From our school time, we have been hearing about term drilling. It is an activity of cutting a hole in solid materials, of circular cross-section. There are several types of drilling and follows a particular process. This process applies to metals, wood, and rocks.
Process
First of all, to start the drilling process a proper cutter or a twist drill needs to be selected and installed in the drill machine and thereby the speed and feed of it should be adjusted. The machine will then start drilling a hole to a specific tolerance. Tolerance is the permitted deviation of size from its original. There is always the possibility of tolerance due to the oversizing in drilling. Oversizing can occur due to factors like the actual size of drill varies or the drill point is not accurate or the rigidity of the machine.
Checking the depth of drilled holes
Some measurements facilitate us by checking the depth of holes drilled by the machine. To check it accurately one needs to measure the length of sides of the hole but the bottom point of the hole is not measured. Measurement is taken by inserting a thin depth gage inside the hole. There may occur a possibility that gage does not fits into the hole as it might be too small. In such a case, a drill is twisted for the same size so that it can be inserted into a hole upside down. It is then measured by a ruler.
The national importance of drilling
Drilling has its key importance in distinct fields. As said drilling is of various types it is used in various processes. Some of the processes of national importance are :
- Extracting oils, gases, minerals, and geothermal resources.
- Monitoring and remediation of the environment.
- Development of infrastructure
- Excavating undergrounds
- Making scientific studies of earth’s subsurface
Improvement in a drilling system
As discussed above there are applications of drillingin a variety of fields but they can benefit only if there is an improvement in the drilling system which involves removal of debris and boreholes. These advances are inclusive of:
- Incrementing the rate of penetration
- Betterment in tool life and cutter technologies
- Increasing capability to sense conditions of tools to locate the target
- Avoiding obstacles in the subsurface
- Improving the ability to drill and steer horizontal holes to reach target zones.
Drilling is therefore not only useful for cutting holes in metals and wood but is also helpful in the production of oils and gases. Drilling tools are provided to help workers in drilling which are used in bottom hole assembly.