Tricone bit is assembled by many parts, including arms, 3 different cones, ball for locking, O-ring for sealing bearing, grease for lubrication, different tungsten carbide inserts/teeth on cones and grease resevoir, etc.
If we make a new design on tricone bit, we have to make new molds for many parts, like arms,cones,tungsten carbide inserts,O-rings,balls,etc.The arms and cones are produced by forging, the forging MOQ is calculated by tons, so it is expensive to get a new sample of forging arm. The same thing happens on other parts of tricone bit. Further more, the workshop needs to customize fixing tools for machines holding steel parts,it is also complex to make the fixing tools on CNC machines.Therefore, it will take more time and cost high to design and produce a new tricone bit.
PDC bit is constituent by body and cutters. The PDC body has two types, matrix and steel.Nowadays the matrix body becomes less, the steel body is popular,we will talk about steel body PDC bits.
If we make a new design on PDC bit, the engineer will complete the design and drawings first,after confirmation with the customers,there is no need to make new mold and fixing tools for machining steel body. Further more, there is no need to customize PDC cutters as the diameter of PDC cutter is regular,like 19mm,16mm,13mm.Therefore,it will save more time and have lower cost to design and produce a new PDC bit.
PDC cutters have high hardness and strength, excellent cutting ability, and can quickly crush formations.PDC bits have a wide range of applicability. PDC drill bits are suitable for medium to hard formations, such as rock, sandstone and quartzite,etc.Due to its high cutting efficiency, PDC bits are widely used in most horizontal wells (horizontal and inclined wells).
The gear of tricone bit is made of high wear-resistant alloy, which has good wear resistance and is suitable for long-term operation.Tricone bits are suitable for soft to medium hard formations such as mudstone, sandy mudstone and shale,etc.Due to its structure and performance limitations, tricone bits are mainly suitable for vertical well drilling operations.
In a summary,PDC bits take less time and have low cost to design and produce a new one than tricone bits,and PDC bits have a wider range of applicability than tricone bits.Therefore,PDC bits can be improved continuously at a low cost and can be applicable in more area.
