Plasma treatment in fabricating directional drilling assemblies
AssigneeSchlumberger Technology Corporation
InventorsJulien Ramier, Hossein Akbari
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Abstract
Methods for improving adhesion or bonding between materials used in forming components of directional drilling assemblies, such as rotors and stators, are provided. A surface of a component may be treated, such as through cleaning, etching and/or activating a surface. The use of plasma treatment may enhance the adhesion between the surfaces and/or materials to be bonded, thereby reducing the degradation or mechanical failure of these materials in oilfield applications.
Claims12
A method of adhering a first component of a directional drilling assembly to a second component, the method comprising the steps of:
- plasma treating a surface of the first component to form a first plasma-treated surface, the first component being a resilient layer;
- plasma treating a surface of the second component to form a second plasma-treated surface, the second component being a polymer-based composite material;
- and
- adhering the first plasma-treated surface to the second plasma-treated surface, wherein each said step of plasma treating comprises at least one of cleaning, etching and activating each said surface with at least one of an atmospheric plasma and a vacuum plasma, the atmospheric plasma and the vacuum plasma each comprising an excited gas or an ionized gas.
A method of forming a directional drilling assembly, the method comprising the steps of:
- plasma treating a surface of resilient layer to form a first plasma-treated surface;
- plasma treating an internal surface of a metal tube to form a second plasma-treated surface, wherein each said step of plasma treating comprises at least one of the step of cleaning, etching and activating with at least one of an atmospheric plasma and a vacuum plasma
- plasma treating inner and outer surfaces of a polymer based composite material;
- and
- adhering the first plasma-treated surface and the second plasma-treated surface to the polymer-based composite material.
A method of improving the bonding properties of components of a stator in a mud motor, the method comprising:
- providing a mud motor having a stator formed as a resilient layer-lined cartridge;
- adhering a surface of the resilient layer-lined cartridge to a polymer composite;
- and
- plasma treating the surface of the resilient layer-lined cartridge prior to adhering the surface of the resilient layer-lined cartridge to the polymer composite, wherein the step of plasma treating comprises the step of at least one of cleaning, etching and activating with at least one of an atmospheric plasma and a vacuum plasma, the atmospheric plasma and the vacuum plasma each comprising an excited gas or an ionized gas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.