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Wide varieties of roller cone bits are available. They provide optimum performance in
specific formations and/or particular drilling environments. Modern drill bits incorporate
significantly different cutting structures and use vastly improved materials, resulting in
improved bit efficiency. Manufacturers work closely with drilling companies to collect
information about their bits to identify opportunities for design improvements.
Contents
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5 Materials design
5.1 Inserts and wear-resistant hard-facing materials
Provide stable and vibration-free operation at the intended rotational speed and
weight on bit (WOB).
To achieve these goals, bit designers consider several factors. Among these are:
Hydraulic arrangements.
Cone configurations
Cutting structures
Applied WOB
Rotary speed
Hydraulic arrangements
Also of critical importance in bit performance and design are environmental factors, such as:
Engineers consider these factors for all designs, and every design should begin with close
cooperation between the designer and the drilling company to ensure that all applicable
inputs contribute to the design.
Design activities are focused principally on four general areas:
Hydraulic requirements
The dimensions of a bit at the gauge (outside diameter) and pin (arrangement for
attachment to a drillstem) are fixed, usually by industry standards, and resultant design
dimensions always accommodate them (Fig 1).
Hardenability
Impact resistance
Machineability
Cutting structure designs provide efficient penetration of the formation(s) to be drilled and
accurately cut gauge. The importance of bearing reliability in roller-cone bits cannot be
understated. In an operational sense, bearings, seals, and lubrication arrangements function
as a unit, and their designs are closely interrelated. Bearing systems must function normally
when:
Hydraulic configurations are designed to efficiently remove cuttings from cutting structure
and bottomhole and then evacuate cuttings to the surface.
Journal angle
Journal angle describes an angle formed by a line perpendicular to the axis of a bit and the
axis of the bits leg journal. Journal angle is usually the first element in a roller-cone bit
design. It optimizes bit insert (or tooth) penetration into the formation being drilled; generally,
bits with relatively small journal angles are best suited for drilling in softer formations, and
those with larger angles perform best in harder formations.
Cone offset
To increase the skidding-gouging action, bit designers generate additional working force by
offsetting the centerlines of the cones so that they do not intersect at a common point on the
bit. This cone offset is defined as the horizontal distance between the axis of a bit and the
vertical plane through the axis of its journal. Offset forces a cone to turn within the limits of
the hole rather than on its own axis. Offset is established by moving the centerline of a cone
away from the centerline of the bit in such a way that a vertical plane through the cone
centerline is brllel to the vertical centerline of the bit. Basic cone geometry is directly affected
by increases or decreases in either journal or offset angles, and a change in one of the two
requires a compensating change in the other. Skidding-gouging improves penetration in soft
and medium formations at the expense of increased insert or tooth wear. In abrasive
formations, offset can reduce cutting structure service life to an impractical level. Bit
designers thus limit the use of offset so that results just meet requirements for formation
penetration.
Penetration
Impact
Abrasion
With borehole diameter and knowledge of formation requirements, the designer selects
structurally satisfactory cutting elements (steel teeth or Tungsten Carbide Inserts (TCIs)) that
provide an optimum insert/tooth pattern for efficient drilling of the formation.
Factors that must be considered to design an efficient insert/tooth and establish an
advantageous bottomhole pattern include:
Journal angle
Insert/tooth material
Insert/tooth count
Insert/tooth spacing
When these requirements have been satisfied, remaining space is allocated between
insert/tooth contour and cutting structure geometry to best suit the formation.
In general, the physical appearance of cutting structures designed for soft, medium, and
hard formations can readily be recognized by the length and geometric arrangement of their
cutting elements.
Fig. 3Cutting structure for soft (left) and hard (right) formations.
