A periodic expense encountered in high-pressure experimentation is replacement of the tungsten carbide core in the pressure cylinder. In a poorly-understood, non-linear way, core life is inversely proportional to pressure. Core life is often very long at 1.0-1.5 GPa, but relatively short (20 to 50 runs), at 4.0 GPa. However, cores have retained coherency for more than 100 runs at 2.5 GPa. Repair and reconditioning of pressure-plate cores is possible.
Routine experimentation costs include the material costs of furnace
assembly parts per experiment, exclusive of sample and container,
which typically ranges from $25 to $75, depending in the type of
thermocouple employed.
