Accepted Manuscript

A novel method for measuring and analyzing the interaction between drill bit
and rock

Xu Wang, Zhenquan Wang, Deguo Wang, Lin Chai

PII: S0263-2241(18)30144-1
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2018.02.045
Reference: MEASUR 5293

To appear in: Measurement

Received Date: 19 October 2017

Accepted Date: 21 February 2018

Please cite this article as: X. Wang, Z. Wang, D. Wang, L. Chai, A novel method for measuring and analyzing the
interaction between drill bit and rock, Measurement (2018), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.
2018.02.045

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A novel method for measuring and analyzing the
interaction between drill bit and rock

Xu Wang1) Zhenquan Wang2) Deguo Wang3) Lin Chai4)

College of Mechanical and Transportation Engineering, China University of Petroleum,

Beijing, P. R. China

1) 2) College of Mechanical and Transportation Engineering, China University of

Petroleum,

18 Fuxue Road, Changping, Beijing 102249, China

3) 4) College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum,

18 Fuxue Road, Changping, Beijing 102249, China

**Corresponding author: Zhenquan Wang, [email protected]

Abstract

Research on the interaction mechanisms between a bit and rock is a focus of the field of rock

breaking theory in drilling engineering. The bottom hole shape, which directly affects the effectiveness

of rock breaking at different positions around the bottom hole, is the key factor in research on the

interaction between a bit and rock. This paper aims to discuss the influences of bottom hole shape on

effectiveness of rock breaking. Firstly we established the mathematical model of rock breaking strength

and used it as an evaluation index to analyze the influence of bottom hole shape on effectiveness of

rock breaking. Secondly, the relationship between the rock breaking strength and cutting speed, cutting

depth, rock lithology and bottom hole shape are verified by experimental approach and numerical

simulation. The mathematical model of the relationship between the rock breaking strength and the

bottom hole shape is established with a finite element method. Finally, this paper takes minimum

rock-breaking energy consumption as the goal and introduces the “crown breaking work per revolution”

as an objective function to optimize the bottom hole shape.

 This paper uses the fact that the shape of the bottom hole is symmetric and corresponds to the crown

shape to determine the optimal design of a PDC bit crown profile by inverse design. This paper will help

to expend the ideas of bit design and promote the development of research on rock breaking theory.

Key Words: PDC Bit; Crown Shape; Bottom Hole Shape; Rock Breaking Strength; Crown breaking

work per revolution

1. Introduction

Because of the economic crisis and the decline of international crude oil prices, the most important

problem in the oil industry is how to reduce the cost of oil exploration and development. A PDC bit is the

main tool for oil and gas exploration, so designing a PDC bit with a high efficiency and long life is an

effective approach to reduce costs. Crown shape design is the first step and most important part of PDC

bit design, as shown in Fig. 1. In previous studies, the design theory of PDC crown shape generally

employed the principles of equal wear, volume and power [1] [2] [3] [4], but each of these three

principles have disadvantages. The principle of equal volume does not consider the interaction regularity

between the cutting tooth and the rock; therefore, it cannot accurately reflect the force and wear rule of

the cutting teeth. The principle of equal power represents the interaction regularity between the cutting

tooth and the rock by force; however, only a single parameter can be measured, and the specific energy

consumption of the cutting teeth cannot be fully reflected. The principle of equal wear measures wear

with only force and distance, substantially different than natural wear conditions. Although designers

have put forward the principles of equal volume, equal power and equal wear, the design of PDC bit

parameters still depends on experience of the designers and randomness in the actual optimization design

of a drill bit.

The bottom hole shape can be determined by the crown shape of a PDC bit, and the crown

shape of a PDC bit can also be determined by the bottom hole shape. Designers use three principles

to design the drilling bit and do not consider the effect of bottom hole shapes because they think the

bottom hole shape is formed passively. To solve engineering problems, designers consider that the

efficiency of rock breaking at different positions of the bottom hole is constant, ignoring the

inhomogeneity of rock stress in different areas of the bottom hole; this simplification cannot

accurately reflect the interaction between a PDC bit and rock. Therefore, the actual wear of a PDC
bit is generally not consistent with the expected wear, and the degree of wear of the outer cone

cutting teeth is more serious than the inner cone teeth, and the cutting teeth in center area cannot be

used effectively. As shown in Fig. 2, the degree of wear of the cutting teeth gradually increases from

the center to the outside, and the wear of the cutting teeth at the inner cone area is low. At present,

scholars agree that the difference in wear between an inner cone cutting tooth and an outer cone

cutting tooth is due to their different rotation radii, leading to different cutting power consumption

of the cutting teeth in different areas. The greater the power consumption of a cutting tooth is, the

more intense is the wear on that tooth. In this paper, apart from the influence factors of cutting speed

and cutting power consumption of the cutting teeth, bottom hole shape is also considered a main

cause of the differences in wear. Different bottom hole shapes result in a no uniform rock stress state

at the bottom hole, and the change in the efficiency of rock breaking in different areas of the bottom

hole will affect the degree of wear of the cutting teeth; therefore, it is necessary to study the effect of

different bottom hole shapes on bit wear.

