The present invention relates to the field of sub-surface well bore tools and equipment and, more particularly, relates to an improved cutter insert for use with a section milling tool.
During the drilling, production, and remediation of oil and gas wells it is necessary to utilize sub-surface or downhole tools and equipment. Such downhole tools and equipment includes milling tools that are inserted into a wellbore tubular string lining the peripheral surfaces of a wellbore for cutting or milling through the tubular string. Such milling tools often employ rotating cutting blades having cutting inserts with harden cutting surfaces that engage the surfaces of the pipe tubulars lining the wellbore. The hardened cutting surfaces often have cutting edges comprised of a carbide surface, a polycrystalline diamond surface, or the like to facilitate milling and cutting. The cutting surfaces of the cutting inserts are subject to extreme wear during operation of the milling tools.
Section milling tools, used for cutting windows or openings through a section of a tubular string or multiple tubing strings, may utilize a cutting blade positioned parallel to the interior wall of the wellbore tubular. The cutter inserts are mounted to the cutting blades to be the cutting interface face between the cutter blade and wellbore tubular. A plurality of individual cutter inserts are often utilized and each of the inserts will have a cutting section and an adjacent grooved or notched portion called a chip break. The chip break portion of the cutter insert is provided to break the stringy metal cuttings produced during milling into small more manageable chips or swarf that can be readily removed by fluids circulating in the wellbore.
Because of the extreme wear and tear on the cutter inserts during milling operations, frequent replacement of the cutter inserts and their associated cutter blades is often necessary in order to facilitate the section milling operations. The wear and tear on the cutter inserts reduces cutter efficiency and replacement of the cutter inserts or cutter blades increases time as the milling tools must be pulled from the wellbore tubular string in order for the cutter inserts and cutter blades to be replaced.
Consequently, there is a need for a cutter insert for a section milling tool that will extend the cutting life of the insert and reduce the need for frequent replacement of the cutter inserts or the associated cutter blades.
There is also a need for a cutter insert having multiple cutting sections in order to reduce wear on the cutter insert.
There is also a need for a cutter insert having cutter sections arranged to sequentially engage a the tubular to be milled.
Such a cutter insert will expedite section mill operations by decreasing the time associated with cutting sections through wellbore tubulars and reducing the frequency of cutter insert replacement which will result in reduced rig time and the overall cost of milling operations.
The present invention provides a cutter insert designed to satisfy the aforementioned needs. The cutter insert of the present invention provides a cutter insert with a hexahedron-shaped body, the upper surface of which has a plurality of concentric cutting surfaces with associated concentric chip breaks. The concentric cutting surfaces on the upper surface of the cutter insert are configured to sequentially engage the surface of a wellbore tubular during milling operations. The sequential engagement of the cutting surfaces of the cutter insert with the tubular surface will serve to prolong the life of the cutter insert during milling.
The concentric cutting surfaces on the upper surface of the cutter insert are preferably configured as an exterior quadrilateral-shaped cutting surface that extends around the periphery of the upper surface of the cutter insert and a concentric interior quadrilateral-shaped cutting surface positioned with the exterior cutting surface. The exterior cutting surface and the concentric interior cutting surface are preferably shaped as squares or rectangles. A first exterior chip break, configured as a triangular notch or a trapezoidal-shaped channel in the top surface of the cutter insert, separates the exterior cutting surface and the interior cutting surface. A recessed area within the top surface inside the interior cutting surface creates a second interior chip break. The flat coplanar top surfaces and cutting edges of the exterior cutting surface and the interior cutting surface have hardened surfaces such as surfaces comprised of carbide, polycrystalline diamond surfaces, or similar hardened surfaces to facilitate milling.
For use, a plurality of cutter inserts is arrayed upon and attached to the surface of a cutter blade or upon a cutter carrier attached to a cutter blade of a milling tool. Preferably, the plurality of cutter inserts will be staggered along the cutter blade to maximize engagement of the cutting surfaces of the cutter inserts with the tubular to be milled. The cutter inserts are attached to the surface of the cutting blade or cutter carrier by a matrix of welding, brazing, or cementing material such as one comprising tungsten carbide powder or similar hardened metal.
The cutter insert (10) of the present invention is shown in
The exterior cutting surface (12) and the interior cutting surface (16) are preferably square-shaped and are separated by a first recessed exterior chip break (14), configured as a triangular notch or a trapezoidal-shaped channel. A second interior chip break (18) is created by a recess, such as a trapezoidal shaped indentation, positioned within the surrounding interior cutting surface (16). The cutting insert (10), the exterior cutting surface (12), and the interior cutting surface (16) are hardened surfaces comprised of carbide surfaces, polycrystalline diamond surfaces, or similarly hard surfaces to facilitate milling. The body (11) of the cutter insert (10) may also be configured in other hexahedron shapes, such as a rhombohedron or rhomboid shaped body, a three-dimension rectangle or cuboid shaped body, or a three dimension trapezium or trapezoid shape, and with more than two concentric cutting surfaces and chip breaks.
The coplanar exterior cutting surface (12) and interior cutting surface (16) are coplanar with the upper surface (13) of the cutter insert (10) and are configured to sequentially engage the interior peripheral surface of a wellbore tubular during milling operations. The sequential engagement of the exterior cutting surface (12) and the interior cutting surface (16) with the interior peripheral surface of the wellbore tubular will serve to prolong the life of the cutter insert (10) during milling and decrease the time associated with such milling.
For use in a section mill, a plurality of cutter inserts (10) is arrayed upon and attached to the surface of a cutter carrier (20) by a matrix (22) of welding, brazing, or cementing material such as one comprising tungsten carbide powder or similar hardened metal material as shown in
During milling, as shown in
If the cutting edge (12a) of the exterior cutting surface (12) of the cutter insert (10) wears or erodes away during milling, the cutting edge (16a) of the coplanar interior cutting surface (16) will continue to be engaged with and rotated against the interior wall (152) surface of the wellbore tubular (150) for milling. This sequential engagement of the cutting surfaces (12) and (16) reduces the frequency replacing cutter carriers (20) and associated cutter inserts (10) as milling progresses, increases milling efficiency, and thus reduces the rig time and the associated cost of milling of milling operations.
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