Rock Mech Rock Eng (2013) 46:169–177
DOI 10.1007/s00603-012-0255-9
ORIGINAL PAPER
Critical Investigation of Wear Behaviour of WC Drill Bit Buttons
Anurag Gupta • Somnath Chattopadhyaya •
Sergej Hloch
Received: 20 May 2011 / Accepted: 11 April 2012 / Published online: 4 May 2012
Ó Springer-Verlag 2012
Abstract Mining and petroleum drill bits are subjected to
highly abrasive rock and high-velocity fluids that cause
severe wear and erosion in service. To augment the rate of
penetration and minimize the cost per foot, such drill bits
are subjected to increasing rotary speeds and weight. A
rotary/percussive drill typically hits the rock 50 times per
second with hydraulic impact pressure of about
170–200 bar and feed pressure of about 90–100 bar, while
rotating at 75–200 rpm. The drill rig delivers a high-
velocity flow of drilling fluid onto the rock surface to
dislodge cuttings and cool the bit. The impingement of
high-velocity drilling fluid with entrained cuttings accel-
erates the erosion rate of the bit. Also, high service tem-
perature contributes to softening of the rock for increased
penetration. Hence, there is a need to optimize the drilling
process and balance the wear rate and penetration rate
simultaneously. This paper presents an experimental
scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study of electroplated
(nickel-bonded) diamond drills for different wear modes.
Keywords Wear
Drill bit buttons
A. Gupta
S. Chattopadhyaya
Department of ME and MME, Indian School of Mines,
Dhanbad 835215, India
e-mail: anuragguptakec@gmail.com
S. Chattopadhyaya
e-mail: somuismu@gmail.com
S. Hloch (&)
Faculty of Manufacturing Technologies,
Technical University of Košice with a seat in Prešov,
080 01 Prešov, Slovakia
e-mail: hloch.sergej@gmail.com
1 Introduction
Rock drilling is performed by a number of techniques,
including (Jacobson et al. 2008): rotary/percussive drilling
in very hard rock, rotary/crushing drilling in medium–hard
rock and cutting in soft rock types, to produce large holes
without blasting, e.g., in tunnelling. For various values of
the wear rate (WR), grain size and Co content, a broad
range of combinations of hardness and toughness of bit
buttons can be achieved, enabling the material to be opti-
mized for different applications. The tungsten carbide
(WC) grains are coarse, about 2–5 lm, and the Co content
normally lies between 6 and 15 % by weight (Beste et al.
2001). There is uncertainty regarding the service temper-
ature of rock drill bits, but the temperatures are estimated
to lie between 300 and 500 °C; a glassy phase can also be
produced, indicating flash temperatures of around 1,250 °C
and above. Wear of cemented carbide (CC) drill buttons is
usually the life-limiting factor for rock drill bits. Study of
the wear mechanism of CC buttons presents many diffi-
culties. Firstly, direct observation of the drill button inside
a deep hole is impossible, and it is extremely hard to
measure the contact conditions (normal and friction forces,
temperature, etc.). Furthermore, the wide variation in the
properties of rock types from all over the world, as well as
within a single mine, makes it difficult to compare and
evaluate such results. Back in 1968, Montgomery found
material fatigue and microspalling to be the main wear
mechanism of a CC percussive drill bit in any mineral.
Subsequently, he also found that the WR of a bit drilling
granite was dependent on the CC hardness HCC according
to the relation WR = Ce(-0.57H)CC, where C is a constant
(Beste et al. 2003). Today, the best correlation between
rock properties and drill wear is obtained by plotting the
drill bit lifetime (DBL) against the rock abrasive index
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170 A. Gupta et al.