Fig. 1 PDC bit structure

 Fig. 2 Wear conditions of a PDC bit

The bottom hole shape has been reported to be considered in the design of bit crown shape. Xu

Jianfei used finite element analysis software to analyze the interaction law between a PDC bit with a

double-circular arc crown and rock under different inner cone and outer cone shapes combinations

[5]. Xu Yuchao used the COSMOSWorks software to study the distribution law of equivalent stress

at the bottom hole under a PDC bit with different crown shapes and drilling pressure and

summarized the crown shape of PDC bit suitable for a directional well [6]. Jupei and Zhenquan

Wang used a finite element analysis software to study the optimization method for the crown shape

of a PDC bit [7]. A step drill bit can improve the rock breaking efficiency and working stability of

the drill bit. The theory of step drill bit design is as follows: the step drill changes the bottom hole

shape and leads to the change in the rock stress state at the bottom hole; therefore, the rock drill

ability at the bottom hole changes [8]. Karen Bybee studied the relationship between the crown

shape of a PDC bit and the steering performance and noted that the crown shape of a PDC bit and

the gauge structure are the most important factors affecting the steering performance of the drill bit

[9]. Michael Azar invented a new type of drill bit, in which the central area of the PDC bit is a

conical-type cutting tooth; the stress state in the center area of the inner cone of the bit is “free”,

increasing the efficiency of rock breaking [10].

The aim of this paper is to establish a mathematical model of the relationship between the

rock breaking strength and the bottom hole shape by using the finite element method. To determine

the minimum energy consumption of rock breaking and design the optimal bottom hole shape, this

paper introduces the crown breaking work per revolution, based on the mathematical model of the
rock breaking strength.

2. The characterization of the bottom hole shape

2.1 The crown shape of a PDC bit

Currently, the crown shape of a PDC bit can be divided into four basic types (Fig. 3): flat,

shallow-cone, middle-cone and long-cone. The flat drill bit has poor stability. The characteristics of

the shallow-cone drill bit are similar to those of the flat drill bit. The middle-cone drill bit has a large

inner cone area. Compared to the flat and shallow-cone bit types, the middle-cone drill bit has a

larger teeth area and a more uniform teeth wear; the middle-cone drill bit also has a better stability

than that of the flat and shallow-cone bit types. Among the four types of drill bits, the long-cone drill

bit has the largest distribution area of teeth, and it can have more cutting teeth at the outer cone area;

as a result, the long-cone drill bit has a uniform wear and long service life.

Fig. 3 Classification of the crown shapes of a PDC bit

Considering the influence of crown shape on the rock breaking efficiency, drilling
bit life, drilling stability, hydraulic cleaning and so on, designers currently use a
double-cone crown shape as the basic crown shape for PDC bits, as shown in Fig. 4.
The crown shape consists of a straight line, arc, or parabola. In this article, the crown
shape is characterized by straight lines and an outer cone arc and this geometry will be
used to optimize the crown shape.

Fig. 4 The crown shape of a PDC bit

2.2 Simplification of bottom hole shape by using the radius of curvature

In the plane containing the center of a micro unit and the spin axis of the drill bit, we defined

the segment AB as the radius of curvature  . In the segment AB, point A is the central point of the

micro unit and point B is the intersection point of the bit rotation axis and the extended normal line

of the plane that passes through A and the tangent to point A (as shown in Fig. 5). There is a higher

coincidence degree between the outer surfaces of micro unit in the inner cone part and the outer

surface of the solid cylinder rock with the radius of ρ. Therefore, the surface of the inner cone part

can be simplified as the solid cylinder rock with radius of ρ. Similarly, there is a higher coincidence

degree between the inner surfaces of micro surfaces in the outer cone part and the inner surface of

the hollow cylinder rock with the radius of ρ. Therefore, the surface of the outer cone part can be

simplified as the hollow cylinder rock with the radius of ρ. For the nasal part, the rock surface is

assumed to be a semi-infinite plane, and the rock surface of the bottom hole is equivalent to a solid
cylinder surface with an infinite large radius of  or a hollow cylinder surface with an infinite

small radius of  .

