Engineering Failure Analysis 36 (2014) 186198

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Engineering Failure Analysis

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Experimental study of WCCo cemented carbide air impact rotary drill teeth based on failure analysis
Yi Zhou a,, Zhiqiang Huang b, Fuxiao Zhang a, Shuang Jing a, Zhen Chen a, Yachao Ma a, Gang Li a, Haitao Ren a
a b

School of Mechatronic Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China MOE Key Lab of Oil and Natural Gas Equipment, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Air impact rotary drilling technology is applied widely in the oil drilling industry; however, bit tooth damage results in reduced bit life and low efciency rock breaking thereby limiting the popularity and application of air percussion drilling technology. Tooth failure analysis showed that the main failure modes include wear of the middle tooth and fracture and shedding in the side tooth. Reasons for failure include the poor wear resistance and impact toughness of WCCo carbides, which cannot withstand harsh downhole working environments. An experimental study of WCCo carbides was performed to attempt to extend bit life. Inhibitor vanadium carbide (VC) and chromium carbide (Cr3C2) (ratio 1:3) were doped into WCCo cemented carbide to prepare a sample WC8%Co0.2%VC 0.6%Cr3C2 using high-energy ball milling, molding, low-pressure sintering, and grain growth inhibition. The properties of different WC carbide grain sizes, such as the hardness, wear area, wear amount, tooth impact cracking time, and microstructure features, were analyzed to measure the wear resistance and impact toughness of carbide. Fine-grain carbide was found to exhibit the best abrasion resistance, which is suitable for the middle tooth. Coarse-grain carbide displays optimized impact toughness, which is suitable for the side tooth. Ultrane cemented carbide with excellent wear resistance and anti-impact toughness is suitable for the middle and the side tooth. In this way, the impact and abrasion resistance of the tooth can be improved signicantly and the bit life increased. Crown Copyright 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 24 June 2013 Received in revised form 27 September 2013 Accepted 8 October 2013 Available online 18 October 2013 Keywords: Air impact rotary drill tooth Failure analysis Cemented carbide Wear resistance and impact toughness Edge tool falling

1. Introduction Air impact rotary rock breaking drilling technology uses a combination of impact and rotation. The impactor is mounted at the top of the bit, high-pressure air drives the piston inside the impactor to hit the bit, and the bit breaks rock from the interaction of impact and rotation, thereby implementing drilling (Fig. 1). Percussive rotary drilling gained more and more interests in oil and gas industries because of its high drilling speed, high drilling efciency, and well hole deviation control [1,2]. However, in their application, drilling tools (especially the air impact rotary bit) can become damaged extensively with the average bit life being only 49 h, drilling tool damage arises mainly from bit tooth failure [35], tooth material properties are poor and cannot match working conditions of air drilling. Severe tooth failure will continue to limit the popularity and application of impact rotary drilling technologies unless the mechanical properties of tooth materials (WCCo cemented carbides) can be improved signicantly. Understanding the reasons why bit tooth failure occurs is therefore of great interest. Based on the bit tooth characteristics of high hardness and low toughness and because of the signicant frittering that occurs when drilling hard formations, Xia
Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 15908197587.
E-mail address: zhouyi_zz@126.com (Y. Zhou). 1350-6307/$ - see front matter Crown Copyright 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2013.10.008

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Fig. 1. Work principle of air impact rotary drill.

