Cutting element for a rotary drill bit, and method for manufacturing such an element.

摘要

A preform cutting element (118) for a rotary drill bit includes a layer (110a) of polycrystalline diamond material, the rear face of which is bonded to the front face of a backing layer (112a) of less hard material, such as tungsten carbide. The rear face of the backing layer is substantially greater in area than the rear face of the diamond layer. A method of manufacturing such cutting elements comprises forming an intermediate structure comprising polycrystalline diamond material (110) bonded between two outer layers (112, 114) of tungsten carbide, and then cutting the intermediate structure to provide two pieces, each of the pieces including part of the diamond material and at least a major part of a respective one of the two outer layers.