Numerical Simulation of Rock-Cutter Interaction in Drilling Operation Using ANSYS AUTODYN 3D

Minimized Rate of Penetration (ROP) and diminished drilling performance dependably been a major challenge for the drilling contractors. Optimizing the drilling process would help to reduce the time required to drill a well, thus directly reducing costs for drilling. Existence of critical interest for development in rock cutting innovation to achieve higher ROP and longer bit life is undisputable, which depends to an extent on the comprehension of the rock-cutter interaction. The main objective of this paper is to identify the essential parameters and its optimum value to increase the rock cutter efficiency. Efficiency of the rock cutter is defined in terms of Mechanical Specific Energy (MSE). The lower the MSE, the higher the efficiency of the rock cutter with the given parameter value. In this paper, numerical simulation of the rock-cutter interaction was performed in ANSYS AUTODYN and the results obtained were used to determine the optimum value of the identified parameters. The study was conducted in two phases. In phase 1, design parameters of the cutter were analysed. In the second phase, operational parameters were analysed using the optimum design values obtained from phase 1. The cutter is modelled as a solid cylinder of Polycrystalline Diamond and the rock is modelled as a solid cube. In the simulation only sandstone parameters were used for the rock properties. Response Surface Methodology was identified as the best tool to predict the optimum values by employing the Central Composite Design (CCD).