Fig. 5 The geometric transformation of the bottom hole shape

From above, we can see that the bottom hole can be imagined as numerous solid cylinders and

numerous hollow cylinders (as shown in Fig. 6), where the inner cone part of the bottom hole is

composed of solid cylinder rock with different outer radii (Fig. 6d), and the outer cone parts of the

bottom hole are composed of hollow cylinder rocks with different inner radii (Fig. 6b). To

distinguish the radii of curvature of the solid cylinder rock and the hollow cylinder rock, we assume

that the radius of curvature of the outer cone part is negative and the radius of curvature of the inner

cone part is positive. For the nasal part(Fig. 6c), the rock surface is assumed to be a semi-infinite

plane, and the rock surface of the bottom hole is equivalent to a solid cylinder surface with an

infinite large radius of  or a hollow cylinder surface with an infinite small radius of  .Therefor,

the radius of curvature is either infinitely large or infinitely small.

From the nasal part to the top of the inner cone, the radius of curvature of inner cone part is

positive and decrease, so the outer radii of the solid cylinder rock decrease. At the outer cone part,

the radius of curvature is negative. The radius of curvature at the shoulder part is equal to the

negative drill radius of curvature. The radius of curvature at the nasal part is infinitely small. From
the nasal part to the shoulder part, the absolute value of radii of curvature decrease, so the absolute

value of the inner radii of the hollow cylinder rock decrease. Therefore, the radius of curvature at the

inner cone part can vary within the range 0 ~ +∞, while the radius of curvature at the outer cone part

can change within the range of -∞ ~ -R, the radius of curvature in nasal part ranges from -∞ ~+∞, as

shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 The simplification method for different parts of the bottom hole

2.3 Rock breaking strength

In order to evaluate the difficulties of rock breaking in different areas of the bottom hole, first

of all it needs to put forward an evaluation index-rock breaking strength. In the past, there were

many methods for optimizing drilling parameters, such as evaluating the PDC bit ROP models [11]

and Taguchi method [12].These methods are mainly optimize the structural parameters of the

cutting teeth[13].Researchers also used cutting force or cutting force of broken rock per unit

volume as an evaluation index. For cutting force, the broken forms of plastic rock and brittle rock

are different. Plastic rock has larger deformation ability, the cutting force of cutting teeth is small,

and the new surface formed by rock breaking is more regular. Brittle rock has less deformation
ability and larger cutting force on the cutting teeth, but it is easy to produce relatively large

volume of rock broken. Therefore, the cutting force is not enough to fully reflect the breaking state

of the rock. For applied force of broken rock per unit volume, through the Eq.1, it can know that

the applied force of broken rock per unit volume is equivalent to the cutting force required to break

the rock per unit area. Therefore, the significance of applied force of broken rock per unit volume

and rock breaking strength are similar.

W FC L FC
MSE    (1)
V AL A

The crown shape design usually depends on the interaction between the PDC bit and the

formation. However, when we analyze the problems of the interaction between the drill bit and the

rock, the following three aspects should be analyzed:(1)drilling parameters(2)structural parameters

of cutting tooth (3)rock properties. This paper mainly discusses the influence of drilling parameters,

rock properties and bottom hole shape on rock breaking strength, so we should select on evaluation

index to avoid the influence of the structural parameters of cutting tooth. When PDC bit break rock,

if the efficiency of single cutting tooth is highest, the efficiency of the whole PDC bit will be

highest.

Through the analysis of the rock breaking process, the process of a single cutting tooth

breaking the rock can be simplified to the cutting movement of the cutting tooth on the plane. When

the PDC bit is working, the single cutting tooth moves along a spiral line in a definite cylinder

surface, and the spiral line unfolding diagram of the movement of the cutting tooth is shown in Fig.7.

AO is the actual cutting distance of the cutting tooth, AB is the vertical downward displacement of

the cutting tooth, and AB is considerably smaller than AO. Therefore, the spiral angle of the spiral

motion of the cutting tooth is very small, and the movement of the single cutting tooth can be

simplified as a two-dimensional problem. The force of cutting tooth is determined by the pressing

force FN and the cutting force FC (Fig.8). The pressing force causes the cutting tooth to cut into the

rock to a certain depth, the cutting force drives the cutting forward movement.
 Fig. 7 The spiral line unfolding diagram of the movement of the cutting tooth

Fig. 8 The plan movement of the single cutting tooth

As shown in Fig.8,  k is the rock breaking strength. The rock breaking strength is the stress

in cutting direction. If the rock properties, drilling parameters and cutting tooth structural

parameters are determined, the rock breaking strength is the cutting force required to break the rock

per unit area. As shown in Eq.2,

hl
FC  K (2)
cos 

Where FC is the cutting force, h is the cutting depth, l is the width of the cutting tooth,  is

the cutting angle, and  k is the cutting force per unit area (rock breaking strength),the direction of

 K is the same as the direction of the cutting force FC .

