Manufacturing and characterization of functionally gradient material from cemented carbide to diamond via filament-based material extrusion 3D printing

Functionally gradient material (FGM) fabricating via additive manufacturing draws great attention on alleviating the abrupt material discontinuity at the interface of different materials. Introducing gradient structure into polycrystalline diamond composites to produce diamond/cemented carbide FGM is an effective method to reduce the residual stress and enhance the bonding strength of diamond layer and cemented carbide substrate. However, achieving a smooth transition of material properties from cemented carbide to diamond is challenging. In this research, diamond/cemented carbide FGM with a well-controlled gradient was manufactured via filament-based material extrusion. Initially, green bodies of diamond/cemented carbide FGM were obtained by printing with customized composite filaments. Subsequently, thermal decomposition characteristic of the printing filament was analyzed by TGA, and the influence of different heating rates during the binder decomposition stage on the morphology and structure of the green bodies was investigated. After debinding, diamond/ cemented carbide FGM without flaw was synthesized at 6.5 GPa and 1550degree celsius. Subsequently, microstructure characterization was performed to investigate the distribution characteristics of the materials inside the diamond/cemented carbide FGM. A continuous transition from tungsten carbide to diamond was achieved inside the gradient layer. Furthermore, the stress state of diamond in different positions of the diamond/cemented carbide FGM was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. It was found that all the residual stresses in the axial interface of the gradient layer were compressive stress, which can prevent occurrence of microcracks resulted from the tensile stresses formed in the interface. Finally, the impact tests reveal that gradient structure is conductive to improving the bond strength between PCD layer and cemented carbide substrate as the impact times before fracture of diamond/cemented carbide FGM has been increased by 15 %. The gradient structure design strategy, generated via the filament-based material extrusion technology, pioneers new ideas to the development of high-performance FGMs in mass production.