Effects of drilling parameters on delamination of kenaf-glass fibre reinforced unsaturated polyester composites

Drilling is a secondary material removal and usually carried out to facilitate fastening of parts together. Drilling of composite materials is not usually a problem-free process. Issues related to delamination composite laminates need to be addressed because it introduces the stress concentration point on the composite. This study focussed on the influence of process parameters such as spindle speed, feed rate, type of drill bits and geometry on the extend of delamination experienced by the composite during the drilling process of kenaf-glass fibre-reinforced unsaturated polyester composite, and the delamination measurements were taken under a microscope. Taguchi methods and analysis of variance were employed to find the optimal parameters. From the results, the most significant parameter was the feed rate. The minimum delamination was achieved when the feed rate was 0.05 mm/rev and spindle speed was 700r/min using both types of drill bits. The quality of the drill hole using the twist drill bit has been proven to be better than the brad drill bit.

New Catalyst-Free Polycrystalline Diamond with Industry-Record Wear Resistance

PDC drill bits are the primary drilling tools for oil and gas in most of formations. In a PDC drill bit, PDC cutters are key cutting components to engage with these formations. However, there is often a big challenge for today's PDC drill bits when drilling very hard and abrasive formation. The main weakness in the PDC cutter is due to the unavoidable use of metallic catalyst which is used to bond the diamond grains in the PDC cutters. The thermal expansion of the metallic catalysts resulting from high frictional heat at the cutter/rock interface during drilling operation is higher than that of diamond grains, causing the thermal stress between the metallic catalyst and diamond grain which can break the PDC cutter. Therefore, development of catalyst-free PDC cutters would be a game-changing technology for drill bit by delivering significant increase in performance, durability, and drilling economics. In this study, an innovative ultra-high pressure and ultra-high temperature technology was developed with ultra-high pressures up to 35 GPa, much higher than current PDC cutter technology. We report a new type of catalyst-free PDC cutting material, synthesized under one of conditions using ultra-high pressure of 16 GPa. The new material breaks all single-crystal-diamond indenters in Vickers hardness testing which sets a new world record as the hardest diamond material as of today. Also, the material shows the highest thermal stability in the family of diamonds in air at 1,200°C, which is about 600 °C higher than current PDC cutters. As a consequence of these superior properties, this new material exhibited industry-recorded wear resistance, which is four times of that of current PDC cutters. All of these achievements demonstrated a breakthrough in PDC cutter technology development and presented a feasibility for the goal of "One-Run-To-TD" game-changing drilling technology.

Experimental Archaeology Study on the Drilling Techniques of Neolithic Stone Bracelet from Purbalingga

The stone bracelet is a neolithic artifact crafted by drilling techniques. Traces of stone bracelet workshop activities in Central Java were found in Purbalingga, which is spread across the North Serayu Mountains between Kali Tungtunggunung and Kali Laban. This study is based on the previous research hypothesis, which states that the manufacture of stone bracelets is carried out by drilling techniques using bamboo wulung (Gigantochloa atroviolacea). This study aims to prove this hypothesis. An experimental archaeological approach by conducting drilling experiments using several drill bits: iron drills, masonry/concrete iron drills, iron drills for natural stone, and bamboo drills. Meanwhile, the abrasive materials used are water, river sand, and quartz sand. The analysis was carried out by comparing the morphological and morphometric traces of the workings between artifacts and experimental results, based on microscopic observations with a magnification of 20x to 200x. Compared to the other drilling bits and abrasive materials, the experimental study revealed that bamboo drill bits, with quartz-sand and water as additional gritty material, showed the closest similarity.

Investigation of Drilling Process Parameters of Palmyra Based Composite

The drilling process is the most essential in the final assembly of the mechanical parts. Natural fiber based composites replace traditional materials due to their advantages, such as strength to weight ratio, availability, and environmental hazards. In this work, an attempt has been made to find the minimum thrust force produced by the drill tool at specified drilling process parameters. The drilling process parameters used for the investigation are rotational speed, tool feed, and resins. The spindle speed and feed rate are selected with three levels. Three resin materials were used, namely, epoxy, polyester, and vinyl ester. Taguchi’s L27 orthogonal array was implemented. The result shows that the candlestick drill bit generated lesser thrust force at the specified drilling process parameters, followed by the twist and step cone drill bits.

Improvement of Tool Life of a Commercial Drill Bits by Cryogenic Treatment While Machining Widmanstatten Ti-6Al-4V.

In this study, the performance of Ø 8 mm WC-Co (10%) drill bits with a TiAlN coating was tested for machining of Ti6Al4V alloy with a Widmanstatten structure. In order to improve the tool life, cutting tools were subjected to deep cryogenic treatment. In total, three groups of tools were prepared for this study. The first group was used for reference as the supplied state; the second group was subjected to 24 hours deep cryogenic treatment at -196 ° C, and the third group was subjected to 24 hours deep cryogenic at -196 ° C, additionally was tempered 2 hours at 200 ° C. Machining experiments were done by drilling and a set of 60 holes were drilled with each drill bit, and tool wear were observed and recorded with a stereo microscope. Additionally, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) analyses were carried on to understand the tool wear better. The microhardness of Cryo-treated and tempered cutting tools hardness increased up to 20 Hv (about 1%), and the toughness value did not change significantly. Cutting performance was observed by measuring the cutting forces during drilling experiments. According to these results, deep cryogenic treatment on WC-Co-based inserts decreased cutting forces by approximately 7% compared to the reference drill bit, which affected the cutting tool life. The dominant wear mechanism was Built-up edge (BUE) formation, and cryo-treatment lowered the BUE amount 8% and cryo-treated and tempered drill bit 45% compared to the reference drill bit.

