Automatic Computer Controlled Process for Superhard Materials Production

Abstract

The technologies of superhard materials production, including those for industrial synthesis of diamond and cubic boron nitride at high pressure and high temperature conditions, depend on the operator experience. Moreover, these manually operated processes usually vary in terms of yield and quality of the final product. Owing to the design and construction methods of conventional high pressure devices (HPD), it has not yet been possible to adapt computerized systems for both research and industrial production. In this work, the synthesis of superhard materials was treated as a guided problem under uncertain pressure, temperature, time, and electrical power conditions using the theory of automatic commanded systems. This concept was applied to develop an automatic control for the hydraulic presses that generate the necessary force for the high pressure, based on variable sensors associated with computer programs that command the conditions inside the HPD.