Variations in structure and properties of vitrified bonds and vitrified diamond composites prepared by sol-gel and melting methods at different sintering temperature

Abstract Differences in structure and properties of Na2O–Al2O3–B2O3–SiO2 vitrified bonds and vitrified diamond composites prepared by sol-gel and melting methods were methodically discussed. Results showed that the vitrified bond prepared by sol-gel method contained more [AlO4] tetrahedron and owned higher bending strength, with the maximum value reaching 137 MPa, 31.73% higher than that prepared by melting method (104 MPa). As the sintered temperature rose, coefficient of thermal expansion of the vitrified bond prepared by sol-gel method increased first and then decreased, acquiring a maximum value of 5.75 × 10−6 °C −1 at 720 °C, which was still much lower than the minimum value of vitrified bond prepared by melting method (7.02 × 10−6 °C −1). The vitrified diamond composite prepared by sol-gel method possessed lower sintering shrinkage than that prepared by melting method, and could be applicable to the production of grinding tools with high dimensional accuracy. What's more, the maximum bending strength of vitrified diamond composites obtained by sol-gel method was 106 MPa, 24.7% higher than that of vitrified diamond composites prepared by melting method (85 MPa).