LAUSR

An air percussive rotary bit is a key component of air percussive rotary drilling technology, and its fracture failure seriously affects the safe operation and economic efficiency of drilling. This paper presents (1) theoretical analysis of the impact stress wave propagating in the air percussive rotary bit and effect of the stress wave on bit fracture and (2) finite element simulation study based on the stress wave theory which builds a model of the air hammer piston, drill and rock, defines material parameters, meshes and defines boundary conditions, clarifies propagation characteristics of the impact stress wave, analyzes stress characteristics of the bit matrix under different conditions (same drilling pressure and same piston speed, different drilling pressure and same piston speed and same drilling pressure and different piston speed) and determines the main factors of bit matrix fracture. The correctness of the theoretical analysis was verified with simulation results and fundamental ways of preventing bit fracture failure were proposed to provide a theoretical basis for the structural optimization design of a new bit. The results show that a bit section mutation is the root cause for the shock of the impact wave and the change in nature of the wave during propagation. The tensile wave is the root cause for bit matrix fracture, and a breakage is the most serious at stomatal interchanges. With increasing drilling pressure and piston speed, the rate of increase in the peak stress of the bit matrix increases, leading to early fatigue fracture of the bit matrix. The fracture of the bit matrix can be reduced, and the bit life can be extended by rationally designing the bit sectional structure parameters, ensuring that the bit withstands the effects of the compression wave so as to reduce the formation of a tensile wave, and rationally choosing drilling process parameters (such as drilling pressure and air pressure).