MIN 4015

Drilling and Blasting

By

Prof. Thomson Sinkala

tsinkala@gmail.com

Mining Engineering Department

School of Mines, University of Zambia

MODULE 3:
Insight into Drilling Equipment

(For Educational Purposes Only. Not for Distribution)

Content of Presentation
 Energy sources for rock drilling equipment
 Classification of rock drilling equipment
 Transmission of feed force in mechanized drilling machines
 Examples of rock drill strings
ENERGY SOURCES FOR DRILLING EQUIPMENT

Percussive Drilling Equipment

1. Piston (Hammer) Technique
Top hammer
In-the-hole (ITH) hammer
Top hammer
Hole diameter
22 – 140 mm
Principle:
As the name
“tophammer” implies,
the rock drill is situated
on the rig and the
piston hammers at the
rear end of the drill
string outside the hole.
The impact energy of
the rock drill piston is
transmitted to the drill
bit in the form of shock
waves. The method is
fast in good rock
conditions.
ITH Hammer Rotary-Percussive
Hole diameter Hole diameter
90 – 254 mm 90 – 165 mm
Principle: Principle:
The hammer is situated The rock drill is
inside the hole in direct situated on the feed
contact with the drill bit. beam on the rig, and
The piston directly strikes the impact energy is
the drill bit resulting in an imparted at the rear
efficient transmission of end of the bit, outside
the hole. Threadless
the impact energy and
impact rods are
insignificant power losses
stacked inside the
irrespective of hole length. threaded drill pipes.
The method is widely used The impact rods are
for drilling long holes, not used solely to transmit
only for blasting, but also impact energy and
for water wells, shallow feed force, while the
gas and oil wells, and for drill pipes transmit
geothermal wells. In rotation. COPROD
mining it is also developed combines the speed of
for sampling using the tophammer drilling
reverse circulation (RC) with the hole
drilling technique. straightness of the ITH
method.
Hole diameter
125 – 165 mm
Principle:
The hammer is situated
inside the hole directly
behind the drill bit, similar
to the ITH method. The
difference compared to
ITH drilling is that the RC-
hammer collects the
exhaust air and the rock
chips through an inner
centre tube of the
hammer and inside the
drill string up to the
surface where samples
can be collected in bags.
Flushing of the cuttings is
done through the chuck
sleeve.
Hole diameter Hole diameter
120 – 406 mm 251 – 311 mm
Principle: Principle:
Rotation is provided By combining a low impact
by a hydraulic or ITH hammer with the high
feed pressure and torque
electric motor driven of rotary tricone drilling, a
gearbox called rotary higher level of energy can
head that moves up be provided for rock
and down the tower drilling than what either an
via a feed system, ITH hammer or rotary
generating the drilling can create alone.
pulldown required to The light-weight hammer
piston strikes the tricone
give sufficient weight
drill bit resulting in a
on the bit. Flushing of transmission of the impact
drill cuttings between energy to the drill bit. The
the wall of the hoe impact energy from the
and the drill rods is hammer enhances the
normally made with spalling and rock cutting
compressed air. process to increase
penetration rate.
Selecting the right hammer
The optimum range of hole size for blast hole drilling with ITH is 90 mm to 254 mm (3 ½"–10").
Smaller blast holes are generally drilled using tophammer, and larger holes generally use rotary
machines.
In other applications, like foundation drilling, ITH hammers can be used with single bit in hole sizes
up to 750 mm (30"). With multiple hammer units CD (Cluster drills) drill holes up to 70" or 1778 mm.
As a rule of thumb, the smallest hole diameter a ITH hammer can drill is its nominal size. A 4 inch
hammer will drill a 4 inch (102 mm) hole. The limiting factor is the outside diameter of the hammer,
because, as hole diameter reduces, airflow is restricted.
Maximum hole size for production drilling is the nominal hammer size plus 1 inch, so for a 4 inch
hammer the maximum hole size is 5 inch (127–130 mm).
Choosing the right hammer is largely determined by hole size and type of rock formation.
Ideally, the size of the hammer should match the required hole dimension as closely as possible,
leaving just enough space for cuttings to evacuate the hole.
2. Rotation (Indexation) Technique
Integrated rotation (rifle bar or ratchet wheel types)
(RBMP = Rotation by Backstroke Motion of Piston)