et al. [6] designed welding cutter teeth coated with a thin layer of WC. Results from comparative rock breaking tests showed that, when drilling hard formations, the modied bit showed improvements in drill speed, strength and service life of the cutting teeth, with the average life expectancy increasing by 20%. Li et al. [7] analyzed the effect of speed and state of motion and the mechanism by which cutting teeth were damaged (large diamond layer peeling, chipping, falling off) during revolving movements. The cause of bit teeth damage was found to be from the impact load and tooth inversion caused by bit cyclotron motion. Teeth damage can be reduced by using an appropriate drill speed as this reduces the swing amplitude and cyclotron frequency of the bit by an anti-swing technique. Zhu et al. [8] studied the percussion rock breaking mechanism for different inclination angles of the ball teeth using a nite element simulation method. They found that the stresses of the top edge teeth and teeth holes were higher than those of the center teeth and were the rst to be damaged. The side teeth stress was found to be proportional to their angle with a larger edge tooth angle, resulting in a higher crushing efciency. The greater force on the side top teeth and teeth holes led to them breaking and shedding, with failure results consistent with results from damaged eld drill teeth. Huang et al. [9] carried out the mechanical analysis of side teeth to identify critical points. Teeth are most likely to be damaged from shear failure rather than from stress or tensile failure. The relationship between the stresses at the critical points and the side teeth inclination angle was analyzed to determine a reasonable design range for the angle of the side teeth. Fu [10] analyzed the fracturing of ball teeth and proposed that teeth fragmentation can be prevented by the correct choice of side teeth inclination angle, teeth shape, teeth diameter, teeth number and height of the exposed teeth. Tan [11] studied the failure of the side teeth to determine the stress distribution on the teeth holes and their critical position via the mechanical analysis of edge teeth. Guo and Hou [12] studied the effect of teeth shape and teeth arrangement on performance, service life and rock breaking efciency of the bit. From failure analysis of hammer bits, Fan et al. [1] found that an Al2O3/WCCo nanocomposite showed an improved impact and abrasion resistance and a markedly improved microstructure. Current research has focused on the effect of teeth distribution, shape and condition on failure resulting from the angle of the tooth force. Few studies exist on the effect of the angle of dental materials. One of the most critical causes of impact rotary bit tooth failure is poor tooth material (WCCo cemented carbide) properties, resulting in the teeth not being able to function effectively under the working conditions required in air drilling [1]. Research into dental materials has indicated that the addition of a nano-enhanced phase in the teeth body material improves drill performance. Minimal research has been conducted on the effect of the WC grain size in the teeth (WCCo cemented carbide) on teeth properties and test research has been based on failure analysis. Failure analysis, where drill working conditions are included, can be used to analyze the main failure modes and their causes for different teeth parts. From the relationship between the failure and the bit body material properties, suitable teeth body materials can be proposed that could perform under percussive rotary drilling conditions. Experimental studies are then required on bit body materials such that teeth life can be improved to reduce teeth failure. In this paper, failure analysis of air impact rotary drill teeth was conducted to determine the main failure modes and causes. An experimental study was carried out using WCCo cemented carbide and samples of different WC grain size were

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prepared. The properties of different WC carbide grain sizes, such as hardness, wear area, wear amount, tooth impact cracking time and microstructure features, were analyzed to measure the wear resistance and impact toughness of the carbide. 2. Failure analysis 2.1. Tooth wear Fig. 2 shows that tooth wear occurs mainly in the middle tooth where the wear of the spherical crowns accounts for a third of the entire tooth. The wear mechanisms are as follows. (1) Abrasive wear. Grits are crushed constantly under high stress. Greater contact stress results when the grits come into contact with the tooth. When the tooth is pushed, rolled and cut repeatedly with larger contact stress, the tooth surface is subjected to abrasive wear. (2) Thermal fatigue and plastic deformation. During operation, it is difcult to maintain good contact between the teeth and the rock under complex downhole conditions. There is an increase in poor contact areas between the tooth and the rock as well as areas of no contact. The poor contact areas are prone to high shear and bending stresses. This stress state will generate friction under the action of alternative impact loads. The uneven distribution friction results in the uneven distribution of local high temperatures and a large temperature gradient inside the alloy tooth material. Because the thermal expansion coefcient of the Co binder phase is approximately three times larger than that of WC, a stress arises from the difference between thermal expansion and shrinkage from the cold. With an increase or decrease in temperature, Co experiences a compressive or tensile stress, respectively. If the thermal stress caused by the thermal expansion and contraction is greater than the bending strength of cemented carbide, a weakened WC/Co phase interface results and a weak or non-existent adhesion between Co and WC results. The lack of supporting adhesion provided by the Co will result in constant removal of the WC and this in turn can produce micro-holes [13]. With an increase in micro-pore size, adjacent holes become connected by the formation of micro-cracks. The cracks extend along the WC/Co interface and the WC phase (The WC phase is brittle, has a high melting point and poor thermal fatigue resistance. Co is tough with a favorable thermal fatigue resistance, so thermal fatigue cracks are rst formed and propagate in the hard phase WC [14]). Typical thermal fatigue-tortoise cracks appear where the worn area is large and is subjected to sufcient heat and thermal stress [15]. (When the tooth stress exceeds the ultimate material strength, plastic deformation occurs because of the lack of exibility. Cracking occurs under large stresses and crisscrossing block cracks that interconnect large areas appear, Fig. 3). Tortoise cracks differ from the patterns on reptilian skin, which consist of oral designs composed of regularly arranged, neat, small diamond shapes or oval scales (Fig. 4). Because of external conditions (large material stress), the material cracks that the tortoise cracks produce are composed of large and irregular crisscrossing cracks. (3) Erosion wear. High-pressure air carries out much of the cutting. Because the debris hardness is high, when the tooth is subjected to cutting scouring action, erosion wear occurs. (4) Scraping action. When the teeth rotate at high speed, they encounter high-hardness rock and the relatively sharp edges of rock have a scraping effect on the teeth (Fig. 5). 2.2. Tooth fracture Fig. 6 shows that tooth fracture occurs mainly in the side tooth and that the entire tooth is almost fractured along the tooth root (Fig. 7). Tooth fracture includes overall broken and local spalling with the following failure mechanisms. (1) Impact peeling. This is manifested mainly as different sizes of spalling pits and peeling blocks. Multiple spalling pits combine to form grooves. With repeated impact, the grooves deepen continuously, widen and extend and interleave with other trenches to result in peeling [1]. The repeated impact and extrusion load causes compression and loss of the Co phase. A combination between the destruction of the WC particles results in their peeling. In addition, under impact load, the WC particles are prone to