(RAI). The RAI, a dimensionless quantity, is the uniaxial
compressive strength of the rock multiplied by the equiv-
alent quartz content. The RAI can range from 175 for
extremely abrasive rock such as sandstone down to 10 for
slightly abrasive rock such as calcite.
2 Literature Review
This paper seeks to present a comprehensive view of the
deterioration and wear mechanisms of cemented carbide
rock drill buttons and electroplated diamond core drills.
Local drilling conditions should be considered in the
selection of cemented carbide grades and diamond core
bits. Firstly, a set of drill buttons was selected from rotary/
percussive drilling operations in a variety of rock types
(Table 1). Most of these buttons had peripheral positions
on the drill bits. Peripheral buttons wear more than central
ones due to their additional rotation. The buttons were
removed from the drill bits and investigated by scanning
electron microscopy (SEM), including both standard SEM
and high-resolution field-emission gun SEM (FEG-SEM)
and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). EDS was
particularly used to study Co depletion and to characterise
material adhered to button surfaces. WC grain size was
estimated from SEM images. Specimens were prepared
Table 1 Drill data and characteristics of the investigated rock drill
buttons
Button Cemented WC Drill Rock Drill
no. carbide grain length drilled locations
composition size (m) in
(%) (lm)
according to the targeting microsection technique.
According to the microsection technique, fine sections are
initially cut from the bottommost layers. A wedge (e.g. a
screwdriver) is then forced into the cut to fracture this
bridge. The resulting brittle fracture will always follow the
weakest path through the surface layer. Hence, weakened
or pre-cracked parts of the structure will automatically be
revealed in the cross-section.
A view of a rock drill button meeting and crushing rock
is presented in Fig. 1a, b. Deeper cracks are initiated when
the first rock asperities have been crushed and the button
meets an increasing force against the combination of
fragments and asperities. Finally, the force becomes suffi-
cient to form larger-scale cracks, thereby also fragmenting
the rock under the outermost asperities. The maximum load
is mainly transferred via the fragments. The translation due
to rotation of the drill is held back during the impact by the
high friction forces, and catches up between the impacts.
Also, some of the life-limiting processes of CC buttons are
shown in Fig. 2. Figure 3 shows the three basic types of
integration of rock material into the WC/Co structure, as
found on almost all investigated rock drill buttons.
3 Basic Deterioration Mechanism
Based on close observation and study of worn drill buttons
taken from different sites, the following common types of
CC button failure mechanism can be identified (Hogmark
et al. 2008; Beste et al. 2008a, b): partial rock cover,

1 94 WC, 6 3 18 Quartzite Sodra

Co Sandby,
Sweden
2 94 WC, 6 3 280 Quartzite Sodra
Co Sandby,
Sweden
3 94 WC, 6 2.5 18 Quartzitic Karlshamn,
Co granite Sweden
4 94 WC, 6 2.5 500 Quartzitic Karlshamn,
Co granite Sweden
5 94 WC, 6 2.5 1 Magnetite Kiruna,
Co Sweden
6 94 WC, 6 5 20 Magnetite Kiruna,
Co Sweden
7 94 WC, 6 2.5 102 Manganese Nchwang,
Co South
Africa
8 90 WC, 10 7 17 Chromite South Africa
Co
9 94 WC, 6 5 Not Coal/ South Africa
Co known sandstone
Fig. 1 a Rock drill bit. b Drill button meeting and crushing rock

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Critical Investigation of Wear Behaviour 171

Fig. 2 a Unworn button, b button worn by gradual wear (and concentrating edges, e regrinding required to avoid fracture where
typically also regrinding), c catastrophic fracture, d regrinding cracks threaten to develop further
required to avoid fracture where gradual wear has formed stress-

Fig. 3 a Partial rock cover,

b intermixed layer, c rock
channel

intermixed layer and rock penetration, binder phase (Co)

embrittlement and degradation, composite-scale crack/
reptile skin formation, WC grain-scale crack formation,
oxidation and corrosion.

4 Partial Rock Cover, Intermixed Layer and Rock

Penetration

Rock material was often found to have penetrated into the

cemented carbide structure. In this way, Co binder was
frequently replaced by—or intermixed with—rock mate-
rial, forming a layer up to 40 lm thick. This is denoted the
‘‘intermixed layer’’. Generally, the cobalt content was
substantially reduced in such intermixed layers, compared
with the original composition. Some intermixed layers
showed no traces of Co at all, indicating content below 1
at. % (the sensitivity limit of the EDS technique). Fur-
thermore, the properties of this layer determine the WR.
The thickness of the intermixed layers typically varies
between 1 and 40 lm (Fig. 4). A tendency towards
increasing thickness with increasing drilling depth can be
noted. However, the thickness appears surprisingly inde-
pendent of the rock material drilled, at least after relatively
short-term use, because the rock mass cannot usually
penetrate beyond a 40 lm layer of the tool bit material. All
buttons used for drilling around 20 m exhibited layers
Fig. 4 The thickness of the intermixed layers typically varies
between 1 and 40 lm
around 10 lm thick, irrespective of the hardness of the
drilled rock. After 20 m of drilling, drill rod extensions are
usually applied for further drilling. Despite the average
temperature of the buttons being kept low by extensive
cooling by water or high-pressure air, local intermittent
temperatures are certainly high enough to at least cause
substantial softening of the rock material. Thus, rock
material will fill any crack or cavity that results from wear
of the button. Also, it was concluded that the intermixed
layer thickness is characteristic of the CC rather than of the
rock material, and that the WR of the button is primarily
controlled by the properties of the intermixed layer rather

