PDC Drill Bit Design Improvement using Reverse Engineering Method to Analyze Effect on Rate of Penetration

• Main Author: Ismail, Mohamad Zamri
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS 2013
• Subjects: T Technology (General)
• Online Access: http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/13917/1/Final%20Report%20Zamri_PE_13142.pdf; http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/13917/

In the petroleum industry, drilling is one of the most important aspects due to the economics. Reduction in drilling time is required to minimize the cost of operations. This study focuses on the Polycrystalline Diamond Compact (PDC) drill bit which is categorized as fixed cutter of drilling bit. Problem such as wear and tear of PDC cutter is one of the main factor in drilling process failure and this would affect the rate of penetration. Thus, an intensive study in drill bit design would save a lot of money if the efficiency of drill bit can be improved. The objective of this project is to improve the design of PDC cutter and study the effect of design improvement to the rate of penetration. Reverse engineering (RE) method will be used to study the design and analyse the effect of the design to performance of the drill bit. Due to unavailable drill bit blueprint from the manufacturer due to propriety and confidential, RE non-contact data acquisition device, 3D laser scanner will be used to obtain cloud data of worn drill bit. Computer Aided Design (CAD) software is used to convert cloud data of the PDC drill bit into 3D CAD model. Optimization of PDC Drill bit is focused on feature design such as back rake angle, side rake angle and number of cutters. CAE software is used to analyse the effect of the design feature modification to rate of penetration. The results show rate of penetration increase as the angle of both rake angle and number of cutter decrease.