The erosion of CVD diamond by diamond particles

This paper describes the damage features generated by the high-velocity impact of diamond particles on diamond produced by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). Two types of diamond grit - angular and cubo-octahedral - were used to impact the surface of the diamond target at a mean impact velocity of 268ms -1 . The main damage features were elastic-plastic radial and lateral cracks. Distorted Hertzian ring cracks were also seen on samples impacted with cubo-octahedral diamond grit. This indicates that, in contrast to previous experiments by the authors using silica sand erodent, Hertzian damage can be generated at this velocity when the mechanical properties of the erodent and target are comparable. Fragmentation of the diamond grit occurred on impact; however, the extent of the degradation was much reduced compared with the silica sand erodent.