Research progress in diamond-reinforced metal matrix composites fabricated by additive manufacturing

Diamond-reinforced metal matrix composites，which exhibit unique properties of both metals and diamonds，are used as functional and wear-resistant materials in various fields. Additive manufacturing technology provides a novel approach for fabricating complex components of metal/diamond composites，significantly enhancing the design versatility of components. Based on several key additive manufacturing techniques，including selective laser melting，laser cladding and cold spraying，this paper introduces the research progress in the additive manufacturing of metal/diamond composites. It covers powder raw materials，core processing technologies and practical applications. Emphasis is placed on discussing the causes，consequenses and potential solutions for sputtering and diamond graphitization that may occur during the manufacturing process. Finally，the main challenges and future development directions of metal/diamond composites in additive manufacturing are summarized. The main manifestations are as follows： in the additive manufacturing process，problems such as diamond splashing，interface control between metal and diamond particles, graphitization of diamond and damage to diamond particles occur. The key issues to be addressed focus on optimizing the forming process to achieve coordinated control of the composite material’s density，interface bonding and diamond protection.