阅读说明：本技术 泥浆马达定子和泵以及制造方法 (Mud motor stator and pump and method of manufacture ) 是由 C·汪恩海姆 W·休伯 F·戈英格 于 2017-04-05 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种泥浆马达定子或一种泵,其包括：管状外部；多个凸耳,其从所述管状外部径向向内延伸,多个凸耳中的至少一个凸耳包括骨架结构,以及一种用于制造泥浆马达定子或泵的方法,其包括放置材料并以由所述定子或泵的设计形状决定的图案将材料粘结在一起。(A mud motor stator or a pump comprising: a tubular outer portion; a plurality of lugs extending radially inward from the tubular outer portion, at least one lug of the plurality of lugs comprising a skeletal structure, and a method for manufacturing a mud motor stator or pump comprising placing material and bonding the material together in a pattern determined by a design shape of the stator or pump.)

1. A method for manufacturing a stator, comprising:

placing and bonding together material in a pattern determined by a design shape of the stator, the shape comprising a plurality of lugs, at least one of the plurality of lugs comprising a skeletal structure, at least one of the plurality of lugs having a load side and a seal side, the seal side being less supported by the skeletal structure than the load side.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the bonding is performed by direct metal laser melting.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the placing and bonding is part of an additive manufacturing process.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the additive manufacturing process comprises a layer-by-layer or particle-by-particle method.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the bonding is performed by one of welding, bonding, and sintering.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein operating parameters of the additive manufacturing process are modified to produce a material property in a location within the stator that is different from a material property elsewhere within the stator.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the material is a metal or metal alloy.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the metal or metal alloy comprises at least one of cobalt, nickel, copper, chromium, aluminum, iron, steel, stainless steel, titanium, and tungsten.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the material is at least one of polyetheretherketone, a carbon-based material, and glass.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the material is a cermet composite material.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising disposing a sealing material on the sealing side.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the skeletal structure comprises an innermost asymmetric surface, and at least a portion of the innermost asymmetric surface is modified.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the adjusting exhibits a diamond pattern.

14. A method for manufacturing a stator, comprising:

creating a computer model of a stator having a plurality of lugs, at least one of the plurality of lugs comprising a skeletal structure, at least one of the plurality of lugs having a load side and a sealing side, the sealing side being less supported by the skeletal structure than the load side;

loading the model into an additive manufacturing apparatus;

operating the additive manufacturing apparatus to produce a physical replica of the model.

Background

In some cases, mud motor stators and pumps are constructed of hard materials such as metal, and sometimes softer materials facing over the metal for sealing purposes. The overall structure is a helical structure with the lugs extending towards the axis of the stator (lobe), which makes them difficult to machine and impossible to tune the characteristics. The art has always accepted an enhancement to the manufacturing process and the functional characteristics of the resulting product, as adjustments can increase the efficiency of the mud motor.

Disclosure of Invention

A mud motor stator or a pump is disclosed herein. The mud motor stator or pump includes a tubular outer portion and a plurality of lugs extending radially inward from the tubular outer portion, at least one lug of the plurality of lugs including a skeletal structure.

Also disclosed is a method for manufacturing a mud motor stator or pump, the method comprising placing materials and bonding the materials together in a pattern determined by the design shape of the stator or pump.

Also disclosed is a method for manufacturing a mud motor stator or pump, the method comprising: creating a computer model of the stator or pump; loading the model into an additive manufacturing apparatus; and operating the additive manufacturing apparatus to produce a physical replica of the model.

Also disclosed is a downhole system comprising a mud motor stator or pump as defined in any of the prior embodiments, comprising a tubular outer portion and a plurality of lugs extending radially inwardly from the tubular outer portion, at least one lug of the plurality of lugs comprising a skeletal structure.

Drawings

The following description should not be considered limiting in any way. Referring to the drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike:

figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a stator for a mud motor as disclosed herein; and

FIG. 2 is an end view of the stator of FIG. 1 showing the composition of the stator;

FIG. 3 is an end view similar to FIG. 2 but of an alternative embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an asymmetric lug pattern;

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are alternative surface details; and

fig. 8 is a schematic view of a downhole system including a stator or pump as disclosed herein.

Detailed Description

Specific embodiments of one or more embodiments of the disclosed apparatus and methods are presented herein by way of example, and not limitation, with reference to the figures.

