Super-hard Material Market

The solidity of super-hard material is valued at about 40 giga pascals (GPa). It can be measured using the Vickers test which processes about 40 GPa of hardness of super-hard material including extremely incompressible solids with high bond covalence and electron density. Vickers measurements of various hard materials include diamond at 115 GPa and cubic boron nitride (CBN) at 48. These materials are used in numerous industrial processes such as abrasives and polishing and cutting wear-resistant tools and protective coatings. The hardness of a material depends on its elasticity and incompressibility. 

Super-hard materials are synthesized in high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) conditions by optimizing energy and using inexpensive materials. Different end-products of super-hard materials include tool steels, cemented carbides, diamond, and ceramics. Cement carbide is tremendously employed in industrial applications to machine hard materials such as stainless steel and carbon steel. 

The super-hard material market has been segmented by categories into the following: composite super-hard materials, super-hard materials & tools, and mono crystalline super-hard. Composite super-hard materials comprise metal working sheets for cutting tools, oil & gas, and others. Super-hard materials and tools consist of polycrystalline diamond saw blades, diamond drawing dies, diamond discs, diamond cutting tools, and diamond drill bits. Mono crystalline super hard materials include diamond and cubic boron nitride (CBN). 

Super-hard materials feature unique properties such as the ability to scratch and shape any object and are therefore used in a wide array of industrial operations such as cutting, turning, boring, grinding, and drilling. Based on end-users, the market has been divided into the alternative energy, aerospace, chemical processing, automotive, die, mold, electronic, infrastructure, construction, general machining, mining, oil & gas, railroads power generation, shipbuilding, and paper & pulp sectors. 

Increasing demand from downstream petroleum, metal cutting machine tools, and construction boost the demand for super-hard materials. Downstream petroleum industries are developing tremendously in Asia Pacific region, whereas infrastructure and construction are steadily growing in the Middle East region.

Based on type, the market has been segmented into diamond, cubic boron nitride (CBN), and others. Diamond is an extremely hard material with its Vickers measurement falling in the range of 70–150 GPa. Diamond exhibits electrically insulating properties and high thermal conductivity. Synthetic diamond can exist as a small poly crystal and single continuous material. In terms of applications, the market has been classified into the following varieties: cutting tools, coatings, general medicine, sensors, semiconductor fabrication, wear parts polishing stones, subsystem components, construction, composite polycrystalline tools, abrasives categories, and others.  On the basis of region, the market has been distributed over North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.

Asia Pacific is one of the globally leading consumer of super-hard materials. In Asia Pacific, China holds a major share in the super-hard material market and is one of the top manufacturers of manmade diamond. Asia Pacific region is followed by North America and Europe. Improvements in economy, escalating manufacturing activities, and growing demand for machine tools used for industrial applications in North America and Europe drive the super-hard material market.

Key players in the global super-hard material market include Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (Japan), Sandvik Group (Sweden) , ILJIN (KOREA), Zhongnan Diamond Co., Ltd.(China), Element Six (South Africa), Whirlwind (U.S.), SF Diamond (China), Funik Ultrahard Material Co.,LTD. (China), and Zhengzhou Sino-Crystal Diamond Co., Ltd. (China).