DOI 10.

1007/s10556-016-0169-6
Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Vol. 52, Nos. 34, July, 2016 (Russian Original Nos. 34, MarchApril, 2016)

ANALYSIS OF DYNAMIC LOAD CAPACITY

OF THE TOP DRIVE OF DRILLING RIGS

A. V. Ashcheulov, A. A. Shestopalov,
and A. A. Lobachev

Problems related to the occurrence of undesirable oscillations in the course of drilling deep oil and gas
producing wells with the use of a top drive are presented. An example of a mathematical model is presented
in order to demonstrate the quantitative characteristics of pulsations in the tool. The results of the study
consist of recommendations for use in determining the design load on the motor of a top drive and in
processing experimental data on the drilling process.
Keywords: drilling, top drive, analysis of dynamic load, pulse, mathematical model.

A drilling rig for deep drilling is a complex power unit consisting of three basic power groups, a rotor drive, a system
comprising a raising and lowering mechanism, and the drive of the pump used to circulate the washing fluid. These groups of
elements are interrelated, though they have different energy functions and different basic characteristics.
Drilling rigs for deep drilling with new structural and energy systems that link the basic elements have been created in
recent years. Thus, the basic element of the drilling rig (rotor) has been moved from a stationary position (on th work table) to
a moving vertical support, and turned into a top drive system. As a result, an independent power circuit that comprises the drill
string drive and a rock crushing tool has been created. With such an arrangement of the equipment, the dynamics of the drilling
process has changed in essential respects, as is attested to by the first trials with the use of drilling rigs with top drives [13].
Studies of domestic top drives have been carried out at Promtekhinvest (including studies jointly with the St. Peters-
burg Polytechnic University; unique identifier of applied scientific studies RFMEFI57714X0054). Research studies related to
optimization of the construction and operating regimes of top drives have also been carried out.
The degree of utilization of the power of top drives is determined by the average level and variable components of
the resistance force in the top drive shaft, which depends basically on the magnitude and nature of the external load on the tool
[47]. The reaction force actions in a top drive are determined by the operating conditions of the string and the rock-crushing
tool as well as by the operating regimes of the raising and lowering mechanisms and the drive of the pump used to circulate
the washing fluid. A previous study [8] considered a model of the external load on the top drive system, the parameters of
which are established based on an analysis of the physical essence of the phenomena that arise in the drilling process, such
as the way in which a load arises in the rock-crushing tool and the behavior of the string when it is subjected to the action of
different oscillations in the course of drilling. These loads create a certain total effect in the top drive. Therefore, the loads on
the top drive tool may be conveniently expressed by a random function of time, distance, and drilling rate [911].
In [8], the load in the top drive tool is represented as a random function X(t; h) that reflects the laws of variation of
the thickness of the sheared chip over time as the tool is affected by different fluctuations. The following expression of this
function, expressed in dimensionless (normalized) form, was obtained in the course of its transformation [8]:

(1)

St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg, Russia; e-mail: studgidro@gmail.com. Translated from Khimicheskoe i Neftegazovoe
Mashinostroenie, No. 3, pp. 1215, March, 2016.

0009-2355/16/0304-0167 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York 167

where

l2
f 2i (t) = ak sin ki 0t + bk cos ki 0t;
i=0 k=1 k=1

X0 and X0max are the current and maximum value of the average load on the tool; ak and bk, coefficients of harmonic compo-
nents of Fourier series; and t0, length of pulse disturbance.
Through the use of expression (2) given below, the variable components of the average load on the shaft of the
top drive motor may be studied independently of its magnitude and dimension (this may be a force or moment of force).
max max
Therefore, X0 may be represented as Mod = Mod /Mod , where Mod and Mod are the current and maximum value of the
torque on the motor shaft under conditions in which the shaft is subjected to resistance forces, including variable components.
We may then write
M od (t; h) = M od F(t), (2)
where

