Sintered Polycrystalline Cubic Boron Nitride Material

Abstract

Polycrystalline cubic boron nitride, PCBN, material and methods of making PCBN. A method includes providing a matrix precursor powder comprising particles having an average particle size no greater than 250 nm, providing a cubic boron nitride, cBN, powder comprising particles of cBN having an average particle size of at least 0.2 μm, intimately mixing the matrix precursor powder and the cBN powder, and sintering the intimately mixed powders at a temperature of at least 1100° C. and a pressure of at least 3.5 GPa to form the PCBN material comprising particles of cubic boron nitride, cBN dispersed in a matrix material.

1 . A polycrystalline cubic boron nitride, PCBN, material comprising:
 particles of cubic boron nitride, cBN;   the cBN particles dispersed in a matrix material comprising at least one titanium-containing compound;   wherein the PCBN material wherein the PCBN material does not include any of the following milling media materials: tungsten carbide, silicon carbide, zirconium oxide, and boron carbide.   
     
     
         2 . The PCBN material as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the cBN particles have an average size between 0.2 and 15 μm. 
     
     
         3 . The PCBN material as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the cBN particles have an average size greater than 1 μm. 
     
     
         4 . The PCBN material as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the cBN particles have a multi-modal average size distribution. 
     
     
         5 . The PCBN material as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the PCBN material comprises less than 80 volume percent of the cBN particles. 
     
     
         6 . The PCBN material as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the matrix material comprises materials selected from compounds of any of titanium and aluminium. 
     
     
         7 . The PCBN material as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the matrix material comprises any of titanium carbonitride, titanium carbide, titanium nitride, titanium diboride, aluminium nitride and aluminium oxide. 
     
     
         8 . A tool comprising a sintered polycrystalline material as claimed in  claim 1 , the tool being for any of cutting, milling, grinding, drilling, or other abrasive applications.