Design and flow field analysis of impregnated diamond bit for seafloor drill in soft-hard interlaced strata

Abstract

According to the seafloor drill working conditions and the complex formation characteristics of the seafloor, this paper aims to improve the adaptability of the diamond bit to the formation and the coring quality. The cutter tooth design scheme of the impregnated diamond bit is proposed, and Fluent analyzes the flow field of drilling fluid at the bottom hole. The results show that the cone cutting tooth bit with the primary and assistant nozzles can directly avoid 85.33% drilling fluid flushing core and reduce the disturbance of drilling fluid to the core samples. The water passage structure of the bit is reasonable, and the upward return velocity of the drilling fluid can be stabilized between 0.7 and 1.8 m/s, which meets the requirements of the upward return of cuttings in seabed strata, and has a good hole wall protection performance. Based on the bottom-jet diamond bit, the assistant nozzles are added. The drilling fluid of the assistant nozzles can better cover the bit crown, conductive to cooling the bit crown. The drilling fluid of the main nozzles can timely up-return along the outer annulus hole wall, conducive to the up-return of the cuttings with drilling fluid. This study can extend existing designs of a seafloor coring bits and bottom hole flow field analysis methods.