Sintered body and cutting tool

Abstract

A sintered body includes cubic boron nitride grains as hard phase grains, and has a thermal conductivity of not less than 15 W·m −1 ·K −1 and not more than 40 W·m −1 ·K −1 , for cutting a nickel-based heat-resistant alloy formed of crystal grains having a fine grain size represented by a grain size number of more than 5 defined by ASTM standard E112-13. A cutting tool includes this sintered body. Accordingly, the sintered body having both high wear resistance and high fracture resistance, as well as the cutting tool including the sintered body are provided.

1 . A sintered body comprising cubic boron nitride grains as hard phase grains, and having a thermal conductivity of not less than 15 W·m −1 ·K −1  and not more than 40 W·m −1 ·K −1 , for cutting a nickel-based heat-resistant alloy formed of crystal grains having a fine grain size represented by a grain size number of more than 5 defined by American Society for Testing and Materials standard E112-13. 
     
     
         2 . The sintered body according to  claim 1 , wherein the sintered body further comprises:
 a binder; and   different-type hard phase grains including at least one selected from the group consisting of silicon nitride, SiAlON, and alumina, as the hard phase grains other than the cubic boron nitride grains.   
     
     
         3 . The sintered body according to  claim 2 , wherein
 a ratio V BN /V H  of a volume V BN  of the cubic boron nitride grains to a volume V H  of the different-type hard phase grains is not less than 1 and not more than 6.   
     
     
         4 . The sintered body according to  claim 2  or  3 , wherein the SiAlON includes cubic SiAlON. 
     
     
         5 . The sintered body according to  claim 4 , wherein
 the SiAlON further includes at least one of α-SiAlON and β-SiAlON, and   a peak intensity ratio Rc of an intensity at an X-ray diffraction main peak of the cubic SiAlON to a sum of respective intensities at respective X-ray diffraction main peaks of the α-SiAlON, the β-SiAlON, and the cubic SiAlON is not less than 20%.   
     
     
         6 . The sintered body according to  claim 2 , wherein
 the binder includes at least one kind of binder selected from the group consisting of at least one kind of element out of titanium, zirconium, aluminum, nickel, and cobalt, nitrides, carbides, oxides, carbonitrides, and borides of the elements, and solid solutions thereof.   
     
     
         7 . The sintered body according to  claim 1 , wherein a content of the hard phase grains in the sintered body is not less than 60 vol % and not more than 90 vol %. 
     
     
         8 . The sintered body according to  claim 1 , wherein the sintered body has a Vickers hardness of not less than 22 GPa. 
     
     
         9 . The sintered body according to  claim 1 , wherein the nickel-based heat-resistant alloy is Inconel® 718. 
     
     
         10 . A cutting tool comprising the sintered body as recited in  claim 1 .