Referring to both fig. 1 and 2, a stator 10, which may be used in a mud motor or pump and which forms part of a downhole system, includes a tubular outer portion 12 and a plurality of lugs 14 extending towards the axis of the stator 10, the lugs 14 may be asymmetric. It can also be seen that the sealing material 16 is disposed radially inward of the stator body 10, and that the sealing material 16 may or may not be disposed symmetrically with respect to the lugs 14. In one embodiment, the sealing material on the sealing side is thicker than the sealing material on the load side. The precise positioning and configuration of the lugs 14 and material 16 can significantly affect the function and operation of the stator 10 in terms of sealing capability, damping, power output, quality, and life.

Weight, material cost, and properties such as elasticity, compliance, sealing, load bearing, vibration resonant frequency, etc., are all important features of the stator function, but have not been recognized and addressed to date.

As can be seen from fig. 1 and 2, the lobes 14 are not configured like prior art lobes (solid and curved), but are configured to provide greater rigidity on the load side 18 of each stator lobe 14 than on the seal side 20 of each stator lobe 14. Specifically, the skeletal structure 22 is configured to have only a hollow portion 24 of the lug 14 in one embodiment (fig. 3), and a plurality of ribs 26 in another embodiment (fig. 2). A skeletal structure is defined herein as any configuration of solid portions and open spaces defined between the solid portions to present a framework. The hollow 24 is delimited by an operating portion 28 of the lug 14. In the embodiment of fig. 2, the rib 26 extends from one point to another within the otherwise hollow space defined by the operative portion 28 of the lug 14. As shown in fig. 2, the ribs 26 extend radially inwardly from the tubular portion 12 until they are connected to the operative portion of the lugs 14. Other reinforcing structure patterns are also contemplated. In some embodiments, the load side of the lug 18 follows the contour of the load surface adjacent the lug 14. This allows the sealing material 16 to be thin on this side of the lug, but to be well supported due to the high load bearing capacity, while still providing a sealing function. In contrast, the profile at the sealing side of the lug 14 is largely unsupported by the skeleton structure 22. In other embodiments, the lugs are more asymmetric and the sealing material 16 may always have the same thickness. Referring to fig. 4, a schematic view of an asymmetric lug pattern is seen. The sealing material 16 is typically composed of rubber, but other compounds including metals having tailored material properties (such as density, elasticity, etc.) are also contemplated herein. In addition, the configuration of the symmetrical or asymmetrical lugs 14 may be optimized to avoid the generation of resonant frequencies during use.

In the restatement of fig. 2, the ribs 26 (three are shown, but more or less are contemplated) are oriented substantially perpendicular to the surface of the load side 18 of the lug 14. This provides a great deal of rigidity to the load side of the lug 14 in construction while reducing weight relative to prior art configurations. As noted, it is contemplated that ribs or other structures or shapes are provided in other configurations as well, and one purpose of doing so is to adjust the compliance of the load side of the lug 14 for applications that may benefit from this.

In fig. 3, there is no rib at all, but only a hollow 24 within the lug 14. However, the sealing material 16 is the same in the embodiment described, for comparison with the embodiment of fig. 2, and thus to understand the concept.

In addition to the structural and weight features of the disclosed and illustrated structure, it should also be understood that the volume between the ribs 26 or the hollow 24 may be used as a fluid conduit (transport and/or cooling) or a conductor conduit (for electrical, hydraulic or optical lines).

In addition to the overall shape and configuration of the lugs 14 as described above, it is also contemplated herein to vary the surface conditions on the lugs 14 and the inner surface 30 of the stator body 12. Referring to fig. 5, 6 and 7, in some embodiments, the surface is randomly rough, diamond patterned (fig. 5), wavy (fig. 6), has grooves 32 and/or bumps 34 (fig. 7), etc., in order to increase the adhesion of the material 16 to be disposed thereon, and to improve the function of the rubber injection process by increasing adhesion and lowering injection pressure and temperature.

The stator or pump 10 can be produced by conventional manufacturing methods but would be difficult to implement. Thus, the inventors have also noted that additive manufacturing or 3D printing is well suited to produce all of the features described above with respect to the various alternative embodiments of the stator or pump disclosed herein. Each stator or pump embodiment may be produced using one or more of selective laser melting, direct metal laser sintering, direct metal laser melting, selective laser sintering, electron beam manufacturing, direct laser deposition, cold gas treatment, laser cladding, direct material deposition, ceramic additive manufacturing, ultrasonic welding, or binder injection and subsequent sintering, for example in a powder bed or nozzle feed or wire feed configuration. The deposited materials are bonded together by welding, bonding, sintering, and the like. Additive manufacturing processes are known in the art and need not be discussed in detail in connection with the present disclosure.

