Simulation, forming process and mechanical property of Cu-Sn-Ti/diamond composites fabricated by selective laser melting

Metal bond diamond abrasive tools with complex structure and high wear efficiency will be widely used in the geological drilling and mechanical processing industries, but are difficult to manufacture by traditional technology. In this paper, selective laser melting (SLM), as one of the additive manufacturing technologies, was used to fabricate Cu-Sn-Ti bonded diamond abrasive composites. Simulations, experiments and characterization were carried out to obtain the appropriate SLM process parameters. Results indicated that the optimal SLM parameters were laser power of 260 W, scanning speed of 300 mm/s and layer thickness of 0.09 mm. Furthermore, the wear resistant performance of SLM sample was compared with hot-pressed sintered sample in terms of mass loss rate, wear morphology and bonding condition. Results showed that diamond particles were seriously pulled-out from hot-pressed sintered sample while this hardly occurred from the wear surface of SLM sample, which was benefited from higher amounts of TiC around the diamond. Consequently, the bonding force to diamond was effectively improved for SLM sample. Therefore, SLM method cannot only fabricated sample with complex structures, but also with better performance. This study provides a novel approach for forming metal bonded diamond tools by SLM in the future.