Kinetic criteria for evaluating the performance of roller-cone drill bits

Research objective is to work out a method of evaluating the performance of roller-cone drill bits by kinetic criteria. Introduction. It is difficult to determine the absolute criteria for the performance of rock cutting tools. Therefore, the relative values of wear resistance of the cutting structure of roller-cone bits and their relative mechanical rates of drilling are adopted as process criteria. Methods of research. The calculation and analysis of kinetic criteria for evaluating the performance of drill bits have significant differences. Taking them into account is important when studying various modifications of rock cutting tools. The set of kinetic criteria gives a picture of the relative performance of the bit using the model of the well bottom close to the real one. The set of kinetic characteristics (criteria) is conventionally called the kinetic datasheet of the drill bit. The key points of constructing an analytical model of the drill bit operation on the deformable well bottom have been considered. Scope of results. This technique provides for a comparative evaluation of roller-cone drill bits of various modifications, allows for finding feedback, i.e. searching for the appropriate combination of geometrical parameters of the rock cutting tool according to given kinetic characteristics. The versatile approach intended for use in the study of the performance of rock cutting tools allows the most complete and accurate evaluation of the influence of one factor or another on the final result.

Comparative Analysis of Drilling Behaviour of Synthetic and Natural Fiber-Based Composites

For comparison, the drilling behaviour of abaca fiber-reinforced polymer (AFRP) composites and Kevlar-reinforced epoxy polymer (KFRP) composites has been studied in the specified experimental condition. The different geometrical drilling tools have been used for the investigation, namely, candlestick (T1), core (T2), standard twist drill (T3), and step cone (T4). The tool feed of 30, 45, and 60 m/min and rotational speed of 1000, 1500, and 2000 rpm have been used for the investigation. The thrust force is chosen as a response parameter for this study. The results revealed that, at lesser rotational speed and tool feed, the thrust force has declined. The result obtained correlates with the abaca fiber-based systems. However, the thrust force of KFRP is higher compared to AFRP composite systems. The axial force generated by candlestick drill is minimal compared to the other drill bits. The following may be responsible for lower thrust force: (1) the axial force distributes circumferential of the cutting tool instead of focusing at the center and (2) the interfacial adhesiveness between the matrix and the fiber is higher. The optimization of drilling process parameters, namely, tool feed and rotational speed on thrust force, has been studied. The results reveal that the tool feed contributed more to axial force compared to rotational speed.

HDD by Intersection Technique (Case Study): A Novel Approach

Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) is a trenchless construction technique used extensively in the installation of pipeline carrying hydrocarbons, water, sewage, cables etc., across obstructions where conventional trench and lay method or jacking-boring method cannot be suitably applied. HDD technique also minimises the impact of installation activities in densely populated and ecologically sensitive areas. HDD technique, however, has its inherent shortcomings which render it unsuitable in many real-world scenarios. The torque available at the mud-motor for driving and steering of the drill is fairly reduced for long length crossings. Also, maintaining the directional control of the drill bit becomes increasingly difficult for such long crossings. These shortcomings can be overcome using “Intersect Technique” by utilising electromagnetic steering technology for precise real-time tracking, wherein pilot holes are drilled from both ends using two separate drilling arrangements. On reaching the predefined intersection range, a virtual handshake between the drill bits is achieved. Thereafter, the primary rig continues the bore to the end of the design path to reach at the secondary rig side. The present case study discusses at length the execution of HDD crossing of 18”- 2523 metre multi-product pipeline alongwith 6” CS conduit for OFC of M/s BPCL across the Thane-Vashi Creek in Mumbai, India. The length of the crossing combined with the presence of numerous pipelines of various operators made the execution of this pipeline crossing by “Intersection Technique” as the most suitable methodology. The pipeline was laid at an average depth of 15 m below the lowest creek bed level in geology which primarily included weathered basalt rock. The pilot hole for the crossing was completed utilising ParaTrack® drilling guidance and tracking system.

Dull Bit Grading Using Video Intelligence

Although visual data analytics using image processing is one of the most growing research areas today and is largely applied in many fields, it is not fully utilized in the petroleum industry. This study is inspired by medical image segmentation in detecting tumor cells. This paper uses a supervised Machine Learning technique through video analytics to identify bit dullness that can be used in the drilling industry in place of the subjective screening approach. The evaluation of bit performance can be affected by subjective evaluation of the degree of dullness. The present approach of using video analytics is able to grade bit dullness to avoid user subjectivity. The approach involves the use of datasets in good quantity and quality by separating them into training datasets, testing datasets, and validation datasets. Due to the large datasets, Google Collaboratory was used as it provides access to its Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) online for the processing of the bit datasets. The processing time and resource consumption are minimized using Google GPU. Using the Google GPU resources, the procedure is automated without any installation. After the bit is pulled out and cleaned, a video is taken around and up and down in 360°. Further, it is compared against the green bit. By this approach, multiple video datasets are not required. The algorithm was validated with new sets of bit videos and the results were satisfactory. The identification of the dullness or otherwise of each screened bit is done with the aid of a bounding box with a stamp of a level of confidence (range 0.5–1) and the algorithm assigns for its decision on the identified or screened object. This method is also able to screen multiple bits stored in a single place. In an event where several drill bits are to be screened, manual grading will be a huge task and will require a lot of resources. This model and algorithm will take a few minutes to screen and provide grading for several bits while videos are passed through the algorithm. It has also been found that the grading with the video was much better than the single image as the contextual information extracted are much higher at the level of the entire video, per segment, per shot, and per frame. Also, methodology is made robust so that the video model test starts successfully without error. The time penalty for the processing is fast and it took less time for a single video screening. The work developed here is probably the first to handle the dull bit grading using video analytics. With more of these datasets available, the future automation of the IADC bit characterization will soon evolve into an automated process.