Eq.2 shows that if the values of h, l, and  are determined, the rock breaking strength

eliminates the effects of the cutting structure of cutting tooth on the cutting force. Therefore, it can
characterize the influence of drilling parameters, rock properties and bottom hole shape on rock

breaking strength. If the rock properties, cutting depth, cutting tooth shape, cutting angle and cutting

speed are determined, the greater the resistance to rock breaking is, the greater the rock breaking

strength is. Therefore, the rock breaking strength can evaluate the efficiency of rock breaking in

different areas of the bottom hole.

2.4 Crown breaking work per revolution

To obtain the minimum energy consumption of rock breaking, this paper introduces crown

breaking work per revolution. The cutting teeth are assumed to be uniformly distributed on the

surface of PDC bit blade for the calculation, so the PDC bit crown shape can be simplified to a

smooth curve (Fig.9), and each micro unit on the smooth curve can be seen as a small cutting tooth.

The PDC bit rotates under the drilling pressure to break the rock, and the entire rock breaking

volume is superposed by the rock breaking volume per revolution. AC is defined as the crown

breaking work per revolution. The smaller the crown breaking work per revolution is, the smaller

the energy required to break the same volume of rock, and the higher the rock breaking efficiency.

The crown breaking work per revolution can be calculated as Eq.3:

2h xR
AC 
cos  
0
x (  )d x
(3)

Where AC is the crown breaking work per revolution, h is the cutting depth per revolution of

the PDC bit,  is the cutting angle of the cutting tooth, xR is the diameter of the PDC bit, x is

the rotation radius of the micro unit, and  is the rock breaking strength of the micro unit.
 Fig. 9 Crown breaking work per revolution

The crown breaking work per revolution can be used to evaluate the overall rock breaking

energy consumption of the different bottom hole shapes, introducing the mathematical model of

rock breaking strength from the crown breaking work per revolution. This mathematical model is

used to optimize the bottom shape and crown shape.

3. Visualization experiment

3.1 Test bench

The test bench of the experimental rock-breaking device is modified by an automatic lathe, and

a sketch of the test bench is shown in Fig.10. The cutting tooth used in the experiment is a PDC

composite. Before testing, a cutting groove should be cut on the rock sample surface along the

central axis of the rock sample so that the cutting tooth can start in the cutting groove at a certain

depth (as shown in Fig.11). The change in the linear cutting speed is achieved by changing the

revolution speed of the lathe, and the cutting depth is controlled according to the feed of the lathe

cutter. The machining equipment used in this experiment is a high-precision lathe, and it can control

the speed and feed quantity of the lathe cutter accurately, reducing the experimental error.
 Fig.10 The test bench of the experimental rock-breaking device: (1) automatic lathe bed, (2) spindle box, (3)

tool rest, (4) amplifier, (5) sensor, (6) oscilloscope, and (7) power supply

Fig. 11 Cutting method Fig.12 Rock sample

Fig.12 shows the solid cylinder rock and the hollow cylinder rock samples used in these

experiments. The radius of curvature of the solid cylinder rock and hollow cylinder rock used in the

experiments are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. The radius of curvature of the solid cylinder rock and hollow cylinder rock

(mm)

Solid Cylinder Rock 20 40 80 160 320

Hollow Cylinder Rock 20 40 80 160 320

3.2 Experimental results

3.2.1The influence of cutting speed on the rock breaking strength

In previous studies, the effect of cutting speed on cutting forces has been controversial. Whether
linear cutting or curricular cutting, most of the experiments about the effect of cutting speed on

cutting force have been carried out on a plane rock [14[15]. In this paper, studying the influence of

cutting speed on the rock breaking strength based on the three-dimensional shape of the bottom

hole, the change of cutting speed can be achieved by changing the revolution speed of the lathe. To

explore the influence of cutting speed on rock breaking strength based on the bottom hole shape, the

experiments are designed so that the cutting tooth breaks the cylinder rock and hollow cylinder

rock with the same radius (80 mm) at different revolution speeds, and all cutting depths are

controlled to 1 mm.

