Thread: Do diamonds wear

Yup. This is why diamond cut-off wheels use sintered diamond matrix segments. As the diamonds wear and fracture, they are pulled out or fall out and are replaced by the next diamonds underneath as the matrix is subsequently worn away. None of this "defies geology and physics" - although a substance that never wears or breaks down certainly would! Diamond plates are a little different in that the diamonds are not designed to fall out and be replaced - so they are bonded using a stronger method - though some still pull out of the bond.

BTW, Google is your friend. Here's a link to a list of references if you're really interested in learning about this:

https://books.google.com/books?id=PU...20wear&f=false