 Independent rotation
3. Energy Type
 Pneumatic
 Hydraulic
 Electrical (currently not used for drilling in mines)
 Energies for Percussive Drilling

Top Hammer In-The-Hole (ITH) Hammer

Independent Rotation by Piston Backstroke

Independent Rotation
Motion / Handheld
Rotation

Hydraulic Internal Electrical Pneumatic Hydraulic

Combustion Energy (IR)
(oil) Energy Energy Energy (water) Energy
Water-Powered ITH Drilling Machine
Recent Invention in Sweden
 Energy Supply for Percussive Drilling
 Compressed air for pneumatic rock drills,
 Supplied from an existing network or from portable air compressors,
 Network of compressed air also utilized for other operations such as;
 Explosive charging,
 Shotcreting, and
 winching

Compressor
 Energy Supply for Hydraulic Drilling
The network of electricity supply to the hydraulic drill machine consists
of;
 High voltage cable,
 Transformers,
 Low voltage cables, and
 Various types of connecting boxes and switch gears.
In drifting and long hole drilling, the transformers with input normally 10-20
kV transformed to 380-660 kV, are usually moved in steps of 500 to 700
metres, as work progresses.
Therefore, additional high voltage cables are added using connecting hoses.
For low voltage cable, the maximum allowable voltage drop between
transformer and connection to jumbo cable is 7%. For a given power, the
higher the voltage the smaller and lighter the cable because power can be
carried in association with a smaller electrical current.
However, above 660 V the safety precautions become very strict, depending
on the laws of respective countries.
The ground fault and overcurrent relay can be either fixed at every drilling
site or carried by a jumbo (portable). If portable, the relay must be mounted
at the start of a jumbo connecting cable, and not the jumbo end.
 Hydraulic vs Compressed Air Energy Media
The use of hydraulic energy media in drilling started in the early
1970s.
ADVANTAGES OF HYDRAULIC DRILLING INCLUDE:
COMPLIANCE
 Oil is much more compliant than compressed air.
 Therefore, oil is more adaptable for measurement, regulation,
and control.
 Consequently, opportunities for automating drilling equipment
are much greater, and today’s trends are in this direction.
 Anti-jamming automatics are but one example.
PERCUSSION ENERGY TRANSMISSION
 Because of compliance, the piston in hydraulic rock drills is
slender compared to that of pneumatic rock drills.
 Since the piston shape is almost the same as rod shape, the
energy losses are less than for pneumatic drills.
 This results in less stresses in drill steels, hence longer life and
less drill steel costs.
PENETRATION RATES
Since the energy transmission is more efficient, it follows that the penetration
rates for hydraulic rock drills are likely to be higher than for pneumatic rock drills.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT
 Hydraulic rock drills have less noise because of the absence of exhaust air
associated with pneumatic rock drills.
 Absence of exhaust air also means absence of water and oil mist, and thus
good visibility.

ADVANTAGES OF PNEUMATIC ROCK DRILLS include:

 Simplicity and robustness,
 Easy servicing and repair,
 Low purchase price,
 Pre-existing compressed air power stations and lines in mines that existed
before the hydraulic rock drills were introduced.
 Energies for Rotary Drilling

Hydraulic Energy Pneumatic Energy

http://www.mwdrill.com/hrm110/
CLASSIFICATION OF ROCK DRILLING EQUIPMENT
 Sinkers
Sinkers are handheld rock drills used for drilling short and small
diameter downward holes.
Their versatility and application depend on their weight and their
ruggedness. Modern handheld drills are designed to be lighter
and more efficient.
The lightweight sinkers are mainly applied in works such as
boulder drilling for secondary blasting, bench drilling and shaft
sinking.
Their weight range is about 18 to 25 Kg.
The medium-heavy and rugged sinkers are often used for works in
quarries, road construction (secondary blasting), smooth shallow
blocking, etc.
Thrust is applied by the driller by exerting force on the drill. For
this reason, sinkers are usually heavier than stoppers or jacklegs
because the weight of the drill provides part of the of the thrust.
Energies include compressed air, hydraulic, electricity and internal
combustion.
 Electric
handheld drill
New Inventions
Internal
combustion
handheld drill

