Experimental investigation on the cuttings formation process and its relationship with cutting force in single PDC cutter tests

The single polycrystalline diamond compact(PDC)cutter test is widely used to investigate the mecha-nism of rock-breaking.The generated cuttings and cutting force are important indexes reflecting the rock failure process.However,they were treated as two separate parameters in previous publications.In this study,through a series of rock block cutting tests,the relationship between them was investigated to obtain an in-depth understanding of the formation of cuttings.In addition,to validate the standpoints obtained in the aforementioned experiments,rock sheet cutting tests were conducted and the rock failure process was monitored by a high-speed camera frame by frame.The cutting force was recorded with the same sampling rate as the camera.By this design,every sampled point of cutting force can match a picture captured by the camera,which reflects the interaction between the rock and the cutter.The results indicate that the increase in cutting depth results in a transition of rock failure modes.At shallow cutting depth,ductile failure dominates and all the cuttings are produced by the compression of the cutter.The corresponding cutting force fluctuates slightly.However,beyond the critical depth,brittle failure occurs and chunk-like cuttings appear,which leads to a sharp decrease in cutting force.After that,the generation of new surface results in a significant decrease in actual cutting depth,a parameter proposed to reflect the interaction between the rock and the cutter.Consequently,ductile failure dominates again and a slight fluctuation of cutting force can be detected.As the cutter moves to the rock,the actual cutting depth gradually increases,which results in the subsequent generation of chunk-like cuttings.It is accompanied by an obvious cutting force drop.That is,ductile failure and brittle failure,one following another,present at large cutting depth.The transition of rock failure mode can be correlated with the variation of cutting force.Based on the results of this paper,the real-time monitoring of torque may be helpful to determine the efficiency of PDc bits in the downhole.

Performances of a Stinger PDC cutter breaking granite: Cutting force and mechanical specific energy in single cutter tests

The Stinger PDC cutter has high rock-breaking efficiency and excellent impact and wear resistance, which can significantly increase the rate of penetration (ROP) and extend PDC bit life for drilling hard and abrasive formation. The knowledge of force response and mechanical specific energy (MSE) for the Stinger PDC cutter is of great importance for improving the cutter's performance and optimizing the hybrid PDC bit design. In this paper, 87 single cutter tests were conducted on the granite. A new method for precisely obtaining the rock broken volume was proposed. The influences of cutting depth, cutting angle, and cutting speed on cutting force and MSE were analyzed. Besides, a phenomenological cutting force model of the Stinger PDC cutter was established by regression of experimental data. Moreover, the surface topography and fracture morphology of the cutting groove and large size cuttings were measured by a 3D profilometer and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Finally, the rock-breaking mechanism of the Stinger PDC cutter was illustrated. The results indicated that the cutting depth has the greatest influence on the cutting force and MSE, while the cutting speed has no obvious effects, especially at low cutting speeds. As the increase of cutting depth, the cutting force increases linearly, and MSE reduces with a quadratic polynomial relationship. When the cutting angle raises from 10° to 30°, the cutting force increases linearly, and the MSE firstly decreases and then increases. The optimal cutting angle for breaking rock is approximately 20°. The Stinger PDC cutter breaks granite mainly by high concentrated point loading and tensile failure, which can observably improve the rock breaking efficiency. The key findings of this work will help to reveal the rock-breaking mechanisms and optimize the cutter arrangement for the Stinger PDC cutter.