As shown in Fig.13, for both cylinder rock and hollow cylinder rock, When the

revolution speed is between 20r/min and 60r/min the rock breaking strength increases with

the increasing of cutting speed. When the cutting speed is more than 60r/min, the rock

breaking strength increase slowly and the increasing rate decreases. In this range, the cutting

speed had an insignificant effect on the rock breaking strength. The experimental results are

similar to those of previous studies [16][17].Different rock properties show similar variations

in the rock breaking strength as the revolution speed increases

 (a)Outer cone part

(b) Inner cone area

Fig.13 Experiments conduct the variation trend of rock breaking strength with cutting speed

3.2.2 The influence of cutting depth on the rock breaking strength

It can be seen from Fig.14 that under the same the curvature radius the rock breaking strength

decreases with the cutting depth increases for both solid cylinder rock and hollow cylinder rock.

According to the new surface energy theory [18], if the cuttings are smaller, the surface area formed

by the rock breaking process will be larger, so the energy consumption will be greater. When the

cutting depth is small, the cuttings are small grains and not massive rock. With the increase in

cutting depth, rock breaking changes into volume breaking, and the cuttings enlarge to massive rock.

Larger particle sizes of the cuttings that are produced by rock breaking leads to the decrease in

energy consumption.
 (a) Outer cone area

(b) Inner cone area

Fig.14 Experiments conducted to determine the variation in the rock breaking strength with cutting depth
3.2.3 The influence of bottom hole shape on the rock breaking strength

(a) Outer cone area

(b) Inner cone area

Fig.15 Experiments conducted to determine the variation in the rock breaking strength with different bottom
hole shapes

It can be seen from Fig. 15a that in the outer cone part as the radius of curvature increases, the

rock breaking strength decreases. When the radius of curvature is between 20 mm and 80 mm, the

bottom hole shape has a considerable influence on the rock breaking strength. When the radius of

curvature is greater than 80 mm, the effect of the bottom hole shape weakens. Fig.15b shows that

with an increase in the radius of curvature in the inner cone area, the rock breaking strength

increases. When the radius of curvature is between 20 mm and 80 mm, the bottom hole shape has a

considerable influence on the rock breaking strength. When the radius of curvature is greater than

80 mm, the effect of the bottom hole shape weakens. For different kinds of rocks, the trend in rock

breaking strength is similar. The greater the rock strength is, the more apparent the change in the

rock breaking strength.

4. Simulation and results

Due to the limitation of the experimental equipment, the experiments can prove only that the

bottom hole shape effects the rock breaking strength and finds the relationship between them. To

establish the mathematical model of the bottom hole shape and rock breaking strength, we use a

numerical simulation method to obtain a large amount of data. Additionally, we have a numerical

simulation of the whole PDC bit to verify the correctness of the geometric transformation in this

chapter.

4.1 Finite element model building

In this paper, the sizes of the rock sample and single tooth used in the analysis are shown in

Table 2. The numerical simulation defines the mesh of the cutter and rock as eight nodes of solid

elements, and both the cutter and rock are meshed with hexahedral sweeping. The geometric model

and mesh are shown in Fig.16:

 (a)The geometric model of a solid cylinder rock and a hollow cylinder rock

(b)The geometric model of the whole PDC bit

Fig.16 The geometric model of the rock

The main cutting part of PDC drill bit is polycrystalline diamond compacts, and its hardness

and strength are far greater than the rocks, so in order to improve calculation efficiency, this

simulation treats the cutters as rigid materials,and defines the value of mass density, Young’s

modulus and poisson ratio of the rock.Table 3 gives the physical property parameters of cutter and

rock, which are used in the simulation.

Table 2 The radius of curvature of the solid cylinder rock and hollow cylinder rock

 (mm)
Solid Cylinder Rock 20 40 80 120 160 220 320 500 640 700 800 1000 1100 1200

Hollow Cylinder Rock 20 40 80 120 160 220 320 500 640 700 800 1000 1100 1200

Table 3 Physical properties of the single tooth and rock

Young’s Tangent Yield Poisson’

Density
modulus modulus stress s
(g/cm3)
(MPa) (MPa) (MPa) ratio
Single Tooth 7.83 8E5 0.3
Granite 2.64 5E4 0.55E4 4.0E4 0.28
 Shale 2.64 2E4 0.2E4 5.1E4 0.15
Sandstone 2.65 4E4 0.4E4 1.4E4 0.25
To avoid the effect of the boundary wave reflections on the simulation, we apply the

non-reflecting boundary conditions on both the outer circumferential surface and bottom surface of

the rock. This approach can simulate the infinite area of a rock and reduce the influence of the size

effect on the rock strength. Additionally, this simulation fixes all the degrees of freedom of the

bottom surface of the rock, and the single tooth rotates around the central axis, z, at a speed of 90

r/min. All simulated cutting depths are set to 1 mm.

