Particle Dynamics Simulation of Percussive Drilling

Particle dynamics method is used to simulate material fracture during the drilling process. The drilled substance is approximated by set of particles representing grains of the material. Advanced lows of interparticle interaction allow simulating wide range of the material properties. Calculation is performed by integration of the classic Newtonian equations of motion for each particle, that allows to observe plastic deformation, material fracture and crack formation as a simple corollary of the dynamics equations. The presented method allows replacing expensive experiments with much faster and flexible computer simulation. Results obtained in small-scale experiments with the use of the computer methods can be extended to predict results of macro-scale experiments.

To illustrate the particle simulation method a small animation showing computer model of the downhole drilling process is presented. The computer simulation shows drilling with a traditional hammer bit, but with percussive enhancement. From the simulation it can be clearly seen, how periodic impacts increase the material fracture. The blue colour in the animation specifies cross-section of the hammer bit, which has an axial channel used for debris removal; grey colour specifies the rock being drilled.

Choose MPG simulation: small (545 kB) or full (2.7 MB)

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