Table 1-Interrelationship Between Inserts, Teeth, Hydraulic Requirements, And The Formation
Formation and cuttings removal influence cutting structure design. Soft, low-compressivestrength formations require long, sharp, and widely spaced inserts/teeth. Penetration rate in
this type of formation is partially a function of insert/tooth length, and maximum insert/tooth
depth must be used. Limits for maximum insert/tooth length are dictated by minimum
requirements for cone-shell thickness and bearing-structure size. Insert/tooth spacing must
be sufficiently large to ensure efficient fluid flows for cleaning and cuttings evacuation.
Requirements for hard, high-compressive-strength formation bits are usually the direct
opposite of those for soft-formation types. Inserts are shallow, heavy, and closely spaced.
Because of the abrasiveness of most hard formations and the chipping action associated
with drilling of hard formations, the teeth must be closely spaced (Fig. 4). This close spacing
distributes loading widely to minimize insert/tooth wear rates and to limit lateral loading on
individual teeth. At the same time, inserts are stubby and milled tooth angles are large to
withstand the heavy WOB loadings required to overcome the formations compressive
strength. Close spacing often limits the size of inserts/teeth.
Fig. 4Comparison of softer IADC 427y (left) and harder 837Y (right) cutting structures
Materials design
Materials properties are a crucial aspect of roller-cone bit performance. Components must
be resistant to abrasive wear, erosion, and impact loading. The eventual performance and
longevity results for a bit take into account several metallurgical characteristics, such as:
Weldability
Machineability
Physical properties for bit components are contingent on the raw material from which a
component is constructed, the way the material has been processed, and the type of heat
treatment that has been applied. Steels used in roller-cone bit components are all melted to
exacting chemistries, cleanliness, and interior properties. All are wrought because of grain
structure refinements obtained by the rolling process. Most manufacturers begin with forged
blanks for both cones and legs, because of further refinement and orientation of
microstructure that result from the forging process.
Structural requirements and the need for abrasion and erosion resistance are different for
roller-cone bit legs and cones. Predictably, the materials from which these components are
constructed are normally matched to the special needs of the component. Furthermore,
different sections of a component often require different physical properties. Leg journal
sections, for example, require high hardenabilities that resist wear from bearing loads,
whereas the upper portion of legs are configured to provide high tensile strengths that can
support large structural loads.
Roller-cone bit legs and cones are manufactured from low-alloy steels. Legs are made of a
material that is easily machinable before heat treatment, is weldable, has high tensile
strength, and can be hardened to a relatively high degree. Cones are made from materials
that can be easily machined when soft, are weldable when soft, and can be case hardened
to provide higher resistance to abrasion and erosion.
metallurgically bonded with binder, there is no porosity at boundaries between the binder
and grains of tungsten carbide, and the cermets are less susceptible to damage by shear
and shock.
Particle shape
Particle distribution
As a generalization, increasing binder content for a given tungsten carbide grain size will
cause hardness to decrease and fracture toughness to increase. Conversely, increasing
tungsten carbide grain size affects both hardness and toughness. Smaller tungsten carbide
particle size and less binder content produce higher hardness, higher compressive strength,
and better wear resistance. In general, cermet grades are developed in a range in which
hardness and toughness vary oppositely with changes in either particle size or binder
content. In any case, subtle variations in tungsten carbide content, size distribution, and
porosity can markedly affect material performance (Fig. 5).
high operating temperatures. Variations in the way that drilling is accomplished and rock
formation properties govern the shape and grade of the correct TCIs to be selected.
The shape and grade of TCIs are influenced by their respective location on a cone. Inner
rows of inserts function differently from outer rows. Inner rows have relatively lower rotational
velocities about both the cone and bit axes. As a result, they have a natural tendency to
gouge and scrape rather than roll. Inner insert rows generally use softer, tougher insert
grades that best withstand crushing, gouging, and scraping actions. Gauge inserts are
commonly constructed of harder, more wear-resistant tungsten carbide grades that best
withstand severe abrasive wear. It is thus seen that requirements at different bit locations
dictate different insert solutions. A large variety of insert geometries, sizes, and grades
through which bit performance can be optimized are available to the designer (Fig. 6) [2].
