The effects of residual stress on the integrity of polycrystalline dia
mond compact (PDC) cutters was investigated. When the compact cooled f
rom the sintering temperature to room temperature, very high radial co
mpressive stresses were induced in the diamond table, and (generally)
much lower radial tensile stresses were induced in the cemented tungst
en carbide backing. The magnitudes of these residual stresses were not
affected very much by the diameter of the compact. However, the resid
ual stresses were affected significantly by the thickness ratio of the
carbide layer to the diamond layer. The higher this ratio the greater
was the radial compressive stress in the diamond and the lower was th
e radial tensile stress in the carbide. This same effect was obtained
by sintering a relatively thin layer of tungsten carbide on top of the
diamond table.