In the early 80s, the diamond blade market developed as the process of laser welding diamond segments to a steel centre was introduced. This allowed laser-welded diamond products to be used without water on a wide range of masonry and construction materials for the first time, while maintaining speed of cut and product life compared with conventional abrasive blades.
Today, Flexovit has developed Infiltrated High Density Technology (i-HD™) which, combined with the patented laser welding process is a significant breakthrough in diamond tool technology. Research and development of i-HD™ has led to further improvements in blade performance, safer products, lower energy manufacturing needs and a wider availability of segment design.
Igor Giglio, World Director of Product Management and Strategy for Flexovit Construction Products comments, "The infiltration process applied to segment manufacturing is already known but we have applied an innovative manufacturing process that allows us to laser weld these special shaped segments on to the steel centre. We reach a much faster tool cutting speed, improved by +30% on average, with a very high and very uniform density across the whole segment that makes the product last at least 20% longer than those made by the standard process."
i-HD™ technology works by providing a uniform density across each whole segment without applying high pressure (as seen in the standard process). A special bond impregnates the core structure and binds the diamond grit into the segment. The diamond grit is an integral part of the segment structure.