Fig. 2. Tooth wear.

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Fig. 3. Tortoise cracks.

Fig. 4. Reptile skin.

Fig. 5. Rock scraping the tooth.

fragmentation and shedding. They also form weak areas, which induce cracks easily. Impact fatigue cracks may also originate because of internal or surface aws in the alloy teeth, such as porosity, inclusion, brittle phase and weakening grain boundaries. Further exposure to cyclic stress causes cracks with propagation direction based on the stress distribution and grain size. When the crack direction is the same as that of the tensile stress, the crack will expand rapidly with increased stress,

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Fig. 6. Tooth fracture.

Fig. 7. The tool root.

resulting in longer, staggered cracks that cause material loss and the formation of spalling pits of larger area (Figs. 8 and 9). (2) Impact fatigue fracture. Zigzag impact fatigue cracks develop under the inuence of large forces and nally crack along the WC grain boundary. Large area material fractures form and a fatigue step appears (Fig. 10). 2.3. Tooth shedding Fig. 11 shows results from tooth shedding that occurs mainly in the side teeth with the failure reasons as follows. (1) Bit body wear reveals tooth root (Fig. 7) gradually. The joint surface between the tooth and bit body is reduced [1], the role of the bit body support and tooth protection is weakened and the tooth becomes loose and falls off. This is an important reason for the occurrence of side tooth shedding.

Fig. 8. Morphology of shock aking.

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Fig. 9. Spalling pits and cracks.

Fig. 10. Impact fatigue fracture.

Fig. 11. Tooth shedding.

(2) Bit body plastic deformation. Under the repeated action of increased impact and shear load, the bit body withstands larger extrusion from hard alloy teeth and is prone to plastic deformation, resulting in a reduction in the amount of interference between the tooth and hole, a decrease in fastening force, and a loosening of the tooth. The loosening of the side tooth is the worst, because of its inclination angle with the bit body. The tooth root (Fig. 7) has a greater extrusion and shearing effect on the bit body and is more prone to plastic deformation of the bit body, so the edge tooth falling is most severe. (3) Shock wave impact. When the piston shocks the bit, the shock wave has a stretching action on the tooth, termed the extraction effect. 2.4. Summary (1) The failure modes of air impact rotary drill teeth include wear, fracture, and shedding. Wear occurs mainly in the middle tooth while fracture and shedding occur mainly in the side teeth.

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(2) The main reasons for tooth failure result from the harsh downhole working environment, larger impact load, and poor wear resistance and impact resistance toughness of the tooth material. (3) To improve bit life, the wear resistance and impact resistance toughness of the tooth material (WCCo cemented carbide) must be improved to meet the conditions required for air impact rotary drilling. 3. Experimental study 3.1. Materials Inhibitor vanadium carbide (VC) and chromium carbide (Cr3C2) (ratio 1:3) were combined in the formula WC8%Co 0.2%VC0.6%Cr3C2. Depending on the WC grain size, ve types of cemented carbide powder were congured. 3.2. Samples The samples were prepared by high-energy ball milling, molding, and low-pressure sintering. The German powder metallurgy association and ISO/TC190 technical committee have determined the grading standard for carbide grains [16]. According to the standard, carbide teeth are numbered in varying degrees depending on WC grain size (Table 1). The WC grain size of 3# tooth is moderate and is ordinary cemented carbide. 3.3. Experimental study of impact abrasive wear 3.3.1. Equipment and method The wear resistance test was carried out using prepared carbide teeth on an MLD-10 dynamic load impact abrasive wear test machine (Xuanhua City, Hebei Province, China) (Fig. 12) using upper samples and high-carbon chromium bearing steel (GCr15) as lower samples. The multi-function MLD-10 testing machine can be used to simulate a variety of conditions for wear resistance testing of metal materials and dry (wet) abrasion tests under conditions of impact or no impact load, contact or no contact sliding or rolling friction. Metal material wear under different loads and in different interaction situations can be measured quantitatively and experiments can be conducted to determine the wear mechanism. The main technical parameters and ranges of the testing machine are the impact energy of 05 Nm, 10 kg hammer mass, impact frequencies of 50, 100, 150 and 200 times/min, hammer falling height of 050 mm, sample speed of 200 r/min, 0.14 mm abrasive grains and a 050 kg/h abrasive ow.

