Enhancing diamond drilling performance by the addition of non-ionic polymer to the flushing media

Drilling is a most important and crucial operation in the excavation industries.With the objective of looking into the enhancement of diamond drilling performance detailed laboratory investigations were carried out on phosphate rock.The effect of Poly（Ethylene Oxide）（PEO） added to the drilling water was studied by varying machine parameters and PEO concentration.The responses were rate of penetration and torque at the bit rock interface.Slake durability tests were also performed to understand the slaking behavior of phosphate rock in PEO solutions.

Research on Fe-based impregnated diamond drill bits strengthened by Nano-NbC and Nano-WC

In order to improve the matrix performance of impregnated diamond drill bit to better meet the drilling needs,the effects of the addition of nano-WC and nano-NbC particles on the matrix material together with the mechanical properties and microstructure of the diamond-matrix composite material of the Fe-based diamond drill bit were studied by using the method of uniform formula design,regression analysis and solution finding.An indoor drilling test was also carried out using the fabricated impregnated diamond drill bit.The results showed that after the addition of nano-NbC and nano-WC,the hardness and flexural strength of the matrix material got improved,as the flexural strength of the diamond composite material increased to 4.29%,the wear-resistance ratio increased to 8.75%,and the tighter the chemical bonding between the diamond and the matrix.This,indicates that the addition of nanoparticles has a positive significance in improving the performance of the diamond composite.The results of the drilling test showed that the mechanical drilling speed of the impregnated diamond drill bit after nanoparticle strengthening is 25.85%higher than that of the conventional drill bit,and the matrix wear was increased by 17.5%.It proves that nanoparticles can improve the drilling performance and efficiency of drill bit.

Nano-synthesis and nano-mechanics of diamond composites and its petroleum drilling applications

We perform synthesis, characterization, and application of nanostructured diamond composites. The enhancements of the thermomechanical performance of bulk diamond compacts in terms of hardness, fracture toughness, wear resistance, impact strength, and thermal stability are our project objectives. It is to aim at applying an advanced nanosynthesis process for the manufac-turing of superhard and ultratough diamond/SiC nanocomposites with the implementation of nanofiber reinforcement. The R&D re-sults can be used in multi-industrial applications, particularly, for drill bits designed to encounter dynamic impacts for high speed oil/gas drillings, thus to achieve high efficiency and energy saving. Science and technology (S&T) researches on precursors, cata-lyst, reactive sintering, and in-situ/real-time characterization of high P-T neutron/X-ray diffraction studies on phase stability, syn-thesis kinetics, residual strain, and yield strength have been applied to help optimizing the nanomanufacturing process. Our R&D ef-fort in high P-T nanosynthesis of TSP diamond/SiC composites is to achieve superior performance of nanomechanics in resisting dy-namic impact and thermal degradation, while still maintaining the super-hardness and super-abrasiveness of diamond and silicon-car-bide. The improved polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bit inserts for drilling, boring, and cutting will be applied in harsh envi-ronments so as to meet the demands of the mining, petroleum, and machinery industries. With success of the proposed project, the expected energy savings and reduction of CO2 emission will be significant and the economic advantages are going to be enormous.

Investigation of active vibration drilling using acoustic emission and cutting size analysis

This paper describes an investigation of active bit vibration on the penetration mechanisms and bit-rock interaction for drilling with a diamond impregnated coring bit. A series of drill-off tests(DOTs) were conducted where the drilling rate-of-penetration(ROP) was measured at a series of step-wise increasing static bit thrusts or weight-on-bits(WOBs). Two active DOTs were conducted by applying 60 Hz axial vibration at the bit-rock interface using an electromagnetic vibrating table mounted underneath the drilling samples, and a passive DOT was conducted where the bit was allowed to vibrate naturally with lower amplitude due to the compliance of the drilling sample mountings. During drilling, an acoustic emission(AE) system was used to record the AE signals generated by the diamond cutter penetration and the cuttings were collected for grain size analysis. The instrumented drilling system recorded the dynamic motions of the bit-rock interface using a laser displacement sensor, a load cell, and an LVDT(linear variable differential transformer) recorded the dynamic WOB and the ROP, respectively. Calibration with the drilling system showed that rotary speed was approximately the same at any given WOB, facilitating comparison of the results at the same WOB. Analysis of the experimental results shows that the ROP of the bit at any given WOB increased with higher amplitude of axial bit-rock vibration, and the drill cuttings increased in size with a higher ROP. Spectral analysis of the AEs indicated that the higher ROP and larger cutting size were correlated with a higher AE energy and a lower AE frequency. This indicated that larger fractures were being created to generate larger cutting size. Overall, these results indicate that a greater magnitude of axial bit-rock vibration produces larger fractures and generates larger cuttings which, at the same rotary speed, results in a higher ROP.

Fabrication and Drilling Tests of Chemical Vapor Deposition Diamond Coated Drills in Machining Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond coated drills are fabricated by depositing diamond films on Co-cemented tungsten carbide (WC-Co) drills. The characteristics of as-deposited diamond coatings are investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Raman spectra. To evaluate the cutting performance of diamond coated drills, comparative drilling tests are conducted using diamond coated and uncoated WC-Co drills, with carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs) as the workpiece on a high-speed computer numerical control (CNC) machine. Thrust force and tool wear are measured during the drilling process. The results show that diamond coated drill exhibits better cutting performance, compared with the uncoated drill. The value of flank wear is about 70 μm after machining 90 holes, about a half of that of the WC-Co drill with 145 μm after drilling only 30 holes. The wear rate of WC-Co drill is higher than that of diamond coated drill before diamond films peeling off. The diamond coated drill achieves more predictable hole quality. The improved cutting performance of the diamond coated drill is due to the high hardness, wear resistance and low coefficient of friction.