Presently, there are no methods for calculating the parameters of the drilling practices with rock-cutting tools equipped with polycrystalline diamond composite (PDC cutters). To create such a method requires the studying their work. The article presents the results of bench studies of the PDC cutters in the process of a rock sample breakdown when reproducing the actual layout of the cutters on the working surface of the bit. An important parameter of PDC cutters operation, which is necessary for the bit load analysis, is the pressure of the cutters on the rock during its breakdown. The total pressure of a cutter on the rock can be broken into two mutually perpendicular components: the forcing pressure and the cutting pressure. It is proposed to evaluate the PDC cutters loading at breakage of rocks of different hardness using relative values of forcing and cutting pressures, which are calculated relative to the yield strength of the rock by the die. It is established that the variability of the average relative pressures of forcing and cutting is significantly influenced by drifting per bit turnover and the radius of the cutter on the bit. The dependences of the maximum relative pressures of PDC cutters at the plastic-brittle rock breakdown on the drifting per bit turnover and the radius of the cutter location on the bit are obtained. It has been established that when drifting up to 0.4 mm per turn, the main mechanism of breakdown is cutting, and with the increase of the breakdown depth, the process of forcing becomes decisive.
