Laboratory Evaluation of PDC Drill Bits
Under High-Speed and High-Wear Conditions
Eddie R. Hoover, Sandia NaIl. Laboratories
John N. Middleton, Sandia Natl. Laboratories
Summary
Recently, five experimental polycrystalline diamond
compact (POC) bit designs were tested in the laboratory
at 100 and 500 rpm in three different types of rock: Nug-
get sandstone, Crab Orchard sandstone, and Sierra
White granite. This paper describes the testing pro-
cedures, summarizes bit perfonnance and wear
characteristics, and correlates these experimental results
with specific design options such as rake angle, bit pro-
file, and material selection.
Introduction
The significant improvements in wrbodrill technology
over the past few years have generated a great deal of in-
terest in the development of drill bits capable of
operating at the high speeds typically associated with
these downhole motors. Because of severe wear of mov-
ing parts such as bearings and seals, tricone rock bits
generally have perfonned poorly on high-speed tur-
bines. I PDC drag bits, on the other hand, have no mov-
ing parts and have been used successfully on turbines in
the North Sea and elsewhere overseas. 2.3 In 1979, San-
dia NatL Laboratories initiated a program to investigate
the limitations of POC drill bits as applied to high-speed,
high-temperature geothennal drilling.
Recently, five different experimental PDC bit designs
were tested in the laboratory under atmospheric condi-
tions at bo~h 100 and 500 rpm. Four of the designs wcre
developed by commercial bit manufacturers, while the
fifth was developed at Sandia. In general, the designs
were very diverse and used different bit profiles, cutter
rake angles, cutter positioning strategies, material selec-
tion rationales, etc. This diversity allowed the com-
parison of different design concepts.
General Description
Two 6.75-in.-diameter PDC drill bits were procured
from each of the following commercial bit manufac-
0149-2136181101210326$00.25
2316
turers; American Coldset Corp., NL Hycalog, Smith
IntI. Inc., and Dresser Industries Inc.lSecurity Div. In a
parallel effort, two 6.5-in.-diameter PDC bits were
designed and built at Sandia. All of these experimental
drill bits were developed specifically for high-speed
operation (greater than 300 rpm). The five different
designs are pictured in Figs. 1 and 2.
A typical PDC cutter assembly (Fig. 3) consists of a
PDC drill blank bonded to a support post or stud using
either General Electric Co. 's high-temperature LS-
brazing process or a diffusion-bonding technique devel-
oped at Sandia. 4 For purposes of comparison, the 10
drill bits fabricated for this experiment used both bond-
ing techniques. In addition, both steel and tungsten car-
bide support posts or studs were used. Six of the bits had
all LS-brazed carbide cutters (a PDC drill blank attached
to a tungsten carbide stud using GE's LS-brazing pro-
cess), one had all diffusion-bonded steel cutters, and the
other three bits had some combination of LS-brazed car-
bide cutters, diffusion-bonded steel cutters, and dif-
fusion-bonded carbide cutters. All 10 bits are described
in detail in Table 1.
The full-scale drilling tests were conducted at the
Drilling Researeh Laboratory in Salt Lake City under at-
mospheric conditions and using water as the drilling
fluid. The flow rate was held constant at 200 gal/min for
all tests. For these POC bits, the hydraulic pumpoff ef-
fect was found to be insignificant with respect to the bit
weights used. The bits were tested in Nugget sandstone,
Crab Orchard sandstone, and Sierra White granite at two
different rotary speeds: 100 and 500 rpm. The uncon-
fined compressive strength of these three types of rock.
was found to be 18,000,20,800, and 24,000 psi, respec-
tively. Depending on the type of rock, rotary speed, and
bit design used, the weight or vertical force on each cut-
ter varied from 30 to 1,500 Ibf.
Discussion of Results
The sandstone drilling tests were used to detennine the
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
 TABLE 1-EXPERIMENTAL poe DRILL BITS

Rake Oiffusion- Oiffusion-

Angle L5-Brazed Bonded Bonded
Bit Source Body Type (degrees) Carbide Culters Carbide Cutters Steel Cutters
1 American Coldset matrix -20 35
2 American Coldsel matrix -20 35
:1 NUHycalog matrix -20 25
4 NUHycalog matrix -20 15 10
5 Security steel -25 27
6 Security steel -25 9 9 9
7 Smith steel -20 26
8 Smith steel -20 10 6 10
9 Sandia steel -25 21
10 Sandia steel - 25 21

PDC DRILL BLANK

RAKE ANGLE

BOND LINE

STUD

Fig. 3-Typical POC culter assembly.

