Heat flow control for molding downhole equipment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10399258-B2
Application number	US-201514962896-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 8, 2015
Priority date	Nov 29, 2010
Publication date	Sep 3, 2019
Grant date	Sep 3, 2019

Abstract

There is disclosed herein a method of designing a mold, the mold being at least part of a unitary body to be formed from a plurality of layers by 3D printing, the method including defining an inner surface of the mold corresponding to at least part of an outer surface of an object to be molded in the mold; selecting a first material from which at least part of the mold is to be printed; and selecting a second material from which at least another part of the mold is to be printed, the second material having a higher thermal and/or electrical conductivity than the first material, wherein at least one of the layers from which the mold is to be formed by 3D printing includes areas to be printed from each of the first and second materials.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A mold assembly comprising:
a container comprising graphite;
a mold printed from a plurality of layers of mold material by 3D printing, the mold located in the container and comprising a mold cavity corresponding to a shape of a drill bit or bit head and, in an upper portion of the mold, windows with no printed mold material;
wherein an inner wall of the container forms a portion of the mold cavity through the windows.

2. The mold assembly of claim 1 , wherein the bit head is a steel bit head or a matrix bit head.

3. The mold assembly of claim 1 , wherein the windows correspond to gage portions of the drill bit or bit head.

4. The mold assembly of claim 1 , wherein the mold comprises two or more separate pieces, the mold assembly further comprises a metal blank, and the container holds the two or more separate pieces around the metal blank.

5. The mold assembly of claim 4 , wherein the metal blank comprises projections extending into blades of the bit head or drill bit.

6. The mold assembly of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of layers comprises a first material, the mold defines a space between the container and the mold, and the mold assembly further comprises a second material located in the space, the second material having a higher thermal and/or electrical conductivity than the first material.

7. The mold assembly of claim 6 , wherein the second material forms part of a heat source.

8. The mold assembly of claim 6 , wherein the second material is excitable by electromagnetic radiation to generate heat and thereby to act as a heat source.

9. The mold assembly of claim 6 , wherein the second material forms part of a cooling source.

10. The mold assembly of claim 6 , wherein the second material is positioned in a space created by a displacement that forms part of the mold, the displacement having a wall thickness, the displacement defining a negative image of at least part of a recessed portion of the drill bit or bit head, wherein the wall thickness of the displacement is at least partially minimized so as to form the space between an outer surface of the mold and an inner surface of the container.

11. The mold assembly of claim 6 , wherein the mold includes an elongate displacement inside the mold cavity to define a fluid passageway through the drill bit or bit head, the elongate displacement comprising at least a third material having a thermal and/or electrical conductivity different from that of the first material.

12. The mold assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a matrix material being molded that directly contacts the inner wall of the container in the windows.

13. A method of molding an object, the method comprising:
placing a body of material in a mold assembly, the mold assembly comprising:
a container comprising graphite;

a mold printed from a plurality of layers of mold material by 3D printing, the mold located in the container and comprising a mold cavity corresponding to a shape of a drill bit or bit head and, in an upper portion of the mold, windows with no printed mold material, wherein an inner wall of the container forms a portion of the mold cavity through the windows; and
heating and/or cooling a body of material by adjusting heat flow through the mold at a position adjacent the second material when an object is molded from the body of material in the mold.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising selectively heating the mold assembly using the second material.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising selectively heating the body of material using the second material.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising exciting the second material by electromagnetic radiation to generate heat.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising selectively cooling the mold assembly using the second material.

18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising selectively cooling the body of material using the second material.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the body of material directly contacts the inner wall of the container in the windows.

Assignees

• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Atkins William Brian
• Weaver Gary Eugene
• Sillen Valerie

Classifications

• B22F10/28

  Powder bed fusion, e.g. selective laser melting [SLM] or electron beam melting [EBM] · CPC title

• B22F3/03

  Press-moulding apparatus therefor · CPC title

• B22D27/04

  Influencing the temperature of the metal, e.g. by heating or cooling the mould · CPC title

• B22D19/14

  the objects being filamentary or particulate in form (making alloys containing fibres or filaments by contacting the fibres or filaments with molten metal C22C47/08) · CPC title

• B22C21/14

  for reinforcing or securing moulding materials or cores, e.g. gaggers, chaplets, pins, bars · CPC title