4.2 Results and discussion

We get the cutting force at different positions of the bottom hole through the post processing

software “LS-PREPOST”, then substitutes the cutting force into formula 2,and finally gets the

change rule between rock breaking strength and the radius of curvature. As shown in Fig.17, the

numerical simulation results are similar to the experimental results. Fig.17a shows that with an

increase in the radius of curvature in the outer cone area, the rock breaking strength decreases. Fig.

17b shows that with an increase in the radius of curvature in the inner cone area, the rock breaking

strength increases.

(a) Outer cone area

 (b) Inner cone area

Fig.17 The variation in the rock breaking strength with different bottom hole shapes

Fig.18 The variation in the rock breaking strength with different rotation radius

As shown in Fig.18, For the whole PDC bit, the trend of rock breaking strength is similar with

different lithology. With the increase of the rotation radius, the rock breaking strength increases.
The variation trend of rock breaking strength in outer cone area is more obvious than it in inner cone

area. Selecting the radius of curvature of solid cylinder rock and hollow cylinder rock, through the

formula 11 and 14 to calculate the rotation radius corresponding to radius of curvature(as shown in

Table.4). By comparing the value of the rock breaking strength of radius of curvature and the

value of the rock breaking strength of rotation radius, we get the result that the two values of rock

breaking strength are similar. This result proves that the space geometric transformation which we

use to simplify bottom hole shape is correct.

Table.4 The rotation radius corresponding to the radius of curvature

Solid Cylinder Rock  (mm) Hollow Cylinder Rock  (mm)

20 40 80 120 20 40 80 120

PDC Bit Inner Cone Part r (mm) Outer Cone Part r (mm)

10 20 40 60 93.5 100 113.3 120

Because of the difference in shape between the solid cylinder rock and hollow cylinder rock,

the stress state of the rock also differs between the rock specimens when a single tooth is cutting the

rock, leading to different of rock breaking efficiencies. During the drilling process with a PDC bit,

the cutting tooth is simultaneously working on rock surfaces with different curvatures. The working

surface of the inner cone cutting teeth is a positive curvature surface (the outer surface of solid

cylinder rock), the working surface of the outer cone cutting teeth is a negative curvature surface

(the inner surface of the hollow cylinder rock). For the inner surface of a hollow cylinder rock, the

free surfaces with negative curvatures have a “supporting effect”, in which the greater the absolute

value of the radius of curvature ρ is, the lesser the supporting force is; therefore, this part of the rock

is easier to break. For the outer surface of the solid cylinder rock, the “supporting effect” due to the

positive curvature is considerably smaller that of the negative curvature, but the “supporting effect”

still has an impact. The greater the radius of curvature ρ is, the greater the supporting force;

therefore, the outer surface of the solid cylinder rock is more difficult to break.

5. Mathematical model building

5.1 The mathematical model of different bottom hole shapes and rock breaking strengths under

different rock properties

It can be seen from section 4.2 that the data of the change in rock breaking strength with

different bottom hole shapes under different rock properties are obtained by numerical simulation

(Fig.17). The mathematical model between the rock breaking strength and the radius of curvature

under different rock properties is determined by using the MATLAB software for nonlinear

polynomial fitting. As shown in Table.5 and Table.6.

Table.5The nonlinear polynomial fitting of rock breaking strengths in inner cone part

Rock The mathematical model of different bottom hole shapes Correlation

Properties and rock breaking strengths Coefficient

Shale  inner  142.819  (59.314)  0.997   0.997

Inner Cone Sandstone  inner  274.57  (108.189)  0.996  0.998

Granite  inner  369.81 - (-210.59)  0.996  0.998

It can be seen from Table.5, the mathematical model of rock breaking strength in the inner

cone part of bottom hole (  >0) is:

 inner  Ainner  Binner  Cinner  (4)

In Eq.4,  inner is the rock breaking strength of the inner cone part,  is the radius of curvature,

ABC are the coefficient. The coefficients of different lithology in inner cone part can be obtained by

the experimental and numerical simulation in this paper.