Fig. 1- Experimental highspeed POC drill bits: (from left)
Security, American Coldset, NUHycalog, Smith, and
Sanoia.

NUGGET SANDSTONE
100 rpm
160
s:.
.e
iii
~
c 120

z
2~
c

~
80
w
~
<40

0
~ 2 3 <4 5 6 7 8
WEIGHT ON BIT, Il x 103

Fig. 2-Top view of bits: (from left, top row) American Coldset, Fig. 4-Performance characteristics of Bits 1, 3, 5, and 8 at 100
NUHycalog, and Smith, (bottom (ow) Security and rpm in Nugget sandstone.
Sandia.

DECEMBER 1981 2317

perfonnance characteristics of each bit design as a func-
tion of the bit weight and rotary speed. The granite tests,
on the other hand, were used primarily to obtain ac-
celerated wear data on the different bits.
Nugget Sandstone
The drill bits numbered 1, 3, 5, and 8 in Table 1 each
drilled 8 ft in the Nugget sandstone. The perfonnance
characteristics of each bit at 100 and 500 rpm are given
in Figs. 4 and 5, respectively. For a particular weight on
bit (WOH), the rate of penetration (ROP) increases with
the rotary speed.
The spread in the curves in. Figs. 4 and 5 is caused in
part by differences in the rake angle and the number of
cutters on each bit. For instance, the Smith and Hycalog
bits have nearly the same number of cutters and both
have a cutter back rake angle of -20 0 (Table I).
Although considerably different in body profile (Fig. 1),
the Smith and Hycalog performances are very similar.
The American Coldset bit, however, has considerably
more -20 0 back rake cutters .. Thus, for a particular
WOH, the load per cutter is much lower and the bit has a
lower penetration rate. The Security bit has about the
same number of cutters as the Smith and Hycalog bits
but uses -25 0 cutters instead of -20 0 cutters. This in-
crease in rake angle decreases the cutter's projected sur-
face area, which decreases the cutting efficiency. In ad-
dition, the cutters on the. Security bit are positioned in
discrete rows such that two cutters may track directly
behind another cutter. The cutters on aU the other bit
designs are staggered radially and do not track each other
except on gauge. Both ofthese factors most likely con-
tributed to the Security bit's lower penetration rates.
However, the bit hydraulics also may have been an im-
portant factor .
. The torque requirements at 500 rpm are shown in Fig.
6. The Smith and Hycalog bits required much less torque
to achieve a particular penetration rate than the American
Coldset or Security bit. The Smith and Hycalog bits also
ran "rougher" than the oti1ertwo designs. This
"roughness" manifested itself as large oscillations in the
continuous torque readings. The oscillations had a period
of 1 Hz and a variation of 30 to 50% about the mean
value in Fig. 6. Inspection of the gauge trimmers on the
Smith bit revealed that they were not concentric about
the bit's centerline. This may have been the major cause
of the roughness.
As expected, the wear on all four bits was minimal.
Except for a minor chip in the cutting edge of one or two
cutters in each bit, the wear was characterized by a slight
rounding of the diamond cutting edge.
Crah Orchard Sandstone
AU four bits used to drill the Nugget sandstone were
tested next in the Crab Orchard sandstone along with the
new Sandia Bit 9. Before any perfonnance testing, the
Sandia bit was preduUed by driUiIlg approximately 5 ft in
the Crab Orchard sandstone. The perfonnance
characteristics of these bits at 500 rpm are shown in Fig.
7. Each bit drilled 8 ft during performance testing.
Again, none of the five bits exhibited any additional
wear except for a few small chips in four POC cutters on
the Sandia bit.
2318
The perfonnance of the bits at 500 rpm is consistent
with that found in Nugget sandstone except for the
American Coldset bit.. This bit's perfonnance was much
poorer and may have been caused by poor cleaning due
to the closeness of the cutters on this bit (Fig. 2).
As shown in Fig. 8, the torque requirements of these
