BIT COMPONENTS

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this module, you should be able to:

 Identify types of bearing designs used in roller cone bits

 Identify components of the bearing system and understand their basic function
 Describe improvements to HDBS Drill Bits bearing and seal designs

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BEARING & SEALS INTRODUCTION

Because of the load conditions involved in roller cone bit operation, the design and
performance of the bearing and seal system merit special focus. This module addresses the
science and technology of interacting surfaces in relative motion, or “tribology,” as it relates to
the bearings and seal surfaces of roller cone bits.

What is Tribology?
In terms of roller cone bearing design, “tribology” (from the Greek word “tribos” – the science
of rubbing) refers to the friction and wear of interacting surfaces in relative motion, as well as
related lubrication science, concentrated contact, bearing material and other concepts.
Consider a roller cone bit design. The tribological components include:

 Diaphragm/Pressure Relief
 Grease
 Seal
 Bearing

Two basic types of bearings are used with roller cone bits:

 Roller Bearings
 Journal Bearings

Specifically, this study focuses on sealed bearings of these types, with emphasis on the
design improvements made by HDBS beginning with the pressure relief/compensation
system.

Pressure Relief/Compensation
In addition to the bearing, the primary components of a sealed bearing system include the
seal, grease, reservoir, pressure compensator and relief valve.
The seal keeps the lubricant inside the bearing and the mud out, while the reservoir provides
lubricant for the bearing. The pressure compensator maintains near equal pressure on the
inside and outside surfaces of the seal.
In the cap vent pressure compensation system, communication to the drilling fluid is through
holes in the reservoir cap, which allow hydrostatic pressure to act on the flexible diaphragm.
Movement of the diaphragm results in a pressure equalization of the entire system, and
ensures that unbalanced forces do not extrude the seal.
With increasing downhole pressures and temperature comes a need for the system to relieve
internal pressure build-up. Our system is designed to use a small amount of internal pressure
bias to prevent the intrusion of mud or water into the grease. However, the grease will
expand due to the increased temperatures of the bearing, downhole temperatures and
chemical changes to the grease under extreme bearing loading. To relieve this pressure, the

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dome compensated systems use a relief valve at the end of the diaphragm to act as a one
way valve, allowing small amounts of grease out but nothing in. This relieving site is in the
dome area of the arm by the compensation hole. Cap vent compensation systems have a
small valve called a PRV (pressure relief valve) that allow excess pressure to vent through
the filler hole.
The new dome compensation pressure relief system combines the external pressure
compensation with internal pressure relief in one integral component. Compared to the older
PRV system, lab tests indicate a 50% reduction in the pressure relief point with the new
integrated diaphragm and, perhaps more importantly, an 80% reduction in standard deviation
of the vent pressure. This means the internal pressure in the sealed portion of the bearing will
be less variable and have less differential in the operating pressures working on the outside
of the seal.
The reservoir cap is held in position by a Belleville spring to eliminate fretting and motion due
to small cone movements that occur in normal operation.

Advantages
By venting through a hole located on the interior side of the arm, the new dome
compensation system provides direct access to drilling fluid through an area that exhibits low
flow, and thus has fewer tendencies to pack off. This system maintains constant
communication with downhole pressures, whereas the cap system uses small vent holes,
which are more easily plugged and can cause loss of communication and inadequate
pressure compensation at the seal.

Bearing Types
In general, HDBS offers two bearing types, the use of which is determined based on bit size
and application.

Double-Sealed Roller Bearing

The Double-Sealed Roller Bearing is used on bits larger than 12-1/4” and always
incorporates either a roller-ball-roller or roller-ball-roller-roller configuration to accommodate
the bearing surface speeds generated with these large bit sizes.

O-Ring Sealed, Journal Bearing

The O-Ring Sealed Journal Bearing is a friction bearing for bits 13-1/2” and smaller. This
bearing configuration uses a large surface area to distribute the load. In 12-1/4” bits and
smaller, the journal bearing uses surface boundary lubrication (grease) and anti-seize surface
treatment (silver plating) to handle the high unit loads. The solids in the grease separate the
surfaces and the oil provides anti-friction action so the surfaces are not in contact. That is, the
grease functions as an oil entrainment mechanism, minimizing friction. In bits larger than
12-1/4” the surface speeds of a journal type bearing would be impractical causing
unacceptable wear and heat generation. This is where roller bearings provide a nearly
frictionless load carrying mechanism and the roller’s line contact is sufficient to meet load

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requirements due to the larger bearing diameters. These rollers have very high load
capability and can withstand high rpm’s. However, they require more space than a journal
bearing and are used primarily in our larger bits. All non-sealed bits use roller bearings as
the primary bearing.

CHARACTERISTICS OF WEAR

Bearing Surface Profile

A typical wear phenomenon on bearings is cone rocking, which is inherent to all bearing
designs due to the clearance required to allow bearing rotation. The cone rocking, while very
minimal, creates a tilting moment that translates to a radial load which results in most of the
bearing wear occurring at the bearing edges. This bearing wear is typically very small as long
as the sealing and compensation systems prevent the intrusion of mud and water into the
bearing. Bearing contract pressure calculations using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) show
the forces on the cutting structure translate to this type of load on the bearing and this is
readily confirmed through dull bit evaluation.
Because the design must provide bearing clearances, a “wobbling” motion occurs which is
the action that causes the edge-loading. The measured surface wear, using a profilometer,
clearly shows the highest loading typically occurs at the corner of bearing, again due to its
design.

Seal Wear
The latest bearings offer increased capacity and a refined o-ring gland for better sealing of
the lubrication system. Specifically, two aspects of the o-ring seals were changed. The
material was upgraded to a more chemical and temperature-resistant version with added
lubricity. New seal materials are constantly under evaluation in our research lab testing both
the material properties and simulated performance.
Typically, seal wear initially progresses slowly, exhibiting a growing “wear band” until
something causes compromise of that sealing surface. Wear band growth accelerates as the
material surface breaks down and mud and cuttings particles becomes embedded in the
wear surface. When the debris “crosses” the wear band, it creates a leak path which
compromises the seal surface and eventually leads to seal failure.
Once the seal is compromised by debris creating a leak path, the wear rate accelerates
rapidly and the seal fails quickly. As soon as the peak wear starts, it doesn’t take long to
totally destroy the seal.

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IMPROVEMENT ADVANTAGES
Seal material was transitioned to HNBR, which handles higher temperatures and corrosive
chemicals better. These characteristics translate to lower compression set and lower surface
temperature effects, resulting in the material having a lower wear rate. New and improved
versions of this material, as well as others, are evaluated utilizing our “Dual Media Seal
Testers” (DMST), chemical lab and eventually field testing. The DMST allow seals to be
evaluated over time periods similar to run conditions, with controlled exposure to grease and
drilling fluids, and with variable pressure differentials between to two media.
The latest seal gland design was introduced to create optimized sealing force and seal
confinement. With increased pressure differential, the seal is urged onto a constantly variable
ramp, which is angled to provide a counter pressure back to the center of the seal gland and
increase the compression on the seal, which helps provide a consistent sealing force at the
sealing surface. The limited motion of the seal provided by the stabilizing action of the seal
gland reduces the motion of the seal during operation and helps prevent the intrusion of fine
cuttings and mud under the sealing face.

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