Table 1 Classication, average wear and hardness of carbide tooth. Carbide tooth Grain size (lm) Type Amount of average wear (mg) Average hardness HRC (Rockwell Hardness) 1# 0.4 Ultrane 2.012 87.2 2# 1 Fine 7.736 81.5 3# 2.4 General 4.148 75.8 4# 3.2 Medium coarse 5.832 73.2 5# 4 Coarse 6.724 71.3

Fig. 12. Principle of impact abrasive wear test.

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After quenching and tempering, the surface hardness of the GCr15 was 63HRC (Rockwell Hardness), the outer ring diameter was 50 mm, the inner diameter was 30 mm, the width was 20 mm, and the roughness Ra was 1.6. Microstructure were analyzed with a TESCAN VEGA-II Variable Pressure Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM, Shanghai, China). The upper sample was fastened on the hammer, the lower specimen was mounted on the test machine shaft, and the abrasive slurry was placed in a metal tank. Half of the lower specimen was immersed in the abrasive slurry. A certain amount of abrasive is removed easily when the shaft rotates and friction is generated between the teeth and abrasive. According to the selected impact energy, the hammer is lifted to a certain height and the free fall of the upper sample repeatedly shocks the lower sample. Tooth wear was tested by mass loss. The sample mass was determined at the same time after each wear. The wear amount was said to be the difference between the original sample mass and the sample mass after abrasion. The wear resistance of the tooth was measured by the amount of wear. The smaller the amount of wear, the better the wear resistance. 3.3.2. Results and discussion 3.3.2.1. Wear amount. Fig. 13 shows curves of the amount of wear of the carbide tooth. Table 1 shows the average wear amount for the carbide tooth. The results are as follows. (1) WC grain size is an important factor in the wear resistance of cemented carbide; the thinner the WC grain, the better its wear resistance. At the same wear time, the average amount of wear of the tooth increases with the grain becoming coarser (Fig. 13). The amount of average wear of ultrane grain carbide 1# tooth was the lowest at 2.012 mg and that of the coarse grain carbide 5# tooth was the largest at 6.724 mg (Table 1). Therefore, the wear resistance of the former was the best and the latter was the worst. (2) WC grain size is an important factor in the microstructure uniformity of cemented carbide. Compared with the ordinary carbide 3# tooth, the wear amount curves of 1# and 2# tooth uctuate indistinctly, but the curves of the 4# and 5# tooth uctuate distinctly (Fig. 13). This shows that the ner the WC grain, the more regularly the WC grain is arranged and the more uniform the microstructure, the better the abrasion resistance.

Fig. 13. Wear amount curves of carbide tooth.

Fig. 14. Wear areas of ve types of carbide teeth: (a) 1#, (b) 2#, (c) 3#, (d) 4#, and (e) 5#.

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3.3.2.2. Wear area. Fig. 14 shows wear areas of ve types of carbide teeth. Tooth wear area increases with increasing WC grain size. The wear area of 1# tooth is the smallest and that of 5# tooth is the largest, which indicates that the ner the WC grain, the better the carbide wear resistance. 3.3.2.3. Hardness. Table 1 shows the carbide tooth hardness. The ner the WC grain, the higher the carbide hardness and the better the wear resistance. This result is consistent with previous analytical results. 3.3.2.4. Wear microstructure. Fig. 15 shows the wear microstructure of ve types of carbide teeth with results as follows. (1) Microstructure. In Fig. 15ab, the ne grain carbide microstructure is uniform, dense and has good metallurgical fusion. It displays mainly compressive scratches and a small quantity of micro voids, but the depth and width of the scratches are small. In Fig. 15ce, with coarsening grains, the microstructure of the coarse grain carbide consists of growing grains, an uneven grain distribution, high porosity, a loose connection interface between WC and Co, and shows mainly numerous percussive spalling pits, furrows, holes and loose surfaces with the depth and width of the

Fig. 15. Wear microstructure of ve types of carbide teeth: (a) 1#, (b) 2#, (c) 3#, (d) 4#, and (e) 5#.