123
172
than the original CC. The character of the CC will deter-
mine the thickness of the intermixed layer, whereas the
character of the intermixed layer will further control the bit
wear phenomenon.
Basically, it is not possible to force a long, narrow
‘‘spaghetti’’ of rock material, winding deep into the solid
cemented carbide, by pushing or hammering on its end.
Instead, a mechanism based on travelling shock waves and
thermal softening of the rock is proposed. Each local rock
impact results in a compressive shock wave and an asso-
ciated high-temperature wave, induced by intense friction
and plastic deformation. The shock wave travels through
the button at the speed of sound (about 5,800 m/s for a
typical rock drill grade). As it passes through the CC
structure, any open channel will momentarily be con-
stricted by the state of hydrostatic stresses within the wave,
and subsequently relaxed when the wave has passed; see
Fig. 5, which shows a rock mass creating the intermixed
layer in the bit material. This causes a pumping effect,
squeezing any material inside the channel by a step in the
direction of wave propagation. (Compare this with the
action of a rolling-pin when rolling out a piece of dough.)
This pumping effect would contribute to both intrusion of
Co and inwards penetration of rock material.
5 Binder Phase (Co) Embrittlement and Degradation
Tests were performed and showed that WC/Co was brittle
below 500 °C, tough between 500 and 800 °C and showed
plastic deformation (creep) above 800 °C. It was also
shown that, at low temperatures, the Co binder undergoes a
phase transformation from face-centred cube (FCC) to the
more brittle and hard hexagonal close-packed (HCP) phase
when subjected to cyclic loads. At higher temperatures,
oxidation of Co takes place near crack tips, leading to
brittle–ductile transitions. After sintering, the Co binder is
considered to have mainly FCC structure. During use, it
undergoes plastic deformation, involving dislocation
movement, twin formation, etc. This results in transfor-
mation of a major part of the Co to the HCP structure. This
plastic deformation of the binder is associated with small
Fig. 5 A sequence of sketches illustrating the proposed mechanism of deep rock penetration
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A. Gupta et al.
adjustments of the WC grain positions, but only marginal
plastic deformation within the WC grains. The resulting
HCP Co is more friable than FCC Co, consequently
changing the mechanical properties of the cemented car-
bide. The binder phase transition is well known and can be
counteracted by alloying the Co with Ni. The smearing of
Fe on the surfaces from the rock could lead to widening of
cracks through a wedge effect and chemical reactions with
the binder phase.
6 Composite-Scale Crack/Reptile Skin Formation
‘‘Reptile skin’’, also known as ‘‘heat checks’’, is a pattern
of surface cracks/rough plateaus surrounded by valleys,
named after its resemblance to the back of a crocodile and
typically being formed when drilling soft rock types such
as magnetite, chromite or manganese (Fig. 6). The reptile
skin pattern may lead to more extensive, tool-destroying
cracks, and today drill buttons are reground regularly to
remove the reptile skin before it becomes too severe. The
exact appearance of the reptile skin depends on the local
wear situation, the button shape and the temperature.
Against soft rock types, the material removal rate is low
and reptile skin is readily formed, as reported by Lundvall
et al. (2004). The exact mechanism behind its formation
remains unclear. It is typically thought to be due to the
same mechanism as on other cemented carbide products
such as face seal rings and hot rolls, but this question
Fig. 6 A shallow valley between two reptile skin plateaus on a
button, with traces of manganese, primarily in the valley
Critical Investigation of Wear Behaviour
remains unresolved. However, similar patterns also occur
on, e.g., steel parts exposed to rapid temperature shifts and
in geology in the form of large-scale crack patterns on soils
exposed to shifting temperatures. EDS analysis of the
surface again revealed Fe in the valleys of the reptile skin.
It could also be established that there is less Fe on the sides
of the buttons, where the reptile skin is smoother, than on
the top (Fig. 7).
7 WC Grain-Scale Crack Formation, Oxidation
and Corrosion
Microspalling can be described as the formation of small
cracks within grains, followed by removal of chips of
material. When drilling hard rock types, such as quartzite
and granite, buttons are exposed to extremely high pul-
sating pressures. This leads to local fracture and crushing
of superficial WC grains, and in extreme cases WC grains
even pull out, as shown in Fig. 8. The cracking of indi-
vidual WC grains is not unique to hard rocks. Drilling in
the softer chromite rock type with platinum causes similar
surface damage, as shown in Fig. 9.
Fig. 7 Typical reptile skin pattern on button 6
Fig. 8 WC grain pulled out from the Co matrix
173
Fig. 9 Fractured and crushed WC grains of button 8
The top surfaces of WC grains are found to be partly
covered by a tungsten oxide layer. The layer typically has
the form of small, loosely attached rounded particles, as
shown in Fig. 10a. These particles obviously do not add to
the wear resistance of the button, but would most likely be
removed in the next contact with the rock. The same
mechanism has been observed on drills used on all types of
rock. Some grains exhibit very severe corrosive decay, as
shown in Fig. 10b. Such decay is suggested to weaken the
individual WC grains, making them more prone to cracking
due to mechanical stresses. The same type of degradation
due to chemical attack also appears inside the bulk of the
button, on grains bordering penetrated magnetite.
8 Experimental Study
Just like WC drills, diamond cutting tools also find wide
application in stone sawing, rock drilling, etc. industries,
and similarly it is very important to optimize the produc-
tion rate of stone versus the WR of the cutting tool. Ersoy
et al. (2005) conducted experiments on stone sawing with a
commercial diamond disc saw blade. In a similar type of
study, Kahraman et al. (2004) performed rock sawing
experiments and related the stone production rate to rock
characteristics using the statgraphics software package. In
this experimental study, electroplated (nickel-bonded)
diamond core drill bits were used to drill into different
rocks. The core bit was fixed in the chuck of a vertical
drilling machine, and rock samples were drilled while
being held in a special arrangement. The effect of
the physical, mechanical and textural characteristics of the
rock on drill bit wear were studied and analyzed with the
help of Microsoft Excel and SEM images. In this paper, we
discuss only the SEM analysis of the worn bits.
It was not possible to place the entire tool in the SEM
chamber, so with the help of a hacksaw the upper tip
containing the diamond coating was cut and the back
portion was ground for stability. As the samples were
123
174
Fig. 10 a Chemical attack and oxide formation on WC grains, b top surface worn to polished appearance (tribochemical removal mechanism)
moisture free, the secondary-electron technique was used
to view the images.
9 SEM Analysis of Core Bits
9.1 Core Bit A
Before showing the effect of the rock characteristics on the
diamond tool bit, one has to view a new, unused bit, as
shown in Fig. 11. It is clear from Fig. 11b that the diamond
particles are fully bonded into the nickel matrix and no
pull-out or crushing of the diamond is present. Figure 11b
shows a diamond particle, whose edges can be noticed. It
should be noted that the corners of the diamond are sharp in
appearance.
However, when the same type of tool had been used to
drill into black granite rock, the tool gradually wore out. As
the diamond particle grains became crushed, the penetrat-
ing efficiency of the bit was significantly reduced.
Figure 12 shows a detail of bit A.
As marked by the red rectangles, it is clear that the
heavy load on the diamond crystals crushed them.
Fig. 11 a Diamond particles bonded in the nickel matrix, b diamond particle
123
A. Gupta et al.
Figure 12a shows that the portion of the diamond pro-
truding out of the matrix has been entirely removed. This
can also be seen to a partial extent for other diamond
particles in the same matrix. Also, of the many diamond
particles, one was magnified to study the wear pattern in
more detail. Figure 12b shows the wear pattern on the
diamond particle in the direction of bit rotation. These
channels or grooves are due to the combined effect of
excessive loading and bit rotation. It is also apparent that,
due to the high temperature produced during core drilling,
some plastic deformation of the matrix has taken place.
There is a very high possibility that the diamond particle
may even be removed from the matrix.
9.2 Core Bit B
Bit B was used for drilling of Makrana white marble core,
and corresponding images of the worn bit are shown in
Fig. 13. Makrana marble mainly consists of calcite, which
after mixing with water forms a very sticky paste. As this
paste sticks to the diamond and matrix, it does not allow
water to reach the tip of the bit where the cooling is actual
required. This results in excessive heat generation at the
Critical Investigation of Wear Behaviour
Fig. 12 Detail of bit A
Fig. 13 Bit B used for drilling
Makrana white marble core
interface between the bit tip and the rock, and ultimately
the matrix starts to soften; at some point, due to the load-
ing, the diamond particle is removed from the matrix and
was therefore not affected by the wear. This mechanism
can be justified by the fact that, when the drilling starts in
the marble, the penetration rate is high, but after generation
of the sticky material due to the calcite, the tool is burnt
after only a few millimetres of drilling. Smoke may come
out of the drilled hole. The red rectangle in the figure
indicates that a surface that is flat, smooth and lacking in
diamond particles is produced. Also, at the edge of the bit,
it is apparent that the diamond particles were not worn by
abrasion but rather pulled out of the matrix due to the
softening effect. The average drill bit life ranges from
100 m to a few kilometres of drilling advancement,
depending on the hardness and RAI of the rock. At the
outer walls of the core bit, it is still apparent that the
175
diamond particles are in their original unaffected form,
because the effect of the high temperature is not felt at the
side walls. However, drilling by these diamond particles at
the side walls is not possible. Most of the wear of the
diamond particles will take place on the principal cutting
edge in comparison with those on the side faces of the bit.
Ultimately the tool is freely rotating with almost zero
penetration, only producing heat through friction.
9.3 Core Bit C
Core bit C was used to drill sandstone, and it was seen that
the WR when drilling sandstone was the highest. The entire
bit was worn, leaving only the steel shank, which itself had
also started to wear due to the high abrasivity (Fig. 13).
Figure 13 clearly shows that not only has the shank started
to wear, but some cracks (marked by red color) are also
123
176 A. Gupta et al.

