(cBN-TiC)-austempered ductile iron (ADI) and (cBN-TiC)-Si wafer static interaction experiments were run in the temperature range of 1000-1100 degrees C under argon for a holding time of 60 min and a pressure of 200 MPa. A scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis system was used for the characterisation of the interaction interfaces obtained thereafter. Diffusion of Fe from the ADI into the TiC matrix of the cBN-TiC cutting tool and its re-precipitation therein as well as diffusion of Ti and N from the cBN-TiC cutting tool into the ADI and their re-precipitation therein as Ti(CxN1-x)(y) were evident. The precipitation of Ti(CxN1-x)(y) revealed a slight interaction of cBN grains with ADI relative to the interaction with the TiC matrix. Precipitation of Ti(CxN1-x)(y) and Fe3C in the ADI strongly indicated depletion in Si close to the interface and thus evidence of Si diffusion into the (cBN-TiC) cutting tool. This diffusion was substantiated from the (cBN-TiC)-Si wafer static interaction experiments, where strong indications of diffusion of Si into the TiC matrix and its re-precipitation therein as SiC1-x were seen. The latter interaction experiments also displayed comprehensively the outward diffusion of Ti from the cBN-TiC cutting tool and its re-precipitation as a metastable TiSi4-x phase in the Si wafer. The surface and subsurface micro- and nano-cracks, high grain boundary area and lattice defects within the cBN-TiC cutting tool, and most importantly the non-stoichiometry of the TiC matrix, would play a significant role in all of these interactions. The same would be true for the chemical composition of the ADI as well as the quality of contact between species at the interaction interfaces. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.