Drilling apparatus, drill bit, and method for testing drill bit performance

1 . A drilling apparatus for testing drill bit performance, comprising:

a frame;

a drill bit component supported by the frame;

a vertical load mechanism supported by the frame above the drill bit component;

a sample container for holding a substrate material, the sample container being coupled to the vertical load mechanism; and

a rotary motion assembly operatively coupled to the drill bit component, the rotary motion assembly being configured to rotate the drill bit component,

wherein the vertical load mechanism is configured to move the sample container downwardly at a constant displacement rate with respect to the frame and toward the drill bit component, while the rotary motion assembly rotates the drill bit component.

2 . The drilling apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the drill bit component has a plurality of cutters.

3 . The drilling apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the cutters of the drill bit component have a −30° rake angle, a +30° rake angle, or 0° rake angle.

4 . The drilling apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of cutters of the drill bit component have a shape that is substantially the same as cutters of a PDC drill bit.

5 . The drilling apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the drill bit component is formed of polylactic acid plastic material.

6 . The drilling apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sample container holds the substrate material, and the substrate material is a paraffin wax.

7 . The drilling apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the rotary motion assembly comprises a stepper motor and a gear box, and the stepper motor is operatively connected to the drill bit component in order to rotate the drill bit component.

8 . The drilling apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a torque sensor connected to the drill bit component and connected to the rotary motion assembly for measuring the torque being applied to the drill bit component by the rotary motion assembly.

9 . The drilling apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the torque sensor is connected to the drill bit component by a rigid coupling and is connected to the rotary motion assembly by a flexible coupling.

10 . The drilling apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the vertical load mechanism comprises a load support and a load cell attached to the load support, wherein the load cell is coupled to a top of the sample container.

11 . The drilling apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the load support is configured to be vertically moveable with the respect to the frame to move the sample container downward toward the drill bit component.

12 . A method of using the drilling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate material is held in the sample container, the method comprising moving, via the vertical load mechanism, the sample container vertically downward at the constant displacement rate until the drill bit component penetrates the substrate material while the drill bit component is being rotated by the rotary motion assembly.

13 . A method of testing drill bit performance, comprising:

moving a substrate material vertically downward toward a drill bit component at a constant displacement rate;

rotating the drill bit component while moving the substrate material vertically downward toward the drill bit component until the drill bit component penetrates the substrate material;

then recording data from the drill bit component penetrating the substrate material including weight-on-bit, cutting depth per revolution, and reactive torque; and

analyzing a cutting performance of the drill bit component based on the recorded data using a Detournay model to decipher cutting and frictional contact response of the drill bit component.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the substrate material comprises paraffin wax and the drill bit component comprises a polylactic acid plastic material.

15 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising 3D printing the drill bit component to have a shape and cutters that mimic a shape and cutters of a PDC drill bit.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein a vertical load mechanism applies force to a sample container holding the substrate material to move the sample container and substrate material toward the drill bit component until the drill bit component penetrates the substrate material, and wherein a rotary motion assembly operatively coupled to the drill bit component rotates the drill bit component, and a torque sensor measures a torque of the drill bit component applied by the rotary motion assembly.