max
In the productive conditions adopted as the design conditions (Mod = Mod ), we have Mod = 1.
From an analysis of (2), it follows that the work of a top drive is determined by the average load on the tool Mod,
which provisionally takes into account both the average loads on the other actuating mechanisms, random 1(t) and regular
2(t) fluctuations related to the stochastic variation of the strength properties of the soil, and the periodic entrances and ex-
its of the cutting elements into and out of the bottom hole. Disturbances in the feedback X(t; h) produced by the drive and
random disturbances especially of the low spectrum ac(t), which are distributed according to a normal law and are due to the
variability of the strength properties of the soil by drilling depth, are also taken into account. Since the disturbances ac(t) func-
tion in the region of frequencies below 0.1 Hz, these disturbances are transmitted by the top drive without any distortions.
Their influence may be estimated by the static gain factors and generally constitute the drift of the average [10].
When studying the dynamic processes that occur in the course of operation of a top drive motor, it is sufficient to take
into account the three groups of variable components of the load: the random and periodic components and the feedback. The
influence of the random component of the load has been previously considered with the use of the principle of superposition [8].
In the present article, we will consider the influence of the periodic component of the total load in the work of a top drive.
The pulsation parameters of the load acting on a top drive tool are determined by the form of the pulses in individually
considered cutting elements, the total number of cutting elements, and the number of cutting elements that interact with the rock.
To consider this process, we will use a well-known approach that involves approximating the cumulative curve of
the pulsating process. Sequences of pulses of typical form are adopted as the basis. The problem reduces to finding the typical
form of the pulses characteristic of the drilling process and obtaining analytic expressions of the parameters of these pulses.
If it is assumed that the resistance capacity of the rock to drilling around the cutting perimeter remains invariant, the
load on an individual cutting element of the rock-crushing tool will have the form shown in Fig. 1.
Let us analyze the parameters of the pulses. For pulses having the form of a nonisosceles trapezoid (cf. Fig. 1a),
the period T determines the periodicity of the entrances of the cutting elements of the rock-crushing tool into the bottom hole.
For a given average linear cutting rate vlr and average step between the cutting elements lk, and total number of cutting ele-
ments Ntot, the period T is defined as
(3)

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 Fig. 1. Characteristics of periodic load on rock-crushing tool: a) law of variation of
average value of resistance pulse of rock to cutting by cutting edge of rock-crushing
tool during period T; b) transformation of trapezoidal pulses into pulses of rectan-
gular form; c) transformation of pulses of rectangular form into a periodic cutting
regime, where ap = Aav, t0 = T, and tp = t3.

If the type and construction of the rock-crushing tool are known, the period T will be a function of the average cutting
rate. In the process of controlling the drive. the period T varies in accordance with the drilling depth. If we set T = T0 for the
case vav = vav.max, the limits of the variation of T will be determined as follows:

RT T T0 ,

where R is the number of gears.

The time t3 (cf. Fig. 1a) defines the length of time the cutting element is at the bottom hole (in contact with the soil)
and it may be equal or not equal to T. Unlike the period T, the time t3 depends on the drilling depth, the state of the rock, and
other fluctuations. The time t1 corresponds to the process of entrance of the cutting element into the bottom hole, during which
the thickness of the chips increases from 0 to h0. The time t2 represents the length of time it takes for the cutting element to
exit the bottom hole, moreover, t1, t2 << t3.
If it is assumed that t1 = 0 and t2 = 0, pulses having the form of a trapezoid (cf. Fig. 1a) are replaced by impulses
possessing rectangular form (cf. Fig. 1b). Moreover, t3 = tp, T = t0, and Aav = ap.
The amplitude of pulse A is determined by the parameters of the cutting regime and the resistance capacity of the
rock to drilling by a given type of rock-crushing tool. The amplitudes of individual pulses Ai are found by supposing that a
drilling rig with top drive functions with maximum efficiency Pm, where Ai is calculated from the motor.
If the rock-crushing tool is equipped with cutting perimeters with continuous cutting edge, it may then be assumed
in a rough approximation that the amplitudes on these perimeters Ai are the same, in which case Ai = Aav. If the rock-crushing
tools are equipped with cutting elements in the form of a certain set of teeth, the total number of teeth should then be divided
ngr
into groups, whence Ai Aav. We then set Ai = Aav + Ai, where Aav = Am ngr ; Am is the amplitude of the fluctuations
m=1
on a single tooth; and ngr is the number of cutting elements in a group.
For the case Ai = Aav, we will have

169
 If Ai Aav, we provisionally assume that individual pulses each consist of two pulses with equal period T and equal
length t3 but different amplitudes Aav and Ai. The case Ai = Aav is a special case of this sum in which it degenerates into a
single pulse.
Let us expand the average amplitudes of the pulses Aav into a Fourier series. As a result, we obtain a periodic function
P(t) of the form
N
1
P(t) = X0 [1+ 2 yk sin(k + k )], (4)
n k=1

where yk = sink /k; k = t3 /T; = 2pt/T; n is the total number of cutting elements; and k = 1, 2, 3, ..., N is the number of
essential components of the Fourier series.
The total load on the rock-crushing tool determined at the level of addition of pulses with average amplitude is ex-
pressed in general form by the relationship

(5)

where i = 2/n.
Summation of the pulses by means of (4) based on (5) leads to the expression (in terms of dimensionless coordinates)
N n1
P0 (t) = 1+ 2 yk sin[k( + ii )+ k ]. (6)
k=1 i=0

For the case in which k jn, where j = 1, 2, ..., N, we have

(7.1)

and for cases in which k = jn, we have

n1
sin[k( + ii )+ k ] = nsin(k + k ), (7.2)
i=0

(since ii = 2l, where l is an integer that depends on i and j). In light of these remarks, the expression for P0(t) assumes the
following form:

where yj = sinj /j; j = jt3 /t0; j = k/n is an integer.

