Components of drilling assemblies, drilling assemblies, and methods of stabilizing drilling assemblies in wellbores in subterranean formations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9677344-B2
Application number	US-201313783136-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 1, 2013
Priority date	Mar 1, 2013
Publication date	Jun 13, 2017
Grant date	Jun 13, 2017

Abstract

A component of a drilling assembly comprises at least one blade having a gauge region comprising a bearing face for engaging a sidewall of a wellbore in a subterranean formation during rotation of the drilling assembly, and a rotationally leading edge rotationally preceding the bearing face and comprising an engagement profile comprising at least one of at least one chamfered surface and at least one radiused surface, the engagement profile different than another engagement profile of another rotationally leading edge of another region of the at least one blade. A drilling assembly, and a method for stabilizing a drilling assembly in a wellbore in a subterranean formation are also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An expandable reamer of a drilling assembly, comprising:
a tubular body; and
at least one blade switchable between an extended position and a retracted position relative to the body and comprising:
a gauge region comprising:
a bearing face for engaging a wall of a borehole in a subterranean formation during rotation of the drilling assembly; and
a rotationally leading edge rotationally preceding the bearing face, the rotationally leading edge free of structures embedded therein and exhibiting a first engagement profile comprising one or more of at least one chamfered surface and at least one radiused surface; and

at least one additional region adjacent the gauge region and comprising:
an additional rotationally leading edge having cutting elements embedded therein, the additional rotationally leading edge exhibiting a second engagement profile different than the first engagement profile of the rotationally leading edge of the gauge region.

2. The expandable reamer of claim 1 , wherein the first engagement profile comprises at least one of a plurality of chamfered surfaces and a plurality of radiused surfaces.

3. The expandable reamer of claim 1 , wherein the gauge region is substantially free of cutting elements configured and positioned to remove material of the subterranean formation during rotation of the drilling assembly.

4. The expandable reamer of claim 1 , wherein the first engagement profile of the gauge region comprises a plurality of chamfered surfaces, each chamfered surface of the plurality of chamfered surfaces comprising a different angle relative to a reference line tangential to the bearing face than each other chamfered surface of the plurality of chamfered surfaces.

5. The expandable reamer of claim 1 , wherein the first engagement profile of the gauge region comprises:
a first chamfered surface adjacent the bearing face; and
a second chamfered surface adjacent the first chamfered surface, the second chamfered surface exhibiting a greater angle relative to a reference line tangential to the bearing face than the first chamfered surface.

6. The expandable reamer of claim 5 , wherein the first chamfered surface exhibits a first angle of 15 degrees relative to a reference line tangential to the bearing face, and wherein the second chamfered surface exhibits a second angle of 45 degrees relative to the reference line tangential to the bearing face.

7. The expandable reamer of claim 1 , wherein the first engagement profile of the gauge region comprises a plurality of radiused surfaces, each radiused surface of the plurality of radiused surfaces comprising a different radius of curvature than each other radiused surface of the plurality of radiused surfaces.

8. The expandable reamer of claim 1 , wherein the first engagement profile of the gauge region comprises:
a first radiused surface adjacent the bearing face; and
a second radiused surface adjacent the first radiused surface, the second radiused surface exhibiting a smaller radius of curvature than the first radiused surface.

9. The expandable reamer of claim 8 , wherein the first radiused surface exhibits a first radius of curvature within a range of from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm, and wherein the second radiused surface exhibits a second radius of curvature within a range of from 3 mm to 10 mm.

10. The expandable reamer of claim 1 , further comprising at least one wear-resistant material within at least one recess in the bearing face of the gauge region.

11. The expandable reamer of claim 10 , wherein the at least one wear-resistant material comprises at least one ultra-hard material selected from the group consisting of natural diamond, a polycrystalline diamond material, and a ceramic-metal composite material.

12. The expandable reamer of claim 10 , wherein the least one wear-resistant material comprises at least one of a cube, a cuboid, a brick, a block, a stud, a cylinder, an ovoid, a pyramid, a prism, and a wear knot.

13. The expandable reamer of claim 1 , further comprising at least one layer of at least one wear-resistant material defining at least a portion of at least one of the bearing face and the rotationally leading edge of the gauge region.

14. A drilling assembly comprising:
at least one expandable reamer comprising:
a tubular body; and
at least one blade switchable between an extended position and a retracted position and comprising:
a gauge region exhibiting a continuous rotationally leading edge having an engagement profile comprising one or more of:
a plurality of radiused surfaces each exhibiting a different radius of curvature; and
a plurality of chamfered surfaces each exhibiting a different angle relative to one another; and

another region adjacent the gauge region and exhibiting a discontinuous rotationally leading edge having another engagement profile different than that of the engagement profile of the continuous rotationally leading edge of the gauge region.

15. The drilling assembly of claim 14 , wherein the at least one blade comprises a plurality of blades, each of the plurality of blades independently comprising the gauge region exhibiting the continuous rotationally leading edge.

16. The drilling assembly of claim 15 , wherein each of the plurality of blades exhibits substantially the same engagement profile of the continuous rotationally leading edge of the gauge region thereof.

17. The drilling assembly of claim 14 , further comprising at least one wear-resistant structure within at least one recess in at least one formation-engaging surface of the gauge region of the at least one blade of the at least one expandable reamer.

18. The drilling assembly of claim 14 , further comprising at least one layer of at least one wear-resistant material at least partially defining at least a portion of at least one formation-engaging surface of the at least one blade of the at least one expandable reamer.

19. The drilling assembly of claim 14 , wherein the discontinuous rotationally leading edge of the another region of the at least one blade comprises a rotationally leading edge of the another region exhibiting cutting elements embedded therein.

20. A method of stabilizing a drilling assembly in wellbore in a subterranean formation, comprising:
forming the drilling assembly to comprise at least one expandable reamer comprising:
a tubular body; and
at least one blade switchable between an extended position and a retracted position relative to the tubular body and comprising:
a gauge region comprising a bearing face and a continuous rotationally leading edge rotationally preceding the bearing face, the continuous rotationally leading edge exhibiting an engagement profile comprising one or more of:
a plurality of radiused surfaces each exhibiting a different radius of curvature; and
a plurality of chamfered surfaces each exhibiting a different angle relative to one another; and

another region adjacent the gauge region and comprising a discontinuous rotationally leading edge exhibiting another engagement profile different than that of the engagement profile of the continuous rotationally leading edge of the gauge region;

rotating the drilling assembly; and
engaging a sidewall of the wellbore with the at least one of the plurality of radiused surfaces and the plurality of chamfered surfaces of the continuous rotationally leading edge of the gauge region of the at least one blade of the at least one expandable reamer.

Assignees

• Baker Hughes Inc

Inventors

• Radford Steven R
• Ohm Amanda K
• Kulkarni Ajay V

Classifications

• E21B10/54 Primary

  the bit being of the rotary drag type, e.g. fork-type bits · CPC title

• E21B17/1092

  Gauge section of drill bits · CPC title

• E21B17/1078

  Stabilisers or centralisers for casing, tubing or drill pipes (E21B17/1007 - E21B17/1064 take precedence) · CPC title

• E21B10/43 Primary

  characterised by the arrangement of teeth or other cutting elements · CPC title

• E21B10/46

  characterised by wear resisting parts, e.g. diamond inserts · CPC title