Strain gauges for detecting deformations of a plate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11739629-B2
Application number	US-202016942807-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2020
Priority date	Jul 31, 2019
Publication date	Aug 29, 2023
Grant date	Aug 29, 2023

Abstract

A bottom hole assembly (BHA) of a drill string includes a chassis, a plate coupled to the chassis, and a strain gauge coupled to the plate. The strain gauge is used to output a signal associated with a deformation of the plate. The plate and chassis may be included within a collar that experiences strain, and deformation of the collar may be translated to the chassis and the plate. The plate may experience strain in the form of torsional bending, in-plane bending, out-of-plane bending, axial tension or compression. The plate may include or be coupled to an electronics board that has strain gauges to measure different types of strain in isolation from other types of strain.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A bottom hole assembly (BHA) of a drill string, the BHA comprising:
a collar;
a plate coupled to the collar; and
a strain gauge coupled to the plate and configured to output a signal associated with a deformation of the plate, the strain gauge being isolated from at least three of torsion, out-of-plane, in plane, or axial deformations.

2. The BHA of claim 1 , further comprising:
a chassis coupled to the collar, wherein the collar is positioned around the chassis, the plate, and the strain gauge.

3. The BHA of claim 1 , the BHA further comprising an electronics board coupled to or part of the plate and configured to receive the signal output by the strain gauge and to do one or more of operate the BHA based on the signal or store deformation information based on the signal.

4. The BHA of claim 1 , the plate including electronics board:
communicatively coupled to the strain gauge;
configured to receive the signal output by the strain gauge; and
operate the BHA based on the signal, store deformation information based on the signal, or both.

5. The BHA of claim 1 , the strain gauge including a torsion strain gauge, an in-plane bending strain gauge, an out-of-plane bending strain gauge, an axial strain gauge, or any combination thereof.

6. The BHA of claim 5 , the strain gauge including:
the torsion strain gauge on a first surface of the plate, such that readings by the torsion strain gauge correspond with torsional deformations of the collar and are isolated from in-plane, out-of-plane, and axial deformations.

7. The BHA of claim 5 , the strain gauge including:
a first in-plane bending strain gauge on a first surface of the plate at a first side of a centerline of the plate; and
a second in-plane bending strain gauge on the first surface at a second side of the centerline of the plate and substantially aligned with the first in-plane bending strain gauge along a lateral axis of the plate, such that readings by the first and second in-plane bending strain gauges correspond with in-plane bending deformations of the collar and are isolated from torsion, out-of-plane, and axial deformations.

8. The BHA of claim 5 , the strain gauge including:
a first out-of-plane bending strain gauge on a first surface of the plate along a centerline of the plate; and
a second out-of-plane bending strain gauge on a second surface of the plate along the centerline and substantially aligned with the first out-of-plane bending strain gauge along a vertical axis of the plate, such that readings by the first and second out-of-plane bending strain gauge correspond with out-of-plane bending deformations of the collar and are isolated from torsion, in-plane, and axial deformations.

9. The BHA of claim 5 , the strain gauge including:
a first axial strain gauge on a first surface of the plate along a centerline of the plate; and
a second axial strain gauge on a second surface of the plate along the centerline and aligned with the first axial strain gauge along a vertical axis of the plate, such that readings by the first and second axial strain gauges correspond with axial deformations of the collar and are isolated from torsion, out-of-plane, and in-plane deformations.

10. The BHA of claim 1 , the plate having a cross shape or including a portion having a cross shape, with the strain gauge positioned at a center section of the cross shape.

11. A bottom hole assembly (BHA) of a drill string, comprising:
a chassis;
an electronics board coupled to the chassis and configured to operate the BHA; and
a strain gauge coupled to the electronics board and configured to transmit a signal indicative of a deformation to the electronics board to control operation of the BHA based at least partially on the signal indicative of the deformation to the electronics board, the strain gauge being isolated from at least three of torsion, out-of-plane, in plane, or axial deformations.

12. The BHA of claim 11 , the electronics board being configured to calibrate the deformation indicated by the signal to generate an additional deformation associated with the chassis.

13. The BHA of claim 12 , the additional deformation representing torsion on the chassis.

14. The BHA of claim 11 , the electronics board being configured to:
determine a projected location of the BHA based on the signal;
compare the projected location with a target location; and
operate the BHA to direct the BHA toward the target location.

15. The BHA of claim 11 , the electronics board being configured to operate the BHA to reduce the deformation indicated by the signal, store deformation information based on the signal, or both.

16. The BHA of claim 11 , the deformation including a torsional strain, an out-of-plane bending strain, an in-plane bending strain, an axial strain, or any combination thereof.

17. The BHA of claim 11 , further comprising:
a drill collar; and
an internal component that includes the chassis and is at least partially within the drill collar, the internal component being coupled to the electronics board such that the electronics board is within the drill collar, and wherein the signal indicative of the deformation to the electronics board corresponds to torque on the drill collar.

18. The BHA of claim 11 , further comprising a plate coupled to the strain gauge and removably coupled the electronics board, the plate having a cross shape or including a cross shape portion.

19. A plate for use in a downhole tool within a bottom hole assembly (BHA), the plate comprising:
a first surface;
a second surface parallel to the first surface;
a torsion strain gauge coupled to the first surface or the second surface;
two in-plane bending strain gauges each coupled to the first surface or each coupled to the second surface, the two in-plane bending strain gauges being on opposite sides of a centerline of the plate and aligned along a lateral axis of the plate;
a first out-of-plane bending strain gauge coupled to the first surface of the plate along the centerline of the plate;
a second out-of-plane bending strain gauge coupled to the second surface of the plate along the centerline and aligned with the first out-of-plane bending strain gauge along a vertical axis of the plate;
a first axial strain gauge coupled to the first surface of the plate along the centerline of the plate; and
a second axial strain gauge coupled to the second surface of the plate along the centerline and aligned with the first axial strain gauge along the vertical axis.

20. The plate of claim 19 , the plate including an electronics board configured to receive respective signals from, and operate the BHA based on, respective signals received from the torsion strain gauge, the two in-plane bending strain gauges, the first out-of-plane bending strain gauge, the second out-of-plane bending strain gauge, the first axial strain gauge, the second axial strain gauge, or any combination thereof.

Assignees

• Schlumberger Technology Corp

Inventors

• Sihler Joachim
• Hird Jonathan Robert

Classifications

• E21B47/007 Primary

  Measuring stresses in a pipe string or casing (for locating blocked portions of pipes E21B47/09) · CPC title

• G01L1/26

  Auxiliary measures taken, or devices used, in connection with the measurement of force, e.g. for preventing influence of transverse components of force, for preventing overload · CPC title

• G01L5/0061

  Force sensors associated with industrial machines or actuators (for the specific machine or actuator involved see relevant class, e.g. F01, F04, F16, B66, E21) · CPC title

• E21B17/16 Primary

  Drill collars · CPC title

• G01L5/16

  for measuring several components of force · CPC title