drill bits at 500 rpm are low (100 to 400 lbf-ft) and
almost identical with those for Nugget sandstone.
Sierra White Granite
Seven of the 10 drill bits listed in Table ] were tested in
Sierra White granite to establish their wear
characteristics and to compare the diffusion-bonded cut-
ters with the LS-brazed cutters. The test results are sum-
marized in Table 2.
The American Coldset Hit 1, which had been pre-
dulled by testing in the Nugget and Crab Orchard sand-
stones, was used to drill two 30-in.-deep holes in the
Sierra White granite. The American Coldset Bit 2, which
had new, sharp cutters, also drilled two holes in the
granite. A comparison of the two bits after drilling an
equal amount of granite revealed that the sharp bit had
more diamond spalling and slightly larger wear flats.
Diamond spall is the loss of a portion of the diamond
layer in a plane parallel to the flat face of the PDC.
As seen in Table 1, the new Security Bit 6 contained
all three types of cutters: PDC drill blanks LS-brazed to
carbide studs, diffusion-bonded to carbide studs, and
diffusion-bonded to steel studs made out of AISI 4340
steel. One steel stud cutter was damaged severely when
the bit accidentally was rammed into the surface of the
granite block before drilling. However, the loss of a por-
tion of only one cutter did not create a serious drilling
problem. At the end of testing with this bit, there was
considerable cutter wear, but no clear choice was evident
between the durability of the three cutter types. With the
wear flats caused by only 8 ft of drilling, the bit weight
and torque required to maintain a penetration rate of 5
ft/hr were 30,000 Ibf and 3,000 ltif-ft. Such high torques
appear to be unavoidable in hard rock once the wear flats
have progressed into the cutter stud.
These three bits-Security Bit 6 and American Coldset
Bits 1 and 2-all were tested at both 100 and 500 rpm. It
was found that the cutter wear as a function of depth
drilled was much higher at 500 rpm than at 100 rpm in
the Sierra White granite. To reduce the wear rate and
minimize the chance of sudden bit destruction, the re-
maining four bits were tested at 100 rpm only.
The Security Bit 5, which had been preduUed earlier in
both types of sandstone, drilled about 18 ft in the Sierra
White granite at 100 rpm. The penetration rate was held
steady at 20 ftlhr by gradually increasing the WOH to a
maximum of 32,000 Ibf, which is equivalent to a weight
per cutter of approximately 1,200 lbf. Even though this
bit drilled much farther than the earlier bits, the cutter
wear was even, with very little spalling. The worst cut-
ters barely had worn into the carbide stud material.
The ,predulled Sandia Bit 9 drilled three consecutive
30-in.-deep holes in the Sierra White granite at 100 rpm
with varying bit weight. As shown in Fig. 9, the bit's
perfonnance decreased rapidly with each hole drilled.
After drilling approximately 8 ft in the granite, the wear
flats extended slightly into the stud material (Fig. 10).
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
 TABLE 2-WEAR IN SIERRA WHITE GRANITE
Feet Drilled Revolutions
Bit Source Condition in Granite Per Minute Wear Comments
1 American Coldset predulled 5 100 and SOO Very little spalling. but diamond layer
sheared off on one POCo
2 American Coldset new 5 500 Braze failed on three LS-brazed cu1ters.
Considerable diamond spalling with
wear into stud.
5 Security predulled 18 100 Moderate wear flots. No cutter damage.
6 Security new 7.5 100 and 500 Cutters on outside 60% of bit had large
wear flats.
8 Smith predulled 9 100 Disastrous wear: 2 diffusion-bonded
carbide studs missing, 1 brazed POC
missing frOm fractured stud, and severe
spalling of all cutter types.
9 Sandia predulled 7.5 100 Moderate wear flats. No cutter damage.
10 Sandia new 22.5 100 Severe wear but no POC stud diffusion-
bond failures.

