Bearing assemblies, related bearing apparatuses, and related methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11512533-B2
Application number	US-202117238472-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 23, 2021
Priority date	Jun 7, 2017
Publication date	Nov 29, 2022
Grant date	Nov 29, 2022

Abstract

Bearing assemblies that include a plurality of polycrystalline diamond (“PCD”) bearing elements, bearing apparatuses including such bearing assemblies, and methods of operating and fabricating such bearing assemblies and apparatuses are disclosed. In an embodiment, the plurality of PCD bearing elements of one or more of the bearing assemblies disclosed herein include at least one first PCD bearing element. At least a portion of the first PCD bearing element exhibits a coercivity of about 125 Oersteds or more and a specific magnetic saturation of about 14 Gauss·cm3/gram or less. The first PCD bearing element includes a bearing surface with at least one groove formed therein. In an embodiment, the plurality of PCD bearing elements also include at least one second PCD bearing element. The second PCD bearing element exhibits a coercivity that is less than and a specific magnetic saturation that is greater than the first PCD bearing element.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A bearing assembly, comprising:
a plurality of polycrystalline diamond (“PCD”) bearing elements distributed circumferentially about an axis, the plurality of PCD bearing elements including:
at least one first PCD bearing element including a first PCD table, the first PCD table including a first bearing surface and the first bearing surface having at least one groove formed therein, at least a portion of the first PCD table exhibiting at least one of a specific magnetic saturation of 14 Gauss·cm 3 /grams (“G·cm 3 /g”) or less or an electrical conductivity of less than 1200 siemens per meter (“S/m”) and
at least one second PCD bearing element including a second PCD table, the second PCD table including a second bearing surface, at least a portion of the second PCD table exhibiting at least one of a specific magnetic saturation that is greater than the first PCD table or an electrical conductivity that is greater than the first PCD table; and

a support ring having the plurality of PCD bearing elements mounted thereto.

2. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein the specific magnetic saturation of the second PCD table is 15 G·cm 3 /g or more.

3. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein the electrical conductivity of the second PCD table is 1250 S/m or more.

4. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein the at least a portion of the first PCD table exhibits a coercivity of 125 Oersteds or more.

5. The bearing assembly of claim 4 wherein the at least a portion of the second PCD table exhibits a coercivity of 115 Oersteds or less.

6. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein a coercivity of the at least a portion of the first PCD table is 140 Oersteds to 175 Oersteds and the specific magnetic saturation of the first PCD table is 9 G·cm 3 /g to 12 G·cm 3 /g.

7. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein the first PCD table exhibits a specific permeability of 0.10 or less.

8. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein the bearing surface at or adjacent the groove is substantially free of cracks.

9. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein the at least one groove is generally centered about the axis.

10. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein the at least one groove includes a single groove.

11. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein the at least one groove includes at least two grooves.

12. The bearing assembly of claim 11 wherein the at least two grooves are spaced from each other by about 0.5 mm to about 2 cm.

13. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein the at least one groove exhibits a depth measured inwardly from the first bearing surface of about 50 μm to about 500 μm.

14. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein the second bearing surface does not include at least one groove formed therein.

15. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein the first bearing surfaces exhibits a convex or concave curvature.

16. A bearing apparatus, comprising:
a first bearing assembly comprising a bearing assembly of claim 1 , and
a second bearing assembly including a second support ring and a plurality of superhard bearing elements mounted to the second support ring, each of the plurality of superhard bearing elements including a superhard bearing surface positioned and at least one of the plurality of superhard bearing elements configured to oppose the first bearing surface of the at least one first PCD bearing element.

17. A method of forming a bearing assembly, the method comprising:
providing at least one first polycrystalline diamond (“PCD”) bearing element that includes a first PCD table including a first bearing surface, at least a portion of the first PCD table exhibiting at least one of a specific magnetic saturation of 14 Gauss·cm 3 /grams (“G·cm 3 /g”) or less or an electrical conductivity of less than 1200 siemens per meter (“S/m”);
forming at least one groove in the first bearing surface of the first PCD table;
selecting at least one second PCD bearing element that includes a second PCD table including a second bearing surface, at least a portion of the second PCD table exhibiting a specific magnetic saturation of 15 G·cm 3 /g or more; and
mounting a plurality of PCD bearing elements to a support ring, the plurality of PCD bearing elements including the at least one first PCD bearing element and the at least one second PCD bearing element.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the at least a portion of the first PCD table exhibits a coercivity of 125 Oersteds or more and the at least a portion of the second PCD table exhibits a coercivity of 115 Oersteds or less.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein forming at least one groove in the first bearing surface of the first PCD table includes lasing the first bearing surface to form the at least one groove.

20. A bearing assembly, comprising:
a plurality of polycrystalline diamond (“PCD”) bearing elements distributed circumferentially about an axis, the plurality of PCD bearing elements including:
at least one first PCD bearing element including a first PCD table, the first PCD table including a first bearing surface and the first bearing surface having at least one groove formed therein, at least a portion of the first PCD table exhibiting at least one of a specific magnetic saturation of 14 Gauss·cm 3 /grams, a coercivity of 125 Oersteds of more, or less or an electrical conductivity of less than 1200 siemens per meter; and
at least one second PCD bearing element including a second PCD table, the second PCD table including a second bearing surface, at least a portion of the second PCD table exhibiting at least one of a specific magnetic saturation that is greater than the first PCD table, a coercivity that is less than the first PCD table, or an electrical conductivity that is greater than the first PCD table; and

a support ring having the plurality of PCD bearing elements mounted thereto.

Assignees

• Us Synthetic Corp

Inventors

• Kolste Tyler
• Peterson S Barrett
• Gonzalez Jair J
• Pedersen Trond

Classifications

• F16C2240/42

  Groove sizes · CPC title

• F16C17/02

  for radial load only · CPC title

• F16C17/04

  for axial load only · CPC title

• E21B10/22

  characterised by bearing, lubrication or sealing details · CPC title

• F16C2226/34

  by brazing · CPC title