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spalling pits being large. Comparing Fig. 15ae, it can be seen that when the grain size is small, the microstructure becomes tighter and there is little cracking on the worn surfaces. The abrasion resistance of the ne grain carbide is better than that of the coarse grain carbide. (2) Microscopic wear structure. Furrows exist on the worn surface of ve kinds of carbide teeth, which is a typical abrasive wear phenomenon. Because of the smaller WC grain size of the ne grain carbide (1# and 2# teeth), the Co layer between the WC grains is thin with poor toughness for the same Co content. Co has a poor holding capacity on the WC grains and the support adhesion effect of Co on the WC particles is weakened or destroyed [17]. Because of the lack of Co bonding effect, small WC grains are peeled off constantly and can be crushed easily when worn. The worn morphologies of the ne grain cemented carbide (1# and 2# teeth) are caused mainly from the crushing and shedding of WC grains. While the WC grains of the coarse grain carbide (4# and 5# teeth) are larger, the Co binder phase between the WC grains is thick and the single WC grain surface area is large. The Co is therefore more strongly bound to the WC. The combined strength between the Co and WC is high and it is difcult to separate the coarse WC grain from the Co phase in the wear process. The WC is not lost easily and the worn morphologies of the coarse grain carbide (#3, #4, and #5 teeth) are caused mainly by the larger plastic deformation of the WC grains. This results in a thicker slip deformation layer of the coarse grain carbide surface than that of the ne grain carbide [18]. The wear depth of the coarse-grained carbide is therefore larger than that of the ne grain carbide under the same wear conditions. Because of impact brittle aking and loose furrows, there is a higher material wear volume of the coarse-grained carbide. Its wear resistance is poor, while that of the ne-grain carbide is better. In summary, the ner the WC grain, the more dense and more uniform the microstructure of cemented carbide and the better the wear resistance. 3.4. Impact experimental study 3.4.1. Equipment and method The upper and lower samples were the same in the test machine as those in the impact abrasive wear test. Five types of preparative carbide teeth (upper samples) impact the high-carbon chromium bearing steel (lower sample) repeatedly. A total of 25 teeth were used with ve teeth for each grain carbide. The impact test was carried out on every tooth, halted when the tooth cracked and the time taken to crack the tooth recorded. The impact resistance toughness of the carbide tooth was determined from the average time taken to crack the tooth. The longer the average crack time, the better the impact resistance toughness of the material. 3.4.2. Results and discussion 3.4.2.1. Tooth impact crack time. Fig. 16 shows the crack time curves of the carbide tooth. The results are as follows. (1) The coarser the WC grain, the better its impact resistance toughness. For the 2# to 5# teeth, the average crack time increased with grain coarsening. The average crack time of 2# tooth was the shortest and that of 5# tooth was the longest. This indicates that the coarser the WC grains, the better their impact resistance toughness. (2) The anti-impact toughness of ultrane grain carbide was better than that of the ne-grain carbide, but not as good as the ordinary and coarse grain carbide. The average crack time of the 1# tooth was longer than that of the 2# tooth and shorter than that of the 3#, 4#, and 5# teeth. This indicates that when the WC grain is ultrane, its anti-impact toughness does not decrease continuously with grain size reduction and that ultrane cemented carbide has a relatively good anti-impact toughness. In summary, the anti-impact toughness ranking of the ve teeth is as follows: 5# > 4# > 3# > 1# > 2#.

Fig. 16. Average crack time of carbide tooth.