starting to develop in the bit shank, demonstrating the sandstone sample, which is the reason why all drill bits
severity of the wear of the core bit. The reason for such a suffer such highly adverse abrasive conditions during
high WR can be due to the high silica content of the drilling, because most of the Earth’s crust is composed of
sandstone. Button bits are very much suitable for sand
stone. Button bitsare popularly utilized to remove over
Table 2 Rock details and the corresponding bit used for drilling burden and over burden is full of sand stones. Sand has an
abrasive character and that is why RAI has to be higher.
Sample Rock Tool Initial Height of ID of OD of
no. mass of diamond tool tool Button bits can sustain a few hundred metres of drilling
tool (g) coating (mm) (mm) advancement in sandstone. After computational analysis, it
(mm) was also seen that there was a high correlation coefficient
1 Granite A 14.7928 5.0500 10.4500 13.0000
between the WR of the tool and the Cerchar abrasivity.
2 Makrana B 12.9992 4.9500 10.8000 13.0500
Limestone has Cerchar Abrasivity Index (CAI) between
Marble 0.5 and 1.0. Sandstone has CAI from 1.0 to 2.0. Quartz has
3 Sandstone C 10.7588 3.5800 10.6000 13.0000 CAI from 4.0 to 6.0 (Table 2).
4 Limestone D 13.6462 5.2000 10.5000 13.1000
9.4 Core Bit D

