要

Diamond coatings are attractive for cutting processes due to their high hardness, low friction coefficient, excellent wear resistance and chemical inertness. The application of diamond coatings on cemented tungsten carbide (WC-Co) burs has the subject of much attention in recent years in order to improve cutting performance and tool life. WC-Co burs containing 6% Co and 94% WC substrate with an average grain size 1-3 micron were used in this study. In order to improve the adhesion between diamond and WC substrates it is necessary to etch away the surface Co and prepare the surface for subsequent diamond growth. Hot filament chemical vapour deposition (H.F.C.V.D.) with a modified vertical filament arrangement has been employed for the deposition of diamond films. Diamond film quality and purity has been characterised using scanning electron microscopy (S.E.M.) and micro Raman spectroscopy. The performance of diamond coated WC-Co burs, uncoated WC-Co burs, and diamond embedded (sintered) burs have been compared by drilling a series of holes into various materials such as human teeth, borosilicate glass, and acrylic teeth. Flank wear has been used to assess the wear rates of the burs when machining biomedical materials such as those described above.