Table.6The nonlinear polynomial fitting of rock breaking strengths in outer cone part

Rock The mathematical model of different bottom hole shapes Correlation

 Properties and rock breaking strengths Coefficient

Shale  outer  43.66  14.13ln (  + 26.89) 0.9985

Outer Cone Sandstone  outer  53.26 + 31.74ln (  + 31.01) 0.9927

Granite  outer  61.82 + 44.26ln (  + 24.44) 0.9947

It can be seen from Table.6, the mathematical model of rock breaking strength in the outer

cone part of bottom hole (  <0) is:

 outer  Aouter  Bouter  ln(   Couter ) (5)

In Eq.5,  outer is the rock breaking strength of the outer cone part,  is the radius of curvature,

ABC are the coefficient. The coefficients of different lithology in outer cone part can be obtained by

the experimental and numerical simulation in this paper.

5.2 The optimization design of the crown shape

Fig. 19 Double cone crown shape

From the discussion above, it can be seen that this article mainly focuses on optimizing the

double-cone crown shape PDC bit. For the double-cone crown shape, the crown shape is made of

the straight line O1A and arc AC (as shown in Fig.19). In Fig.19, R is the radius of the PDC bit, a is

the radius of the outer cone arc, x is the rotation radius of micro unit,O1 is the rotation center of the
PDC bit, O2 is the center of the outer cone arc, and  is the inner cone angle. The outer cone part is

the arc BC, the inner cone consists of the arc AB and straight line O1A, where O2A=O2B=O2C=a.

From above we can transform the Eq.3 into the sum breaking work per revolution of the inner cone

and the outer cone parts, as shown in Eq.10:

2h xB xC
Ac  (  x inner (  )d x   x outer (  )d x ) (6)
cos  0 xB

For inner cone area, the radius of curvature  can be calculated as follows:

x
 (7)
sin 

For the circular arc AB, the radius of curvature of circular arc AB in inner cone area is equal

to the radius of curvature of circular arc BC in outer cone area.

The outer cone arc can be calculated as follows:

( y  a ) 2  ( x  xB ) 2  a 2 (8)

Taking the derivative of Eq.12, the slope of the arc can be calculated as follows:

x  xB
k
a  ( x  xB ) 2
2
(9)

The radius of curvature of arc AB in inner cone part and the radius of curvature of arc BC in

outer cone part can be calculated as:

ax
 (10)
xB  x

Substituting Eqs.11 and 14 into Eq.10, the crown breaking work per revolution can be

calculated as follows:

2h x A x xB ax xC ax

Ac  (  x inner ( )d x    inner ( )d x   r outer ( )d x ) (11)
cos  0 sin  x A xB  x x B xB  x
 In Eq.11, x A  xc  a(1  sin  ), xB  xc  a .

The mathematical model for the rock breaking strength from the radius of curvature under

different rock properties was obtained in an section 5.1. Therefore, substituting Eq.4 and Eq.5 into

Eq.11, we can get the final optimization mathematical model that the crown breaking work per

revolution of the crown shape formed by the straight line of any inner cone angle and any outer cone

arc radius can be calculated under various rock properties(As shown in Eq.12).

x ax
2h xA xB xC ax
cos  0
Ac  { x( A  B  C sin  )d x   ( A  B  C x xB )d x   r ( A  B  ln(  C )d x } (12)
xA xB xB  x

Through the experiments and numerical simulation analysis, it is found that the rock breaking

strength of the outer cone area is greater than the rock breaking strength of the inner cone part. To

reduce the crown breaking work per revolution and increase the rock breaking efficiency of the PDC

bit, it is necessary to minimize the proportion of the outer cone part of the crown shape. Decreasing

the outer cone arc radius can decrease the proportion of the outer cone part. When the outer cone arc

radius is infinitely small, the crown shape is a fishtail (as shown in Fig.20). The fishtail PDC bit can

release rock at the bottom hole from the confining pressure, to reduce the overall rock breaking

energy consumption of the crown shape, so the fishtail shape is also the best shape in this article.

Fig. 20Crown profile optimization

For the fishtail crown shape, the crown breaking work per revolution is as follows:
 2h xR x
AC  (  x inner ( )d x (16)
cos  0 sin 

However, fishtail shapes also have disadvantages; for example, when the outer cone arc is too

small, a vortex zone is more easily generated near the wall, and the cuttings cannot be removed in

time, more easily causing repeated breaking of the cuttings. When the inner cone angle is too large,

the protrusion of the inner cone can easily lead to an increase in the height difference between the

bottom shape, resulting in a changing drilling fluid flow rate and a worsening rock carrying effect.