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3.4.2.2. Impact microstructure. Fig. 17 shows the impact microstructure of ve types of carbide teeth with results as follows. (1) The cracks of the #2 tooth are long, wide, deep and straight. The surface material akes and displays the worst fractures, which are typical of transcrystalline rupture. Because the WC grains of the ne-grain carbide are small, the Cophase between the WC grain boundaries is thin, the bonding strength of the WCCo grain boundary is weak, Co has a weak hold on the WC grains and they are easy to peel off. Because WC is the hard phase (hard and brittle phase with good wear resistance but poor toughness) and the Co is the binder phase (soft phase with good toughness), damage starts from local weaknesses and extends to the whole material. The WC phase is the weakest link of the coarse grain carbide. Cracks therefore form preferentially and expand in the shedding WC grains. WC particles are crushed into smaller particles under the larger impact loads. The internal material and surface cracks crush the WC grain directly and extend more easily along the smaller WC particles. When the initial crack direction is the same as the stress direction, the cracks will expand rapidly. When the crack tip stress is larger than the material allowable stress, the cracks develop into longer and deeper cracks and lead to tooth breakage. Straight cracks extend among the smaller, densely arranged WC grains and the consumed energy is low. Therefore, the anti-impact toughness of the ne-grain carbide is poor.

Fig. 17. Impact microstructure of ve types of carbide teeth: (a) 1#, (b) 2#, (c) 3#, (d) 4#, and (e) 5#.

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(2) With grain coarsening, the number of cracks decreases (Fig. ce) and form typical intergranular fractures (Fig. c). A small number of cracks form in the #4 and #5 teeth and there is minimal peeling of the material. Because the WC grain size is coarse, the contact area between the Co and WC grain is large. The Co-phase between the WC grain boundaries is thicker and wider resulting in a high combined strength between the WCCo. Crack propagation requires more energy as Co is bound strongly to the WC [17]. It is therefore difcult to pull out or break the WC grains and cracks do not enter the WC grains easily but expand along with the weaker Co-phase region (weak links). The Co-phase is distributed tortuously among the WC grains and the crack propagation forms a curve rather than a straight line. Cracks constantly consume energy in the extension process. When the crack tip stress is less than the allowable stress, the cracks stop developing and the crack route is short. WC grain crystallization is more complete. Defects are therefore reduced and the size is uniform. This reduces the alloy WC/WC and WC/Co interfaces. The area where WC particles accumulate increases and the alloy toughness and bending strength increases. The ability to absorb thermal stress is enhanced and thermal fatigue crack propagation is blocked. The thermal fatigue resistance and thermal shock resistance of the alloy can be improved, thereby effectively reducing the thermal fatigue cracks and improving alloy toughness. Therefore, the anti-impact toughness of the coarse grain cemented carbide is better. (3) The #1 tooth has fewer smaller spalling pits and few cracks. Because the microstructure of the ultrane grain cemented carbide is more compact and Co is in a semi-molten state during sintering, Co is distributed evenly along the WC grain boundaries. Co is the liquid phase and almost every WC particle is therefore surrounded by liquid Co. The bond between the Co and WC grain is stronger. The bonding strength between the Co and WC is higher. WC cannot be extracted easily and the liquid phase Co facilitates the lling of alloy pores by mass transfer. The porosity, gap, pore size, microcracks and other defects are reduced and an improved toughness exists. Pores in the matrix may cause stress concentrations to form a fault source. Material fractures may result in lower stress areas with a reduction in strength, impact resistance and density. Because of the reduction in cracks and porosity, material weaknesses are reduced and the tensile strength increases. In summary, the root cause for the ne grain carbide preventing crack propagation is its dense structure and fewer holes, cracks and other defects. It is therefore possible to improve the impact toughness and prevent tooth fracture. This analysis shows that the anti-impact toughness of coarse grain cemented carbide is the best, followed by the ultrane grain cemented carbide. 4. Conclusions (1) An analysis of tooth failure shows that the failure modes include wear, fracture, and shedding. Wear occurs mainly in the middle tooth while fracture and shedding occur mainly in the side tooth. The main reasons for tooth failure are from the harsh downhole working environment, the larger impact load, and poor wear resistance and impact resistance toughness of the tooth material. (2) An experimental study of different WC grain sizes of WCCo cemented carbide was performed. The results show that the ne-grain carbide has the best wear resistance, which is suitable for the middle tooth. The coarse-grain carbide has the best anti-impact toughness, which is suitable for the side tooth. The ultrane cemented carbide with excellent wear resistance and anti-impact toughness is suitable for the middle and the side tooth. In this way, the impact and abrasion resistance of the tooth can be improved signicantly and the bit life increased.

Acknowledgements The nancial support received from the Southwest Petroleum University Fund Program (Grant No. 2012xJZ005) is gratefully acknowledged. Additionally, the support of Dr. Zhiqiang Huang, Mr. Xianbin An and Mr. Jun Tan is sincerely appreciated. References
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