Apparatuses and methods for forming an instrumented cutting for an earth-boring drilling tool

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11180989-B2
Application number	US-201816026922-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 3, 2018
Priority date	Jul 3, 2018
Publication date	Nov 23, 2021
Grant date	Nov 23, 2021

Abstract

An instrumented cutting element, an earth-boring drilling tool, and related methods are disclosed. The instrumented cutting element may include a substrate base, a diamond table disposed on the substrate base, a sensor disposed within the diamond table, a lead wire coupled to the sensor and disposed within a side trench formed within the substrate base, and a filler material disposed within the side trench. The earth-boring drilling tool may include securing the instrumented cutting element to a blade of a bit body. A related method may include forming the instrumented cutting element and earth-boring drilling tool.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An instrumented cutting element for an earth-boring drilling tool, comprising:
a substrate base;
a diamond table disposed on the substrate base and having a cutting surface opposite the substrate base;
a sensor disposed within a channel of the diamond table, the channel isolated from the cutting surface, the sensor having at least substantially the same shape as the channel and being surrounded by diamond material of the diamond table, wherein the sensor is configured to obtain data relating to at least one parameter related to at least one of a diagnostic condition of the instrumented cutting element, a drilling condition, a wellbore condition, a formation condition, or a condition of the earth-boring drilling tool;
a lead wire coupled to the sensor and disposed within a side trench along an exterior side surface of the substrate base, the side trench extending into at least a portion of the diamond table; and
a filler material disposed within the side trench, the side trench filled by the filler material.

2. The instrumented cutting element of claim 1 , wherein the filler material is selected from the group consisting of metallic adhesives, ceramic-metallic adhesives, ceramic adhesive, silicate high temperature glue, epoxies, and pastes.

3. The instrumented cutting element of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is selected from the group consisting of a thermocouple, a thermistor, a chemical sensor, an acoustic transducer, a gamma detector, a dielectric sensor, a resistivity sensor, a resistance temperature detector (RTD) and a piezoresistive sensor.

4. The instrumented cutting element of claim 1 , further comprising at least one additional sensor disposed within the diamond table.

5. The instrumented cutting element of claim 4 , wherein the sensor and the at least one additional sensor are offset from each other in different planes relative to the cutting surface of the diamond table.

6. The instrumented cutting element of claim 4 , wherein the sensor and the at least one additional sensor are positioned within a same plane relative to the cutting surface of the diamond table.

7. The instrumented cutting element of claim 6 , wherein the at least one additional sensor is positioned in an additional channel within the diamond table that extends parallel to the channel.

8. The instrumented cutting element of claim 6 , wherein the at least one additional sensor is positioned in an additional channel within the diamond table that is angled relative to the channel at an angle that is greater than zero degrees.

9. The instrumented cutting element of claim 6 , wherein the channel follows a curved path proximate a peripheral edge of the diamond table and the at least one additional sensor is positioned within an additional curved channel proximate the peripheral edge of the diamond table.

10. The earth-boring drilling tool of claim 1 , wherein the channel has a uniform aspect ratio at or greater than 20:1.

11. The earth-boring drilling tool of claim 1 , further comprising a conduit disposed within a back portion of the substrate base with the lead wire passing through the side trench and through the conduit having a connector on an end of the lead wire.

12. The instrumented cutting element of claim 1 , wherein the sensor extends across the diamond table.

13. A method of forming an earth-boring drilling tool, the method comprising:
forming a substrate base and a diamond table on the substrate base with an embedded metal insert for an instrumented cutting element, the diamond table having a cutting surface opposite the substrate base;
forming a channel within the diamond table responsive to leaching at least a portion of the diamond table to remove the embedded metal insert, the channel isolated from the cutting surface;
forming a side trench within at least a side portion of the substrate base and extending into at least a portion of the diamond table to form contiguous open space with the channel;
inserting a sensor within the channel and an associated lead wire coupled to the sensor within the side trench, the sensor having at least substantially the same shape as the channel and being surrounded by diamond material of the diamond table, wherein the sensor is configured to obtain data relating to at least one parameter related to at least one of a diagnostic condition of the instrumented cutting element, a drilling condition, a wellbore condition, a formation condition, or a condition of the earth-boring drilling tool; and
disposing a filler material within the side trench, the filler material filling the side trench.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein forming the substrate base and diamond table includes sintering a diamond powder with the embedded metal insert during an HTHP process.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising embedding two or more metal inserts within the diamond powder prior to the HTHP process.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the two or more metal inserts are metal wires having different characteristics.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the different characteristics include one or more of a different shape, a different length, or a different diameter.

18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
forming a cavity within a bottom portion of the substrate base; and
inserting and securing a conduit to the substrate base.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein forming the side trench and forming the cavity are performed by at least one of a laser removal process or electrical discharge machining.

20. An earth-boring drilling tool, comprising:
a body including at least one blade having an aperture extending therethrough;
an instrumented cutting element secured to the at least one blade, the instrumented cutting element comprising:
a substrate base;
a diamond table disposed on the substrate base;
a sensor disposed within the diamond table, wherein the sensor is configured to obtain data relating to at least one parameter related to at least one of a diagnostic condition of the instrumented cutting element, a drilling condition, a wellbore condition, a formation condition, or a condition of the earth-boring drilling tool;
a lead wire coupled to the sensor and disposed within a side trench extending from the sensor within the diamond table along an exposed side surface of the substrate base to a central cavity defined by a surface of the substrate base opposite the diamond table; and
a filler material disposed within the side trench, the side trench filled by the filler material.

21. A method of operating an earth-boring drilling tool, the method comprising:
obtaining measurement data with a sensor embedded within a diamond table of an instrumented cutting element during a drilling operation on a subterranean earth formation, the measurement data indicative of at least one characteristic indicative of a diagnostic condition of the instrumented cutting element, a drilling condition, a wellbore condition, a formation condition, or a condition of the earth-boring drilling tool;
transmitting the measurement data to a data collection module through a lead wire coupled to the sensor, the lead wire passing through a side trench and into a conduit, the side trench along at least a portion of a diamond table coupled to a substrate base and extending along an exterior side surface of the substrate base, at least a portion of the conduit being external to the earth-boring drilling tool; and
determining the at least one characteristic via analysis of

Assignees

• Baker Hughes Holdings Llc

Inventors

• Cao Wanjun
• Webb Steven W
• Bilen Juan Miguel

Classifications

• E21B47/013

  Devices specially adapted for supporting measuring instruments on drill bits · CPC title

• C22C26/00 Primary

  Alloys containing diamond {or cubic or wurtzitic boron nitride, fullerenes or carbon nanotubes} · CPC title

• B22F7/08

  with one or more parts not made from powder {(B22F7/062 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B22F7/06

  of composite workpieces or articles from parts, e.g. to form tipped tools {(B22F7/002 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• E21B12/02

  Wear indicators · CPC title