The diamond electroplated core bit D was used to drill

Fig. 14 The shank has started to wear; cracks (marked by red color)
have started to develop
limestone. The abrasivity of the limestone used in the
experiment was far less than that of sandstone. However,
due to the heavy loading of the diamond particles, they
were still dislocated and were almost absent from the inner
circumferential section (marked with a red rectangle in
Fig. 14a).
It is clear that some portion of the bit was heavily loaded
as compared with other parts of the bit tip. It can be
assumed that the cause of this is vibration of the drill
machine on which the bit was mounted. Vibratory distur-
bance is strong in rock drilling operations. Investigation
was carried out to determine a realistic explanation for the
unprecedented heavily crushed diamond particles. This
kind of situation is extremely dangerous, as the bit will drill
for a shorter distance and the penetration rate will also be
reduced. Furthermore, diamond particles which are not
loaded will have almost zero utilization during drilling
(Fig. 15).

Fig. 15 a Inner circumferential section, b a heavily crushed diamond particle

123
Critical Investigation of Wear Behaviour
10 Conclusions
– In the experiment, it was observed that the WR is
predominantly dependent on the abrasivity and abra-
siveness of the rock mass, being due to the presence of
quartz in the rock. The Cerchar abrasivity of quartz is
very high.
– Hence, the optimum technique should be adopted to
combat the highly abrasive conditions during rock
drilling or cutting through suitable bit configurations.
– It is very important that the flushing agent and coolant
used during drilling should work effectively and
efficiently. Otherwise, as in the depicted case of
Makrana marble, in spite of the lower quartz content,
the drill bit will burn out quickly. This is due to the
sticky mixture of water and calcite, which does not
allow sufficient cooling of the bit and flushing of swarf
from the drilled hole.
– The intermixed layer is probably the most significant
culprit for the performance of the drill button. Here, the
carbide phase is observed to be relatively intact. It is
expected that this composite will exhibit significantly
different properties from the original CC.
– This study deals only with the effect of rock charac-
teristics on the WR of the bit. Other parameters such as
177
the drilling characteristics, operator skill, vibration, etc.
should be considered for better results.
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