Cutting elements, earth-boring tools including such cutting elements, and related methods of making and using same

Abstract

A method of forming a cutting element includes forming a supporting substrate comprising a homogenized binder and a mixture of coarse tungsten carbide (WC) particles and fine WC particles, depositing discrete diamond particles on the supporting substrate, and sintering the supporting substrate and the diamond particles to form a cutting table comprising inter-bonded diamond particles attached to the supporting substrate. A ratio of a particle size of the coarse WC particles to a particle size of the fine WC particles is within a range of from about 2:1 to about 50:1. The mixture of coarse WC particles and fine WC particles include between about 60% by volume (vol %) and 95 vol % coarse WC particles and between about 5 vol % and 40 vol % fine WC particles. Cutting elements so produced and earth-boring tools including such cutting elements are also disclosed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of forming a cutting element, the method comprising:
 forming a supporting substrate comprising a homogenized binder and a mixture of coarse tungsten carbide (WC) particles and fine WC particles, wherein a ratio of a particle size of the coarse WC particles to a particle size of the fine WC particles is within a range of from about 2:1 to about 50:1, wherein the mixture of coarse WC particles and fine WC particles comprises between about 60% by volume (vol %) and 95 vol % coarse WC particles and between about 5 vol % and 40 vol % fine WC particles;   depositing discrete diamond particles on the supporting substrate; and   sintering the supporting substrate and the diamond particles to form a cutting table comprising inter-bonded diamond particles attached to the supporting substrate.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sintering of the supporting substrate comprises sintering the supporting substrate at a pressure ranging from about 5 GPa to about 9 GPa. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sintering of the supporting substrate comprises sintering the supporting substrate at a temperature equal to or higher than 1350° C. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the coarse WC particles or the fine WC particles comprise cobalt cemented tungsten carbide particles. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the homogenized binder comprises one or more of cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni) or an alloy thereof. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the homogenized binder further comprises one or more additional transition metals. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein forming the supporting substrate further comprises consolidating a precursor composition of the homogenized binder, the mixture of coarse tungsten carbide (WC) particles and fine WC particles, and a binding agent. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising removing the binding agent after consolidating the precursor composition. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the consolidating of the precursor composition comprises consolidating the precursor composition at a pressure ranging from about 10 MPa to about 1 GPa. 
     
     
         10 . A cutting element for an earth-boring tool, comprising:
 a supporting substrate comprising a homogenized binder and a mixture of coarse WC particles and fine WC particles, wherein a size of the coarse WC particles is between about 1 μm and about 5 μm and a size of the fine WC particles is between about 20 nm (0.02 μm) and about 2.5 μm, wherein a ratio of an amount of the coarse WC particles to an amount of the fine WC particles in the mixture is between about 95:5 and about 60:40 by volume; and   a cutting table attached to the supporting substrate, the cutting table comprising inter-bonded diamond particles.   
     
     
         11 . The cutting element of  claim 10 , wherein a ratio of a particle size of the coarse WC particles to a particle size of the fine WC particles is within a range extending from about 2:1 to about 50:1. 
     
     
         12 . The cutting element of  claim 10 , wherein the coarse WC particles or the fine WC particles comprise cobalt cemented tungsten carbide particles. 
     
     
         13 . The cutting element of  claim 10 , wherein the homogenized binder comprises one or more of cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni) or an alloy thereof. 
     
     
         14 . The cutting element of  claim 13 , wherein the homogenized binder further comprises one or more additional transition metals. 
     
     
         15 . The cutting element of  claim 10 , wherein the supporting substrate is porous and comprises an at least substantially uniform distribution of pores connected by pore throats, the pores having a size in a range extending from about 10 nm to about 3 μm, wherein a size distribution of the pores is substantially uniform. 
     
     
         16 . The cutting element of  claim 10 , wherein the pores have a size in a range extending from about 10 nm to about 3 μm, and the pore throats have a size in a range extending from about 1 nm to about 3 μm. 
     
     
         17 . The cutting element of  claim 10 , wherein the supporting substrate is configured to exhibit a substantially uniform capillary pressure profile during a sintering process. 
     
     
         18 . The cutting element of  claim 10 , wherein a thickness of the cutting table is between about 5 mm and about 25 mm. 
     
     
         19 . The cutting element of  claim 10 , wherein a volume of the inter-bonded diamond particles comprises interstitial spaces between the inter-bonded diamond particles, the interstitial spaces comprising the homogenized binder. 
     
     
         20 . The cutting element of  claim 19 , wherein at least a portion of the cutting table is leached.