A robust integrated control design for weight-on-bit fluctuation suppression in drilling process subject to fractured formations

Abstract

Fractured formations lead to insufficient contact or loss of contact between the drill bit and rocks, which subsequently causes notable fluctuation in weight-on-bit due to flexible drill strings. This paper presents a robust integrated control design to suppress weight-on-bit fluctuation. First, a finite element drill-string longitudinal model is employed as the basis of control design, which has been verified using actual run data. The integrated controller contains a proportional–integral (PI) controller and a dynamic output feedback controller, dealing with the system’s first-order and high-order dynamics. The dynamic output feedback controller only needs to focus on the system’s high-order dynamics since the controller synthesis is based on the pre-designed PI controller. The controller decreases the flexible mode amplitude from disturbance to the output channel through H-infinity loop shaping, making the closed-loop system less flexible. The numerical results demonstrate that the developed approach can effectively suppress weight-on-bit fluctuation due to drill-string flexibility when drilling in fractured formations.