Using Transfer Matrix Method to Study the Acoustic Property of Drill Strings

Abstract

Using the drill string to transfer the telemetry data is a focus in the fields of logging while drilling (LWD) and measurement while drilling (MWD). The acoustic property of the drill string is the foundation for improvement the transmission rate. In this paper, we study the filtering property of the drill string using the transfer matrix (TM) method. Compared with the classical finite difference (FD) method, the TM method need not deduce the partial difference equation (PDE) and thus can be extended to the cases of torsional and flexural waves easily. Numerical experiments show that the TM method can give more precise results than the FD method, which indicates its potential for further applications.