For cases in which Ai = Aav, the variable part of the (7) series corresponds to the sum

(8)

For cases in which Ai Aav,

(9)

where P1(t) is a cumulative function obtained as a result of adding individual pulses of rectangular form with amplitudes
Ai, period Tgr, and length t3. Moreover, Tgr = T/m, where m = n/ncut is the number of groups into which the cutting elements
in the rock-crushing tool are distributed and ncut the number of cutting elements in a group.

170
 Performing the operation of summation as in (7), we obtain

(10)

where ai is the current amplitude of an individual cutting element.

In light of the relationships adopted earlier, and Ai << Aav and also limiting the discussion to the lowest

harmonic component

where k = m, expression (10) may be simplified and represented in the form of a harmonic function of the form

where
(11)

ngr 1 ngr 1
= arctan ai sin i ai cos i ; (12)
i=0 i=0

(13)

In order to analyze the variable part of formula (7), we will consider an analytic expression of a sequence of pulses
of rectangular form with period t0, length tp, and amplitude ap (cf. Fig. 1b). The variable part of this expression has the form

(14)

where zi = sini /i; i = itp /t0; = 2t/t0.

Expressed in terms of relative units, expression (11) assumes the form

(15)

Let us compare formulas (8) and (14). The two formulas possess identical right sides with ap = Aav and tp = t3 if
t3 = t3 3t0, where 3 is an integer corresponding to the minimum number of cutting elements found in the bottom hole.
Moreover, t0 tp 0. Hence, it follows that the periodic component of the external load on the rock-crushing tool is deter-
mined by a sequence of pulses of rectangular form with period t0 and length tp, to which (in the general case) a harmonic
component with period Tgr is added. If the distribution of cutting elements is such that ngr = n, we will then have Tgr = T.
Moreover, if the angle i = tp, which corresponds to 0.5tp on the time axis (cf. Fig. 1, c), is adopted as the coordinate origin,
we may then write in expanded form:

171
 Fig. 2. Characteristics of spectral decomposition of sequence
of pulses of rectangular form.

t sin itp 2
f2 = 2 t p itp
sin 2t + agr sin tp + ,
m
(16)
3 i=0

where tp = tp /t0; t = t/t0; = tp, moreover, tp /t3 = tp /(3 + tp).

Figure 2 presents the amplitudes of the first six harmonic components of the series to which the sequence of rectan-
gular pulses of the type being considered here is assigned.
The amplitude of the first harmonic component of the series, which is the most dangerous for the top drive, has a
maximum at tp = 0.5. Correspondingly, this component represents the basic fraction of the total dispersion, which makes it
possible to recommend it for use as a design case, in which tp = 0.5 and Ap = Aav. For the first harmonic ap = Ap. We then
obtain the design formula

1 sin(i / 2)
f2d = + 0.5 i / 2 sin2it . (17)
3 i=1

If it is taken into account that with even values, i sin(i/2) = 0, while with odd values, sin(i/2) = 1, formula (17) may
be transformed into the following simpler form:

(18)

where j = 2i 1 and M is the number of components in the Fourier series.

Bearing in mind that the lowest harmonic exerts the basic influence on the drive, we may set M = 1, while the number
of cutting elements found in the bottom hole 3 = 4, whence the design value while if the number of
cutting elements 3 = 6,
Thus, when studying the dynamics of a top drive motor the design load may be determined on the basis of the de-
pendence where Pl is adopted as the basis of the dependence of the lowest amplitude on drilling depth.
Through summation of the loads on the rotor it becomes possible to obtain the value of some average periodic load centered
relative to the rotor. This technique may be used to process experimental data.
The parameters of the periodic component of the load vary as the drilling depth varies. Therefore, the analysis of the
loads should be carried out by level (after dividing the drilling depth into a finite number of levels by type of rock), where an
acceptable approximation of the individual pulses is evaluated and the resultant periodic component of a typical sequence of
pulses is then replaced for the sake of facilitating the subsequent dynamic calculations.

172
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