Influence of 3D effects on the efficiency of percussive rock drilling

The aim is to investigate the influence of 3D effects on the efficiency of three processes for percussive rock drilling, viz., hammer drilling, down-the-hole drilling and churn drilling, each based on the use of tube-shaped members. A 3D axisymmetric finite element study is carried out for systems with idealised geometries. The efficiencies obtained are compared with formulae obtained from 1D analyses. It is found that the efficiencies based on 3D analyses are generally slightly lower than those based on 1D analyses. The difference is typically about 4% for hammer drilling, of the order of a percent or less for down-the-hole drilling, and practically non-existent for churn drilling. In the case of hammer drilling, the reduction of efficiency due to 3D effects is found to be slightly larger for tubes with relatively thin walls than for tubes with massive cross-sections. The lower efficiency in 3D is partially due to contributions to the kinetic and potential energies from components of velocity and stress which do not promote the performance of work on the rock. It is concluded that from a practical point of view, there is no need of 3D corrections of the 1D results for efficiency except possibly in the case of hammer drilling. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.