Bit Wear Model

For the user, the bit wear model is where GeoMechanics begins to shine, its
output now reaching to the most familiar, practical aspects of drilling.

One of the most difficult decisions in drilling is deciding when to pull the bit.
At first it may seem obvious that this depends on the bits wear condition and
its true there is a critical wear condition that limits the useful life of a bit.

However, its also frequently the case that a bit may have to be pulled before it
reaches this wear condition, because, as discussed in the chapter on

mechanical efficiency, the useful life of a drill bit is influenced by a number of

factors:

Wear condition
Mechanical efficiency
Rig constraints
Rock strength

Now, recognizing those influential factors, when do you pull a bit?

Essentially, the decision to terminate a bit run depends on how much cutting
torque is available for rock removal. In other words, if no cutting torque can be
generated, the driller should consider pulling the bit regardless of its wear
condition.

Recall from the previous chapter, the following expression for cutting torque:
Tc = sAbdc / (2p)
where:

s
Ab
dc

Rock strength (psi)

Bit cross-sectional area (in2)

Depth of cut or penetration per revolution (ft/rev)

Essentially, cutting torque depends on how much depth of cut can be achieved
in a given rock strength. And its possible to run out of cutting torque well
before a bit reaches the critical wear state. If the rock strength is so high that
the torque produced by the threshold WOB exceeds the maximum safe

operating torque of the rig, the cutting torque is completely pinched out.
Still, even though a bit might run out of cutting torque while drilling hard rock,
it may be able to produce some cutting torque in medium or low rock strength.
GeoMechanics Bit Wear Model

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Or, it might be able to drill the hard rock if the rig had a higher torque capacity.
Nevertheless, once a bit has reached its critical wear condition it cannot
produce any appreciable cutting torque and its useful life is over.
Critical Wear Condition
What defines a bits critical wear state? Under conditions of uniform wear, some
cutters or teeth on a given cutting structure tend to wear out first. As the bit
rotates, the cutters on the crest of the bit profile typically do more work per

revolution than the other cutters, primarily due to the fact that these critical
cutters have a greater depth of cut than those on the periphery of the bit
profile. As a result, the critical cutters tend to wear out first.
Recall that when any cutter(s) becomes worn to the point where the rock comes
into contact with the bit body, the axial contact area suddenly jumps up to a
much larger value. This in turn, produces a similar jump in the threshold WOB,
which generally pinches out the available cutting torque regardless of rock
strength.
Security DBS has developed a 3-D finite element bit model, incorporated into
GeoMechanics, that can determine the critical wear condition for a given bit

design. The approach is simple but elegant: bit wear depends on the cumulative
work done by the bit.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, the work

Bit Work

done by the bit does not depend on rock

strength only, but also on the mechanical

efficiency an important subtlety. A theoretical

work rating is applied to the bit based on the
amount of work required to wear down the

cutting structure to the point where it reaches

the critical wear condition.
As a result of the dual definition of mechanical

efficiency, we can determine the specific energy

Ab

Specific
Energy

of the bit as follows:

Se = s / E = s Tt / Tc
where:
GeoMechanics Bit Wear Model

Distance
Drilled

Volume
of Rock
Removed
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Se

Bit specific energy (psi)

Rock strength (psi)

Tc
Tt

Mechanical efficiency (fractional)

Cutting torque (ft*lbf/rad)
Total torque (ft*lbf/rad)

And the work done by the bit in removing a given volume of rock may now be
expressed as:

Wb = SeVr
where:

Wb

Bit work (ft*lbf)

Se

Bit specific energy (psi)

Vr

Volume of rock removed (in2*ft)

Alternatively, the bit work may be expressed in more traditional terms of force
and distance:

Wb = FbD
where:
Fb
D

Total bit force (lbf)

Distance

The work done by the

bit is numerically

Bit Force

drilled (ft)

Area = Bit Work

integrated over small

depth increments to

in the interval of
interest. On the graph
of bit force versus

depth (top, right), the

area under the curve
represents the work

GeoMechanics Bit Wear Model

Frictional
Cutting

D epth
Rock Strength

cumulative work done

M echanical
Efficiency

quantify the

D epth

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D epth

done by the bit. Theoretically, when the cumulative work done reaches the work
rating for the given bit, the critical wear condition has been reached and the
useful life of the bit is fully exhausted.
Why It Works
Security DBSs new definition of mechanical efficiency has lead to an improved
way to measure bit wear. Recognizing that the mechanical efficiency of a bit
depends on the axial contact area of the cutting structure, remaining bit life
may be evaluated by measuring this contact area.

