Mass Produced Perfect Diamonds

[Zixinus]

They became vivid colours of orange and red and blue and stuff. Unfortunately this caused them to become highly irradiated and the scientist died several weeks later due to radiation poisoning. The diamonds are still dangerously irradiated to this day.

Fuck. I just researched the matter (in retrospect I probably should have done that before I posted), and it turns out that for the most part I'm full of shit. There was one diamond, it turned dark green, and I can't find anything that says the fellow died.

Thought so, especially considering the dead scientists. I'd be amazed if proffesionals died because they were careless with the radiation. You would expect scientist to know the risks involved.

You mean, like the diamond-dust impregnated steel disk my dad used in his glass grinder to shape pieces for his stained glass projects?

Sure. Why is the diamond-dust impregnated steel different from a regular steel disk?

[Broomstick]

You know how sandpaper is grit glued onto a paper backing? Well, the grinding wheel my dad had (I have it now) was the same thing, except with steel instead of paper and diamond grit instead of, say, aluminum oxide. Know how you can sand wood smooth, or use sanding to shape it? Same thing, only with glass instead of wood.

Made doing stained glass a hell of a lot easier and safer than the old method, which was to chip off tiny shards of glass until you got the shape you wanted.

Which may be a different thing than what you had in mind.

[starslayer]

Thought so, especially considering the dead scientists. I'd be amazed if proffesionals died because they were careless with the radiation. You would expect scientist to know the risks involved.

Scientists and engineers are human. They can succumb to the "oh, I've done this a thousand times before" stuff and get lazy sometimes. It doesn't happen very often, but it can, and does. Read some of the safety literature for radioisotopes, lasers, and those sorts of things. They're full of examples of what can happen (and has).

[Wyrm]

Plus, this experiment was supposed to be in the early 1900s, potentially back before they knew about radiation sickness.

[Kanastrous]

Sounds like a diamond story conflated with the accident that killed Louis Slotin.

[Kelp]

On a wild and random question, what would happen if you put diamond powder into steel? Or try to combine steel and diamonds somehow?

I believe the resulting combination is carbon-steel. They have been around for a long time.

[Winston Blake]

On a wild and random question, what would happen if you put diamond powder into steel? Or try to combine steel and diamonds somehow?

I believe the resulting combination is carbon-steel. They have been around for a long time.

I can't tell whether or not this is a joke. Just... no.

[Samuel]

On a wild and random question, what would happen if you put diamond powder into steel? Or try to combine steel and diamonds somehow?

I believe the resulting combination is carbon-steel. They have been around for a long time.

You broke Winstons's brain!

Steel is not made with a combination of diamonds. I believe the carbon comes from either the air or the fuel (charcoal or coal).

[CaptainChewbacca]

But, putting finely-ground diamonds into steel at high pressure would just fuck up the diamonds and give you shitty carbon steel.

[Starglider]

But, putting finely-ground diamonds into steel at high pressure would just fuck up the diamonds and give you shitty carbon steel.

True. Diamond whiskers might work though; for example GRP (fibreglass) is a composite of glass fibres in a plastic binder and it's a very useful material.

[Darth Wong]

But, putting finely-ground diamonds into steel at high pressure would just fuck up the diamonds and give you shitty carbon steel.

True. Diamond whiskers might work though; for example GRP (fibreglass) is a composite of glass fibres in a plastic binder and it's a very useful material.

Normally, you use whiskers of a material with good tensile strength, to strengthen a material which has poor tensile strength. Steel-reinforced concrete is a good example of this. But what would be the point of diamond whiskers? Wouldn't they be brittle, hence defeating the whole point of using them in this application?

[Darth Wong]

I'll hold out till I can put a cubic centimeter of synthetic diamond on a certain special lady's finger.

Or alternatively, find a special lady who finds the diamond trade and fashion to be despicable, thus eliminating the requirement entirely.

[Starglider]

Normally, you use whiskers of a material with good tensile strength, to strengthen a material which has poor tensile strength.

Please note that I have only minimal knowledge of materials science, so I am simply speculating here, as best I can from the papers I've read.

That said, while diamond is much better in compression than in tension, diamond whiskers are still vastly stronger in tension than steel is. According to the data I have, perfect diamond whiskers have a tensile (yield) strength of 10 MN/cm^2; compressive is 50 MN/cm^2 and sheer is about 12 MN/c^2. AFAIK a good steel alloy has a tensile strength in the region of 0.5 MN/cm^2; 1/20th the strength of the diamonds. So I would not be surprised if diamond whiskers could improve the tensile strength of steel by a factor of two to four. Carbon nanotubes can be up to three times stronger in tension than diamond, but they break down at relatively low temperatures (apparently 1000 to 2000 degrees C depending on conditions), whereas diamond can go up above 3000 degrees C before denaturing, so you can mix them with molten steel ok.

The actual diamondoid analogue of reinforced concrete would probably be something like a single-walled nanotube mesh in a crystalline diamond matrix, possibly allowing you to exceed 30 MN/cm^2 compressive and 20 MN/cm^2 tensile at the same time. That's the kind of material the nanotech people I know like to talk about making. Obviously things like that are a pipe dream at the moment, but progress like this does raise the hope of making this kind of material much sooner than we would've otherwise (i.e. without needing nanoassembly technology first).

[KrauserKrauser]

Just think, instead of the streets paved with gold in America, it will be Diamonds everywhere!

[Samuel]

Just think, instead of the streets paved with gold in America, it will be Diamonds everywhere!

Nah- friction will be a problem.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Not to mention getting at anything underneath a road would be a bitch and a half.

[Adrian Laguna]

Or alternatively, find a special lady who finds the diamond trade and fashion to be despicable, thus eliminating the requirement entirely.

That's my plan, sort of. Ideally any woman I'd be interested in marrying would not care to spend ridiculous amounts of money on shiny rocks that you can't wear daily anyway.

Though if diamond mass production takes off and brings their price way down, I might look into them more favourably. They are pretty, just not pretty enough to justify the expense.

[Starglider]

Nah- friction will be a problem.

I doubt it; simply apply an appropriately roughened and grooved (for rainwater) surface to the diamond. That could be excellent for grip (likely limited by maximum permissable tire wear more than anything else) and also very hard wearing.

[ArmorPierce]

Thought so, especially considering the dead scientists. I'd be amazed if proffesionals died because they were careless with the radiation. You would expect scientist to know the risks involved.

Scientists and engineers are human. They can succumb to the "oh, I've done this a thousand times before" stuff and get lazy sometimes. It doesn't happen very often, but it can, and does. Read some of the safety literature for radioisotopes, lasers, and those sorts of things. They're full of examples of what can happen (and has).

I recall a russian scienties that got a conentrated doese of radiation straight through the back of his head and made a hole through his head.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.12/science.html