The Effects of Drilling Mud and Weight Bit on Stability and Vibration of a Drill String

The main goal of this research is to analyze the effects of drilling mud flow rate, drill string weight, weight on bit and angular velocity on stability and vibration of a drill string. To this end, kinetic and potential energies of a rotating drill string are written while axial and lateral vibrations are considered. The effects of the drill string's weight, weight on bit and geometrical shortening are considered in the model. Drilling mud's effects are modeled by the Paidoussis formulations. The finite element method is employed to discrete the formulations. The stabilizers are modeled by dropping the coincided nodes. Linear (Flutter method) and non-linear methods are employed to analyze a drill string's stability for different weight on a bit, angular velocity, drilling mud flow rate and numbers and arrangements of stabilizers. These results represent the significant effects of non-linear terms. Also, the effects of drilling mud flow rate and weight on bit on the natural frequencies and time responses are illustrated. Increasing drilling mud flow rate causes decreasing of natural frequencies and vibrational amplitude. Furthermore, increasing weight on bit leads to decreasing natural frequencies and increasing vibrational amplitude. These formulations can be used to choose the safest working conditions in the drilling process. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4005033]