The normal contact area can be physically measured with reasonable accuracy.
It can then be converted to axial contact area via the geometry of the bit profile.
As explained in the mechanical efficiency model, axial contact area is needed
because the applied force is normal to the axial plane.
The new wear measurement allows a quantitative evaluation of bit life. The

contact area of the cutting structure reflects the cumulative work done by the
bit. The standard IADC wear measurement is useful in documenting the
predominant type of wear seen on the bit.

The work-wear relationship for a PDC bit is shown below:

GeoMechanics Bit Wear Model

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Sharp
Bit

Worn
Bit

Contact
Area
2
(in )
5.7

Bit Wear (%)

2.2

100%

Axial

Normal

Frictional Work

0.1

Critical cutters
worn to matrix

Cutting Work
0.1

Cumulative Bit Work (ton* mile)

2,570

Work Rating

As the bit does work, the axial contact area gradually increases until it

eventually reaches the critical wear condition. The viability of a partially worn
bit can be evaluated using the rated work-wear relationship shown above.
The Work-Wear Relationship
Although the contact area of the cutting structure provides a quantitative
measure of bit wear, other factors can skew the work-wear relationship. For
example, the theoretical or rated work-wear relationship shown above is valid
provided that observed wear is predominantly uniform. Of course, in practice,
non-uniform wear can also occur due to impact damage.
So, what else influences this relationship? Factors that can accelerate wear
include:

Excessive power levels

Vibrations
Formation abrasivity
For rotating machinery, published empirical data shows that wear is

proportional to the amount of work done. In other words, the work-wear

GeoMechanics Bit Wear Model

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relationship is an empirical fact. However, this relationship is valid only within a

certain power range.

Power is defined as the rate of doing work. As the power level increases, that is,
as the rate of doing work increases, the wear rate also increases. In fact, the

wear rate increases linearly with power level up to a critical point, above which
the wear rate increases rapidly and can become severe or lead to catastrophic
failure.
In the context of drilling, the

Power Envelope

wear rate also is influenced

High Rock
Strength

the graph to the right. As

long as the operating power

level remains within the

normal wear region, the

Wear Rate

by rock strength as shown on

Severe Wear Region

work-wear relationship is

relationship is valid is

Limiting
Power
Curve

Normal Wear Region

valid. The power envelope

where the work-wear

Low Rock
Strength

Pmin

Power

Pmax

defined by the limiting power

curve, shown in red. (This curve, as well as the effect of vibrations, is discussed
in more detail in the penetration rate model.) However, if the power level
exceeds the limiting power curve for the given rock strength, accelerated wear
and even impact damage are likely. In calibration mode, GeoMechanics flags

this condition to identify zones of potential impact damage. In addition, this

power level analysis is quite useful when doing post-mortems on bit runs
where impact damage was experienced.

Formation Abrasivity
The abrasive environment is one in which relatively low forces are accompanied
by extremely high stresses. Although there is some controversy in the literature
over the precise definition of abrasivity, it is essentially a geometric property of
the rock surface not necessarily related to grain size, but rather to grain
angularity.

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As might be expected, rock abrasivity can accelerate normal wear of a drill bit.

When drilling sandstone, for example, if individual sand grains are sharp edged,
angular, they can actually wear down the bit cutting structure prematurely. In a
mechanism similar to sand-blasting, the abrasive particles eat away any
exposed surface.

Not surprisingly, the mechanics of abrasivity resemble the drilling process on

a much smaller scale. For an individual sand grain to penetrate or scratch the

surface of the drill bit requires meeting a condition very similar to the threshold
WOB. Specifically, a minimum force must be applied over a given contact area
to initiate penetration, or:
F/A = s

Compare to Threshold

where:

WOB equation:
Fa / Ax = s

Force applied by the sand grain (lbf)

Contact area of the sand grain (in2)

Strength of the bit body or cutting structure (psi)

Ax

where:
Fa
s

Threshold WOB

Axial contact area

Rock strength

A Matter of Scale
In view of the fact that the force applied by the sand grain is relatively low, its
surprising that it can penetrate the hard material strength of the bit body.
However, if the contact area is very small, that is to say, if the sand grain has
very sharp edges, then an extremely high stress can be generated by a
relatively small force. A simple experiment clarifies this key concept:
Suppose a force of only 1 lb is applied over a contact area of 1 in2. From the

equation above, we can see that the resulting stress will be 1 psi.