NUGGET SANDsTONE CRAB ORCHARO SANDSTONE

600 fpn'I &00 ,.,m
180 180
J::.
.e
I!!~ 120
z
~
~ 80
tiz
~
1
"I 40

4 7 8 2 3 4 6 8 7 8
WEIGHT ON BIT, Ib x 103 WEIGHT Of\! BIT, Ib x 103

Fig. S-Performance characteristics of Bits 1. 3, 5, and 8 at 500 Fig. 7-Performance characteristics of Bits 1, 3, 5, 8, and 9 at
rpm in Nugget sandstone. SOO rpm in Crab Orchard sandstone.

NUGGET SANlSTOtE 200r----.-----.----,-----r----.-----.

5OO1'JlII1 CRAB ORCHARD SANDSTONE
500 rpm
180
160

;:

i 120
s
~ 120
~ z

I 80

40
o
~
II:

Ii
~
80

40

0
0 100 roo 300 400 eoo 100 200 300 400 500 800
TORQUE. Ibft TORQUE. Ibtn

Fig. 6-Torque characteristics of Bits 1. 3, 5, and 8 at 500 rpm Fig. 8-Torque characteristics of Bits 1, 3, 5, e, and 9 at 500
in Nugget sandstone. rpm in Crab Orchard sandstone.

DECEMBER 19tH 2319

 SMIlIA NO.. 9. 6-1I2-1n. DIAMETER
SERRA WKTE GRANITE
120
100 rpm
200 gall"" HOLE NO. 1
E 100 30 in. DEPTH
0:

i 80

I
~
60

40
HOLE NO. 2

20 HOLE NO.

WEIGHT ON BIT. 1b X 103

Fig. 9-Performance characteristics of Sandia Bit 9 at 100 rpm

in Sierra White granite.

Fig. 12-Close-up of severely worn cutter on Sandia Bit 10

after test in Sierra White granite.

Fig. 10-Photograph of Sandia Bit 9 taken after drilling 8 ft in

Sierra White granite.

Fig. 13-Photograph of Smith Bit 8 after experiencing gross

cutter failures in Sierra. White granite.

SHARP WORN BADLY WORN

eJ B U
400-6001b, 1000-1300 Ib, 1300-15001bf

Fig. 11-Photograph of Sandia Bit 10 taken after drilling 22.S Fig. 14-Typical weight per cutter required to maintain
ft in Sierra. White granite. Note the scalloped wear penetration rate of 20 ft/hr in Sierra White granite at
of diffusion-bonded steel cutters. 100 rpm for various degrees of wear.