Fig. 6Typical insert types (height in. but varies with bit size).
When diamond-enhanced inserts are designed, higher diamond densities increase impact
resistance and ability to economically penetrate abrasive formations. Increased diamond
density increases insert cost, however. In the past, diamond-enhanced inserts have been
available only in symmetrical shapes. The first of these was the semiround top insert. Today,
some manufacturers have developed processes that make it possible to produce complex
diamond-enhanced insert shapes.
Tungsten carbide hard facing
Hard-facing materials are designed to provide wear resistance (abrasion, erosion, and
impact) for the bit (Fig. 7). To be effective, hard facing must be resistant to loss of material
by flaking, chipping, and bond failure with the bit. Hard facing provides wear protection on
the lower (shirttail) area of all roller-cone bit legs and as a cutting structure material on
milled-tooth bits (Fig. 8).
Hard facing is commonly installed manually by welding. A hollow steel tube containing
appropriately sized grains of tungsten carbide is held in a flame until it melts. The resulting
molten steel bonds, through surface melting, with the bit feature being hard faced. In the
process, tungsten carbide grains flow as a solid, with molten steel from the rod, onto the bit.
The steel then solidifies around the tungsten carbide particles, firmly attaching them to the
bit.
Two-cone bits
The origin of two-cone bit designs lies in the distant past of rotary drilling. The first rollercone patent, issued in August 1909, covered a two-cone bit. As with monocone bits, twocone bits have available space for larger bearings and rotate at lower speeds than threecone bits. Bearing life and seal life for a particular bit diameter are greater than for
comparable three-cone bits. Two-cone bits, although not common, are available and perform
well in special applications (Fig 9). Their advantages cause this design to persist, and
designers have never completely lost interest in them.
The cutting action of two-cone bits is similar to that of three-cone bits, but fewer inserts
simultaneously contact the hole bottom. Penetration per insert is enhanced, providing
particularly beneficial results in applications in which capabilities to place WOB are limited.
The additional space available in two-cone designs has several advantages. It is possible to
have large cone offset angles that produce increased scraping action at the gauge. Space
also enables excellent hydraulic characteristics through room for placement of nozzles very
close to bottom. It also allows the use of large inserts that can extend bit life and efficiency.
Two-cone bits have a tendency to bounce and vibrate. This characteristic is a concern for
directional drilling. Because of this concern and advances in three-cone bearing life and
cutting structures, two-cone bits do not currently have many clear advantages. As with many
roller-cone bit designs, however, modern materials and engineering capabilities may resolve
problems and again underscore their recognized advantages.
References
1. Bentson, H.G., and Smith Intl. Inc. 1956. Roller-Cone Bit Design. Los Angeles,
California: API Division of Production, Pacific Coast District.
2. Portwood, G., Boktor, B., Munger, R. et al. 2001. Development of Improved
Performance Roller Cone Bits for Middle Eastern Carbonate Drilling Applications.
Presented at the SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference, Bahrain,
22-24 October. SPE-72298-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/72298-MS.
3. Keshavan, M.K., Siracki, M.A., and Russell, M.E. 1993. Diamond-Enhanced Insert:
New Compositions and Shapes for Drilling Soft-to-Hard Formations. Presented at
the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 22-25 February. SPE25737-MS.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/25737-MS.
4. Salesky, W.J. and Payne, B.R. 1987. Preliminary Field Test Results of DiamondEnhanced Inserts for Three-Cone Rock Bits. Presented at the SPE/IADC Drilling
Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, 15-18 March. SPE-16115MS.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/16115-MS.
5. Salesky, W.J., Swinson, J.R., and Watson, A.O. 1988. Offshore Tests of DiamondEnhanced Rock Bits. Presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and
Exhibition, Houston, Texas, 2-5 October. SPE-18039MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/18039-MS.
See also
Rotary drill bits
Roller cone bit components
Roller cone bit classification
PEH:Introduction to Roller-Cone and Polycrystalline Diamond Drill Bits
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