Impregnated diamond bits are widely used in drilling work for geological prospecting, petroleum production and civil construction.
The most difficult problem in the application of diamond bit is the rate of penetration of diamond bit in the slipping formation. The very low rate of penetration in these slipping formations which are often encountered during drilling, is related to the mechanical characteristics of the slipping formation. The slipping formation usually has three characteristics. First, rock hardness is relatively high because of the high quartz content. Second, rock strength is high because the rock-forming mineral grains are very small and have local siliceous cementation. Third, rock abrasiveness is weak.
To overcome these shortcomings, a researcher designed a sandwich impregnated diamond bit to maintain concentric circular shape of the bottom surface of bit during drilling, remarkably improving the drilling efficiency in the slipping formation. The shortcomings of preceding studies on SIDB (sandwich impregnated diamond bit) can be found as follows. First, the effect of structural parameters (width of non-working layer) on the drilling performance of SIDB in the slipping formation is not clearly clarified. Second, the effect of sandwich structural parameters on the rock failure mode of SIDB is not clearly clarified.
Kim Il Jin, a researcher at the Faculty of Earth Science and Technology, in order to investigate the effect of structural parameters on the drilling performance of SIDB and determine suitable structural parameters, has fabricated the SIDB of ϕ59mm/41mm with different structural parameters (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5mm) and conducted a field-drilling test.
In addition, through a particle size analysis of the rock debris produced during drilling, he demonstrated that the reasonable structural parameters changed the rock breakage mode of SIDB from micro cutting to micro cutting-micro volume breakage.
The results of his study are very important to effectively overcome the slipping formation which is a challenge in the application of a diamond bit and to improve overall drilling efficiency.
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