Hydraulic handheld drill

 Stopers
Stopers are used for drilling of vertical to near-vertical holes, usually in the
range +45o to +90o.
They consist of a percussive rock drill rigidly mounted in front of an air cylinder
so that the trust from the cylinder is in line with drill and drill rod.
Stopers are applied mainly in raise development, overhead drilling and roof
bolting.
When used in roof bolting the rock drill incorporates a clock-wise rotation and
the machine serves triple functions of drilling holes, inserting bolts and
tightening nuts.
Powerful stoppers for high capacity production drilling are more advantageous
in narrow veins, raises and other areas where space is limited.
Drill steel lengths should be made to vary between equal to or less than the
length of the travel feed.

The FEED is attached to the back head of the rock drill. Feed lengths can vary
according to design. Eg, Atlas Copco has feed lengths of 770mm and 970mm.
 Jack (pusher) leg drills
Jack legs are handheld drills most often used for drifting and tunneling.
They are normally used for drilling of holes inclined from horizontal to +45o.
The drills have light or heavy pistons, depending on the rock hardness, size
of hole and hole length.
With a jack leg, a starter drill steel is often used when collaring a hole. The
hole is a later finished off with a longer drill steel (usually about 2.5m).
When starting a collar, an assistant helps to guide the bit in order to achieve
a faster and more accurate drilling.
FEED FORCE is achieved using a telescopic cylinder extended by compressed
air, and is hinged near the balance point of the drill. The jackleg feeds have
single- or double-acting telescopic air cylinder.
With the double acting ones, the self-retraction is achieved by a control
that reverses the air flow. The single-acting ones are normally retracted
manually by drawing the leg forward towards the rock drill.
The feed lengths vary depending on the application, but are generally
between 900 mm and 1900 mm.
The hammer (piston) is situated outside the hole in the rock
Top Hammer Drill
drill chamber and strikes on top of the drill string (rod).
The impact energy is transmitted in form of shock waves to
the rock through the drill string (rod + couplings + bit).
A part of the energy is lost in couplings / joints and at drilling
string contact points with rock.
Top hammer drilling is used mostly drifting, tunneling,
stoping, benching, smooth blasting, boulder reblasting,
shaft sinking, raising, rock support and drainage.
For boomer drills,
operating pressure
is up to 10 bars for
compressed air
machines, and up
to 250 bars for
Hydraulic machines.
Boomer drilling machine
Tamrock Top Hammer
Hydraulic Boomer Drill

http://www.hanfagroup.com/products/underground-jumbo-drilling-rig/183.html
Example of Underground Drilling Works
 In-The-Hole (ITH) Hammer Drill
The hammer (piston) is situated inside
the hole where it strikes directly on the
bit to minimize energy losses, resulting
in an efficient transmission of the
impact energy.
ITH drilling is widely used for long hole
drilling for blasting, water wells,
shallow gas and oil wells and
geothermal wells. It is also used for
reverse circulation (RC) drilling for
sampling.
The ITH drills are generally most
suitable for holes sizes of 89 mm to 200
mm for surface drilling and 89 mm to
165 mm for underground drilling. Their
complete range is 85 mm to 216 mm.
Surface Drilling
 Rotary-Percussive Drills
The hammer (piston) is situated outside the hole in the rock
drill chamber and strikes on top of the drill string (rod).

Threaded impact rods are stacked inside threaded drill

pipes.

The impact rods are used solely to transmit impact energy

and feed force to the bit, while the drill pipes transmit
rotation.