In each of the additive manufacturing processes described above (or other similarly functioning manufacturing processes), the complex shapes represented in the figures are susceptible to being produced in a layer-by-layer or particle-by-particle approach to the additive manufacturing process. In addition to the overall shape as shown, Additive Manufacturing (AM) supports other adjustments discussed above with respect to density, elasticity, compliance, etc. (see above) of the material used to fabricate stator 10, namely: one of the operating parameters of the process may be modified to produce a material property at a location within the stator 10 that is different from the material property elsewhere in the stator 10. For example, the melting process may be stopped where the opening is located. Alternatively or additionally, the process may be altered to change the density of the base material in certain areas to give the feature elasticity or compliance.

To change the properties as described above, one or more parameters of the additive manufacturing process used to produce the material may be changed. These changes include, but are not limited to: varying the energy applied to the feed material by an energy source (e.g., a laser or electron beam) (varying the power of the energy source, including zero power; varying the focal point of the energy source; varying the scan speed of the energy source, varying the line spacing of the energy source) or varying the feed material itself that may be employed. More specifically, with respect to the energy applied, the energy source employed, whether, for example, 200W, 400W, 1000W, or any other energy source power, may be powered down at selected locations to reduce melting of the powdered (or other type) feed material. At zero power, the reduction in the amount of melting will change the density of the manufactured part at the location where melting is reduced or eliminated (this will simply leave the feed material unchanged, e.g. still in powder form). Alternatively, one may change the energy source focus, which also changes the energy applied to the feed material. Furthermore, another alternative is to vary the laser energy source scan speed to vary the energy imparted to the feed material at certain locations. Varying the line spacing of the scanning energy source results in a change in the porosity or density of the stator 10 where the line spacing deviates from the other normal line spacing of the component. Causing the row spacing to become larger will result in a lower density and greater porosity of the stator 10 in those areas where the row spacing is increased. Each of these conditions will change the degree of fusion of the feed material at that location with the surrounding feed material particles and thus change the density or porosity of the final manufactured product at that location. It should be understood that the process of changing the feed material may also be used to change other material properties, such as thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, magnetic properties, and the like.

While reducing the applied energy is discussed above, it is also important to note that the energy increase may also be useful to achieve specific material properties desired in the stator 10. Increasing the energy source power will tend to evaporate the powdered metal, leaving behind voids.

Referring back to another established method for changing the material properties in the stator, which method is independent of the supplied energy, the feed material itself can be changed. This can be achieved by changing the material supplied at the feed head of the powdered feed material or by changing the composition of the wire during the wire feed. Processes that can be made additive with different materials include, for example, cold gas processes, energy source cladding, or direct laser deposition.

Materials contemplated for use in constructing the stator or pump include fine particles or wires (including metal and/or metal alloy materials) and may also optionally include plastic, ceramic, and/or organic materials. More specifically, the material may include, for example, cobalt, nickel, copper, chromium, aluminum, iron, steel, stainless steel, titanium, tungsten, or alloys and mixtures thereof, a magnetically responsive material, Polyetheretherketone (PEEKTM), a carbon based material (e.g., graphite, graphene, diamond, etc.), and/or glass. Specific non-limiting examples of materials that may be employed include PA12-MD (Al), PA12-CF, PA11, 18Mar 300/1.2709, 15-5/1.4540, 1.4404(316L), alloy 718, alloy 625, CoCrMo, UNS R31538, Ti6Al4V and AlSi10Mg, alloy 945x, 17-4/1.4542, alloy 925, CrMnMoN-steel, CoCr alloy

CoNiAlloy, MP35 or equivalent, 4140, 4145, WC-Ni, WC-Co, and/or W. Another example of a material employed is fine particles of a metal or metal alloy material mixed with fine particles of a ceramic material configured to form a metal-ceramic composite (e.g., cermet), wherein the ceramic particles are embedded within the metal or metal alloy matrix as the metal and/or metal alloy material particles melt and coalesce. More specifically, these materials may be fine particles of cobalt, nickel, iron, steel, stainless steel, or alloys and mixtures thereof, mixed with fine particles of tungsten carbide, titanium carbide, tantalum carbide, molybdenum carbide, and other metal carbide ceramic materials.

Referring to fig. 8, a downhole system having a stator or pump as disclosed herein disposed therein is schematically illustrated. The system includes a tubing string 40 disposed in a wellbore 42, the tubing string including a stator or pump 10.

Set forth below are some embodiments of the foregoing disclosure: