Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/R85556/01
Title:	Nonlinear dynamics and rock contact fracture mechanics in modelling of vibration enhanced drilling
Principal Investigator:	Wiercigroch, Professor M
Other Investigators:	Mikhailov, Professor SE
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	BP University of Minnesota
Department:	Engineering
Organisation:	University of Aberdeen
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 October 2002	Ends:	31 March 2006	Value (£):	270,720
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Continuum Mechanics Non-linear Systems Mathematics Oil & Gas Extraction
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Energy
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Describe the proposed research in about 200 words.The proposed programme of a collaborative research between five institutions (Aberdeen University, Glasgow Caledonian University, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the British Petroleum and the University of Minnesota) is to establish the theoretical basis of a novel downhole drilling technique: founded upon the superposition of a controllable percussive loading on conventional rotary drilling. The basic philosophy behind the proposed research is to provide the conditions which optimise the downhole drilling process, in particular while drilling in hard rock formations. This can be achieved by generating high amplitude impact forces at the appropriate frequency, which decrease the cutting resistance by enhancing the damage propagation in the borehole. A robust mathematical model of the dynamic interactions in the borehole is the first and most important step. Apart from the dynamics of the percussive drilling module which will be described as a system of unsmooth nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs), the model has to account for the damage zone in the borehole having a major influence on the dynamics of the drilling module, which is designed to operate in the nonlinear resonant conditions. To build such model a comprehensive theoretical study complemented by an extensive computational simulations of the rock damage described by nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) is also required.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.abdn.ac.uk