Economical aspects of using diamonds and cobalt in production of diamond impregnated tools

In the paper the analysis of dynamics of mining, production and market prices of cobalt was performed in the years 1900-2010. Cobalt is used as the basic material for matrices of diamond impregnated tools for cutting natural stones and building materials. Cobalt is characterized by an exceptionally good retention of diamond particles. Because of that there is high demand for cobalt and hence there remains a high price of that material. The possibility of substitution of cobalt with other cheaper alloys was considered, which as a matrix material would give similar functional properties with the lower costs of production.ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF USING DIAMONDS AND COBALT IN THE PRODUCTION OF METAL-DIAMOND TOOLS
In the presented paper, an analysis of the dynamics of mining, production, and market prices of cobalt was conducted over the years 1900-2010. Cobalt is used as the primary material for the matrix in metal-diamond tools used for cutting natural stones and building materials. It is characterized by exceptionally good retention of diamond particles. This leads to a high demand for cobalt, and as a result, the price of this material remains high. The possibilities of replacing cobalt with another, cheaper raw material, which as a matrix material would provide similar functional properties of the tools at lower production costs, are analyzed.
1. INTRODUCTION
In the industry of diamond impregnated tools for cutting natural stones and building materials, circular saws with a working layer in the form of segments soldered to a steel disk between special cuts are used (Fig. 1). The segments constitute the working elements of a saw and are produced by means of powder metallurgy technology. (…)

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