US Synthetic Bearings (USA, a division of Dover; NYSE: DOV) has launched the industry’s first commercially viable lineup of radial bearings, based on synthetic diamond technology.
US Synthetic introduces synthetic diamond bearings
Using diamond bearings in your next design
US Synthetic Bearings was featured in The Design World Audio Podcast
Diamonds are not only “a girl’s best friend.” Soon they may be engineers’ best friend too. US Synthetic Bearing takes advantage of its parent company’s expertise with synthetic diamonds and applies that knowledge to radial thrust bearings to create a product that offers long life and low maintenance. Off-highway, oil and gas, and other industries benefit from these rugged bearings.
Polycrystalline diamond thrust bearings for down-hole oil and gas drilling tools
Down-hole tools used for drilling oil and gas wells are subjected to harsh environments where abrasive fluids, high loads and speeds, and high temperatures can cause tool components, including thrust bearings, to quickly fail. This paper discusses the advantages that polycrystalline diamond can provide when used as a bearing material in down-hole tools.
High pressure/high-temperature sintering of polycrystalline diamond compacts (PDC) is sensitive to impurities in the diamond feedstock, both surface and intrinsic.
Sandia National Laboratories and U S Synthetic Corporation have jointly conducted a multifaceted, baseline experimental study to support the development of improved drag cutters for advanced drill bits.
PDC bits have had limited success at drilling high compressive strength and abrasive rock formations. One of the limitations to hard rock drilling is the propensity of the cutters to fracture.
Residual stresses in PDC cutters arise from the difference in thermal expansion between the polycrystalline diamond layer and the supporting tungsten carbide substrate after sintering at high pressure and temperature. If not managed correctly, these stresses can significantly reduce the toughness of the cutters, especially as the diamond-layer thickness increases.