The size of the inner cone angle also has an important influence on the placement of the cutting teeth.

When the PDC bit is drilling the rock, the cutting teeth need to cross the bottom hole area repeatedly;

the center of the PDC bit requires at least two rows of cutting teeth to overlap the cutting. When the

inner cone angle is too large, the interference between the two rows of cutting teeth will result in the

restriction on the placement of the cutting teeth.

The results of the crown shape optimization based on the bottom hole shape are considered

with the influence of hydraulic structure and processing technology. For soft formations, the drilling

speed of the PDC bit is faster and more cuttings are produced at the bottom hole. Therefore, when

we design the crown shape for soft formations, to ensure the smooth flow of the bottom hole, the

hydraulic cleaning factors should be considered first; the outer cone arc radius should be larger, and

the inner cone angle should be smaller. For hard formations, the drilling speed of the PDC bit is

slower and less cuttings are produced at the bottom hole. Therefore, when we design the crown

shape for hard formations, the energy loss factor should be considered first; the outer cone radius

should be smaller and the inner cone angle should be larger.

6. Conclusions

The bottom hole shape is one of the most important factors affecting the force and wear of

the cutting teeth. Different bottom hole shapes lead to different states of stress in the rock at

different locations across the bottom hole, resulting in a varying resistance to rock breaking.

·In the outer cone part, with an increase in the radius of curvature, the rock breaking strength

decreases; this result is verified by the experiments and numerical simulations. In the inner cone

part, the rock breaking strength increases with the radius of curvature. The rock breaking strength
in the outer cone area is greater than that in inner cone area. For both the inner cone part and the

outer cone part, if the range in the radius of curvature is small, the bottom hole shapes have a

greater influence on the rock breaking strength. When the radius of curvature is sufficiently large,

the effect of the bottom hole shape on the rock breaking strength decreases. The greater the rock

strength is, the greater the influence of the bottom hole shape on the rock breaking strength.

·The experiment results show that with the increases of the cutting speed, the rock breaking

strength increases. When the cutting speed increases to a certain degree, the increasing rate of rock

breaking strength decreases and the rock breaking strength almost keep stable.

·With an increase in cutting depth, the rock breaking mechanism changes to volume breaking,

decreasing the rock breaking strength.

·To reduce the crown breaking work per revolution and improve the rock breaking efficiency,

the inner cone angle should be increased, and the outer cone arc radius should be decreased.

Considering the influence of the hydraulic structure and processing technology, for the soft

formation, the outer cone arc radius should be larger, and the inner cone angle should be smaller.

For hard strata, the outer cone arc radius should be smaller, and the inner cone angle should be

larger.

Nomenclature

ρ Radius of curvature  Rock breaking strength of the micro unit

R Radius of the PDC bit  inner Rock breaking strength of the inner cone
part

FN Pressing force
 outer Rock breaking strength of the outer cone
part

FC Cutting force AC Crown breaking work per revolution

k Rock breaking strength h1 Cutting depth per revolution

h Cutting depth x Rotation radius of the micro unit

l Width of the cutting tooth a Radius of the outer cone arc

 Cutting angle  Inner cone angle

Acknowledgments The work described in this article was partially supported by the National

Science and Technology Major Project of P. R. China (2011ZX05009-005) for which the authors

are grateful.

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 Highlights

(1) This paper starts by discussing the shape of the bottom hole and the relationship between

the bottom hole shapes and rock stresses in different areas of the bottom hole. This paper analyzes

the interaction law between a bit and rock by studying the effectiveness of rock breaking and reveals

the interaction rule between the PDC bit and the formation, and applies it to the design of PDC bit.

(2) This paper aims to describe the different effectiveness of rock breaking around the bottom hole ,

introduces the evaluation index of rock breaking efficiency，the evaluation index is rock breaking

strength, and analyzes the influencing factors of rock breaking strength. The relationship between

the rock breaking strength and cutting speed, cutting depth, rock lithology and bottom hole shape

are verified by an experimental approach. The mathematical model of the relationship between the

rock breaking strength and the bottom hole shape is established with a finite element method.

(3) This paper introduces the crown breaking work per revolution based on the mathematical

model of the rock breaking strength; the optimal bottom hole shape is designed by obtaining the

minimum energy consumption of rock breaking. Finally, this paper uses the fact that the shape of the

bottom hole is symmetric and corresponds to the crown shape to determine the optimal design of a

PDC bit crown profile by inverse design. This paper will help to expend the ideas of bit design

theory research and promote the development of research on rock breaking theory.