Courtesy of bluefireequipment.com

BlueFire Equipment Corporation has announced its 3D printing initiative is progressing ahead of schedule for the production of its proprietary polycrystalline diamond cutter (PDC) drill bits. Now that a highly complex digital design has been produced, BlueFire is targeting various 3D manufacturers.

By using this leading edge technology, the company expects to achieve substantial cost savings in addition to expanding engineering capabilities.

BlueFire has developed a digitized model of its proprietary PDC drill bit prepared by a Texas-based 3D scanning company. Using SolidWorks, the 3D computer aided design (CAD) software, the BlueFire research and development team is currently working to configure its model for the 3D manufacturing process.

William A. Blackwell, chairman and CEO of BlueFire, said, “We are pleased this project is progressing faster than anticipated. Initial talks with 3D manufacturers have been productive and we see great value as we move forward.”

Much of today’s manufacturing processes are based on “subtractive manufacturing,” which relies on the removal of material to create something. Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is a process by which three-dimensional objects in a diversity of shapes are manufactured by adding material using digital models. Metallic, plastic, ceramic or composite materials can be employed using this process, which involves building the required object by adding successive layers of material to achieve the desired shape.

BlueFire bits employ large cutter face volumes for rapid drilling of shales, sandstones, limestones and sticky clays. These bits utilize premium PDC cutters for improved ROP and are designed using directed ports to accelerate cleaning and optimize cooling. Company findings indicate a decrease of more than 30 per cent in temperature on the cutting surfaces, drastically reducing cutter wear and extending the life of the bit.

Source: bluefireequipment.com