Effects of mineralogical composition on uniaxial compressive strengths of sedimentary rocks

Figuring out rock strength plays essential roles in the sub ground mining activities,such as oil and gas well drilling and hydraulic fracturing,coal mining,tunneling,and other civil engineering scenarios.To help understand the effects of the mineralogical composition on evaluating the rock strength,this research tries to establish indirect prediction models of rock strength by specific input mineral contents for common sedimentary rocks.Using rock samples collected from the outcrops in the Sichuan Basin,uniaxial compression tests have been conducted to sandstone,carbonate,and shale cores.Combining with statistical analysis,the experimental data prove it true that the mineralogical composition can be utilized to predict the rock strength under specific conditions but the effects of mineralogical composition on the rock strength highly depend on the rock lithologies.According to the statistical analysis results,the predicted values of rock strengths by the mineral contents can get high accuracies in sandstone and carbonate rocks while no evidences can be found in shale rocks.The best indicator for predicting rock strength should be the quartz content for the sandstone rocks and the dolomite content for the carbonate rocks.Especially,to improve the evaluation accuracy,the rock strengths of sandstones can be obtained by substituting the mineral contents of quartz and clays,and those of carbonates can be calculated by the mineral contents of dolomite and calcite.Noticeably,the research data point out a significant contrast of quartz content in evaluating the rock strength of the sandstone rocks and the carbonate rocks.Increasing quartz content helps increase the sandstone strength but decrease the carbonate strength.As for shale rocks,no relationship exists between the rock strength and the mineralogical composition(e.g.,the clay fractions).To provide more evidences,detailed discussion also provides the readers more glances into the framework of the rock matrix,which can be further studied in the future.These findings can help understand the effects of mineralogical composition on the rock strengths,explain the contrasts in the rock strength of the responses to the same mineral content(e.g.,the quartz content),and provide another indirect method for evaluating the rock strength of common sedimentary rocks.

Experimental studies on rock failure mechanisms under impact load by single polycrystalline diamond compact cutter

Percussive drilling shows excellent potential for promoting the rate of penetration(ROP)in drilling hard formations.Polycrystalline diamond compact(PDC)bits account for most of the footage drilled in the oil and gas fields.To reveal the rock failure mechanisms under the impact load by PDC bits,a series of drop tests with a single PDC cutter were conducted to four kinds of rocks at different back rake angles,drop heights,drop mass,and drop times.Then the morphology characteristics of the craters were obtained and quantified by using a three-dimensional profilometer.The fracture micrographs can be observed by using scanning electron microscope(SEM).The distribution and propagation process of subsurface cracks were captured in rock-like silica glass by a high-speed photography system.The results can indicate that percussive drilling has a higher efficiency and ROP when the rock fractures in brittle mode.The failure mode of rock is related with the type of rock,the impact speed,and the back rake angle of the cutter.Both the penetration depth and fragmentation volume get the maximum values at a back rake angle of about 45°.Increasing the weight and speed of falling hammer is beneficial to improving the rock breaking effects and efficiency.The subsurface cracks under the impact load by a single PDC cutter is shaped like a clamshell,and its size is much larger than the crater volume.These findings can help to shed light on the rock failure mechanisms under the impact of load by a single PDC cutter and provide a theoretical explanation for better field application of percussive drilling.

Investigations into the coiled tubing partial underbalanced drilling (CT-PUBD)technique for drilling hard formations

To improve the rate of penetration(ROP) in drilling deep and hard formations, this paper proposes a new drilling method called coiled tubing partial underbalanced drilling(CT-PUBD). As a preliminary investigation into the new drilling method, this paper presents predictions of hole cleaning efficiency, drilling speed, cuttings migration and pressure loss in the drilling process with CT-PUBD. Based on numerical simulation and full-scale experimental studies, we conclude that using CT-PUBD, an underbalanced drilling condition can be achieved near the bit while maintaining wellbore safety at the same time. This condition can be achieved using a cuttings discharge device, a rotary packer and a backflow controller.According to the numerical simulations performed in this study, CT-PUBD can achieve high efficiency of hole cleaning.Along the cuttings migration process, the fluid velocities can reach the maximum values in the backflow holes. A full-scale laboratory experimental system was used to test the hydraulic characteristics and obtain the drilling performance of the new technology. The result shows that CT-PUBD significantly improves the ROP compared to the conventional drilling method.