Now suppose the same 1 lb force is applied over a contact area of 1/1000 in2.
The stress generated would now be amplified to 1,000 psi because the contact
area is a thousand times smaller. However, this stress is still not enough to
scratch the body of a drill bit.
Now suppose the contact area shrinks to 1/1,000,000 in2. Suddenly, a 1 lb
force generates a stress of 1,000,000 psi! This stress is high enough to
GeoMechanics Bit Wear Model

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penetrate any known material, including the synthetic diamond cutters of a PDC
bit. This is the essence of the abrasive process.
The Cost of Abrasivity
In the oilfield, abrasivity can be quantified as a premature loss of bit life. Since

bit life can be expressed in terms of a work rating, abrasivity can be expressed
in terms of work lost per volume of abrasive medium drilled as follows:

Abrasivity

l = ( Wrated - Wb ) / Vabr
where:

l
Formation abrasivity (ton*mile/ft3)
Wrated Rated work of bit at measured wear
condition (ton*mile)

Wb

Actual work done by bit at

measured wear condition (ton*mile)

Vr

Specific
Energy

Volume of abrasive rock drilled (ft3)

For instance, suppose a bit has done 1,000

(ton*mile) of work in drilling an interval of 600
ft measured depth and is pulled with 50% wear.
An examination of the GeoMechanics lithology
column shows that about

200 ft3 of abrasive

600 ft

sandstone was drilled in the interval.

Suppose also that the rated work-wear

Abrasive
Sandstone
200 ft3

relationship for that particular bit indicates that

wear should be only 40% after doing 1,000

(ton*mile) work, and that 50% wear should occur after doing 1,200 (ton*mile)
work. In other words, we should only have 40% wear but we actually have 50%.
This discrepancy corresponds to 200 (ton*mile) of lost bit life.

We can now quantify the abrasivity as a reduction in bit life of 200 (ton*mile) as
a result of drilling 200 ft3 of sandstone. Or, more simply, the sandstone has an
abrasivity of 1 (ton*mile/ft3). This unit of measure is dimensionally equivalent
to the standard laboratory abrasivity test.

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How does GeoMechanics use abrasivity? On the next well, GeoMechanics will

deduct 1 ton*mile of bit life (from the work rating of the bit) per cubic foot of
abrasive sandstone drilled. And, GeoMechanics can differentiate between
abrasive and non-abrasive sandstones.
Since the volume fraction of sandstone is determined in the GeoMechanics
lithology model, the physical volume of abrasive sandstone drilled can be
determined simply by multiplying the total volume of rock drilled by the volume
fraction of sandstone in the lithology column.

The effect of abrasivity on the work-wear relationship is shown below:

Sharp
Bit

Worn
Bit

Contact
Area
(in2 )
5.7

Bit Wear (%)

Abrasivity

2.2

100%

Critical cutters
worn to matrix

Axial

Normal

Frictional Work

0.1

Work losses due

to abrasivity

Cutting Work
0.1

0
2,000

2,570

Work Rating

Cumulative Bit Work (ton* mile)

Abrasion Resistance
A materials resistance to abrasion depends primarily on its hardness or
strength. The following table lists the hardness of some materials commonly
used as abrasives, as well as their relative hardness as compared to sand.
Material

Composition Hardness

Hardness Ratio

(kg/mm2) (ref: sand)

Diamond

Boron carbide

B4C

Carborundum, silicon carbide

GeoMechanics Bit Wear Model

8,000

10.0

SiC

2,500 3.1

2,750

3.4

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Titanium carbide

TiC

2,450

3.1

Zirconium carbide

ZrC

2,100

2.6

Tungsten carbide

WC

1,900

2.4

Corundum, alumina

Quartz, silica, sand

Al2O3

SiO2

2,100

800

2.6

1.0

History Matching
In practical terms, the bit wear model affords greater confidence in predicting
wear rate and bit life for a given application. After a bit is pulled, its wear
condition should be measured and correlated with the cumulative work done in
the interval drilled. These parameters should then be compared with the work
rating or to the rated work-wear graph. Any observed discrepancy may be
attributed to formation abrasivity as described above.
Alternatively, the theoretical work rating may be adjusted as necessary so that
the predicted work-wear relationship agrees with what is actually seen in the
field. It is expected that some adjustment will be necessary due to the

assumptions inherent with any mathematical model. Once a bit has been
history-matched, bit life predictions on subsequent wells should be more
refined as a result.
Similarly, the model makes possible a more accurate determination of bit wear.
While the contact area of the cutting structure provides a quantitative measure
of bit wear, a short-cut method is to consider the contact area of the critical

cutters only. In either case, the wear measurement will be reasonably accurate
provided the observed wear is predominantly uniform.
If impact damage is the predominant wear mode, the driller should consider

lowering the limiting power curve in order to preserve bit life. Alternatively, a
heavier set bit could be selected to drill the same interval on the next well.
These practical examples show the flexibility afforded by a bit wear model that
accounts for the most subtle effects of drilling mechanics. Armed with the dual
definition of mechanical efficiency, GeoMechanics bit wear model actually

provides a more accurate description of whats going on downhole, enabling

the driller to determine with more confidence how best to proceed.

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