2320 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

One cutter had rotated about 90", but none had spalled or
fractured.
The new Sandia Bit 10 with diffusion-bonded steel
cutters drilled 22.5 ft in the granite at 100 rpm. As with
the Security Bit 5, a penetration rate of 15 to 20 ftlhr was
maintained by constant adjustment of the bit weight.
After drilling only 8 ft, the cutters were worn slightly in-
to the steel stud and the torque was more than 2,700 lbf-
ft. At times, a 10% increase in WOB resulted in a 50%
increase in ROP and a 100% increase in torque_ The
weight per cutter required to maintain the ROP above 18
ftlhr at this point was approximately 1,500 lbf. The cut-
ters gradually wore farther back into the stud as drilling
continued, but the required bit weight and torque did not
increase appreciably _ The cutter wear on this bit is pic-
tured in Figs. 11 and 12.
The last bit tested was the predulied Smith Bit 8,
which had a combination of all three types of cutters.
The penetration rate was maintained at 20 ftlhr by cons-
tant adjustment of the WOB. After drilling one 4.5-ft-
deep hole, five cutters had been spaUed from Yi6 to l4 in.
down the diamond face. This bit, like the American
Coldset bits, used cutters with a -20 0 back rake.
Although the - 20" back rake was more aggressive than
- 25 a cutters in soft and medium rocks, it showed severe
spalling problems in the harder granite. After drilling
another 4.5-ft-deep hole in the granite, the bit was worn
rather disastrously over the outer 60 % of the bit diameter
(Fig. 13). All three types of cutters showed fracturing or
gross wear. The effect of cutter wear on the WOB or
weight per cutter required to maintain a constant ROP in
the Sierra White granite is shown in Fig. 14.
In general, the Sandia and Security bits drilled better
and with less spalling and wear than the American Cold-
set and Smith bits in the harder granite.
Conclusions
In both types of sandstone, the experimental PDC drag
bits drilled relatively smoothly at high speed (500 rpm)
with very low torque requirements (100 to 400 lbf-ft) and
low WOB. In particular, the Hycalog, Smith, and Sandia
bits performed especially well and appearto be excellent
candidates for high-speed turbodrilling applications in
low- to medium-strength formations. However, in hard
rock such as granite, the PDC bits did not perform well
at high speed and showed extremely high wear rates at
500 rpm. Therefore, PDC bits are not recommended for
use on turbines in granite or other very hard formations.
Some of the other major conclusions drawn from these
tests are summarized here.
1. In sandstone, the -20 0 back rake cutters are more
aggressive than the -25 0 back rake cutters and do not
spall easily. However, in hard granite, the -25 0 cutters
are preferable to the - 20'" cutters because of reduced
spalling, chipping, and wear.
DECEMBER 1981
2. Both diffusion-bonded and LS-brazed carbide cut-
ters perform equally well when the drilling fluid is water.
In hard rock such as granite, the carbide studs have lower
wear rates than the 4340 steel studs.
3. As the bits develop large wear flats in hard rock,
the torque becomes much more sensitive to changes in
the weight on the bit. Also, the torque required to
achieve penetration rates such as 20 ftlhr often exceeds
3,000 ftlbf.
One should emphasize at this point that the bit perfor-
mance characteristics were obtained under atmospheric
conditions. Under actual drilling conditions in the field,
such factors as the overburden pressure and overbalance
conditions will increase significantly the WOB required
to achieve a particular penetration rate. Also, the use of
other mud systems will modify the performance of these
bits.
One aspect that requires additional study is the effect
of lubrication polymers and oil-base muds on the high-
speed performance of these PDC drill bits. For example,
better lubrication may become extremely important at
very high speeds such as 1,000 rpm to prevent thermal
damage of the synthetic diamonds caused by increased
frictional heating.
Acknowledgment
This work was sponsored by the Div. of Geothermal
Energy of the U.S. DOE.
References
l. Fontenot, J.E.: "Turbine Drilling's Potential-l," Oil ana Gas J.
(June 9, 1975) 3943.
2. Powell, R.o Cooke, G., and Hippman, A.: "The Versatility of the
Turbodrill in North Sea Drilling," paper EUR 245 first presented at
the 1980 European Offshore Petroleum Conference and Exhibition,
London, Oct. 21-24.
3. Juge, P.: "ADMA Uses New Technology forTUIbodrilling." Oil
and GasJ. (May 14,1979) 122-137.
4. Jellison, J ,L,: 'Gas Pressure Bonding of Stratapax," paper No. 77
Pet 72 presented at the ASME Energy Technology Conference,
Houston, Sept. 18-22, 1977.
SI Metric Conversion Factors
ft x 3.048* E-OI = m
gal x 3.785 412 E+OO = dm 3
in. x 2.54* E+OO = em
lbf x 4.448 222 E+OO = N
psi x 6.894 757 E+oo = kPa
rpm x 1.666 667 E-02 = revls
.Conversion factor t", exact. JPT
Original manuscript reoeived in Society of Petroleum Engineers office July 18, 1981,
Papsr accepted tor publicalion Sept. 28, 1981. Revised manuscript received Oct 22,
1981. Paper (SPE 10326) first presented at the SPE 56th Annual Technical Con
ference and Exhibition held in San Antonio Oct. 57, 1981.
2321