This combines the advantages of both top hammer (speed)

and ITH hammer (efficiency energy transmission and hole
straightness)
 Rotary Drill

Rotation is provided by a
hydraulic or electric motor
driven gearbox (known as rotary
head) that moves up and down
the tower via a feed system that
generates the thrust required to
give sufficient weight
(pulldown) on the bit.
TRANSMISSION OF FEED FORCE (THRUST)
IN MECHANIZED DRILLING MACHINES

Chain feeds
Screw feeds
Hydraulic (cylinder) feeds
 General Principle of Feed Force Transmission to Bits

Apart from the controls which may remotely located, the feed system is
assembled around the feed beam which is made of either aluminium or
steel.

Hydraulic feed is (smooth and stepless + dampening effect)

CHAIN FEEDS Sprocket
These are intended for use with both heavy
and light rock drills. A heavy gauge chain
running between two channels is powered
by Pneumatic, Electric, Hydraulic energies
which drives a sprocket though a worm and Worm
wheel type gear box. Gear
Pneumatic and hydraulic chain feeds
generally have the same design, the main
difference being that:
 Pneumatic chain feed has an
air motor while hydraulic
chain feed has a hydraulic
motor, and
 Hydraulic systems for the feed
and rotation mechanism of the
rock drills include an anti-
jamming system to prevent
stuck rill steels, because of the
hydraulic compliance to Chain Feed
automatics.
Cradle

Chain

Rail
Boomer Drilling Equipment Underground
THRUST
In, for example, a pneumatic chain feed, the cradle of the rock drill is made to
move in either directions on the beam by a chain which receives power from
the feed motor by means of a worm gear.
The worm gear transforms the in-coming high rate of revolution from the
motor to a suitable output drive on the chain.
In a hydraulic system, a low-speed hydraulic motor is often used and there is
no need for a worm gear.
The chain is attached either directly to the cradle or via a spring system to
reduce chain vibrations.
Chain feeds often require larger motors to produce the same drilling results
as screw feeds, but have an advantage of rapid retrieval of drill steels from
holes.
 SCREW FEEDS
Screw feeds are pneumatically powered.
The drill steel supports for screw feeds
can be manual, pneumatic, or hydraulic.
Compared to chain feeds, screw feeds:
 Enable uniform feed force,
 Provide solid support against a drill
machine, Cradle
 Have a lower risk of stretching or
breaking, and Screw
 Give the largest possible feed length
in comparison to total length.
The radial feed motor enables a more
controlled feed pressure.
CYLINDER FEEDS
Cylinder feeds can be used both with light and heavy rock drills. A rock
drill is mounted on a cradle whose motion is movement by a hydraulic
cylinder. The movement of the rock drill is assisted by a chain or wire.

The main advantages with hydraulic feeds are that they have a:

Smooth and stepless control of both feed force and feed rate, and
Dampening effect on rock drill recoil.
THRUST
Thrust is effected by means of a cylinder (8) and the piston rod (6) located in the rear and of the
feed beam. The cylinder exerts pressure on the cradle (4) via the feed wire (9) or the return wire
(7). The rock drill which is mounted on the cradle in turn transfers thrust on the rock through the
drill string and bit.
The speed of the cradle of the rock drill on the cradle is twice the faster than that of the cylinder
and the intermediate support, which move together at the same speed. As a result the travelling
support is always centred between the rock and the drill steel support (1) in front.
 EXAMPLES OF DRILL STRINGS
(RODS, COUPLINGS AND BITS)
Integral Drill Rods
Codes for ITH Bits
Codes for Atlas Copco Hammers
Codes for Atlas Copco ITH Pipes
Codes for Atlas Copco Adaptors
Tapered Drill Rods with Bits
Integral Drill Steels Options
Shank Adaptors
Threaded Drill String Options
Types of Extension Drill Rods
Types of Couplings
Drill Rod Couplings
Atlas Copco Button Bits – Standard Assortment
Atlas Copco Bit Shanks

Splines
Atlas Copco Bit Shanks

Splines
 Drill pipes, fishing tools

In case of in hole drill pipe

failures there are special fishing
tools to retrieve pipes and
Hammers
• Conical female thread to grip
around the drill pipe
• Conical male thread to grip inside
the drill pipe
End of Module 3