Claims
- 1. A method of applying a wear-resistant material to a surface of a downhole component, the method comprising forming a plurality of bearing elements, applying a layer of an electrically conductive, less hard material to each bearing element, and then bonding each bearing element to the surface of the component using one of a welding process and a brazing process to bond to the surface of the component a part of the surface of the bearing element which comprises said less hard material, wherein the layer is of thickness greater than about 0.05mm.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein each bearing element comprises a body of thermally stable polycrystalline diamond.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the layer of less hard material comprises a coating applied to at least part of each bearing element.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the layer of less hard material is of high electrically conductivity.
- 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the layer of less hard material is formed from a material selected from a group consisting of nickel and alloys containing nickel.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein each bearing element is bonded to the surface using an electrical resistance welding technique.
- 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying a layer of a carbide forming metal to each bearing element prior to the application of the layer of less hard material thereto.
- 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the layer of less hard material is of thickness of between about 0.1mm and about 0.3mm.
- 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the layer of less hard material is of thickness of between about 0.15mm and about 0.25mm.
- 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the layer of less hard material is of thickness of between about 0.15mm and about 0.2mm.
- 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of applying a layer of a hardfacing material over and around the bearing elements.
- 12. A downhole component having a surface to which a plurality of bearing elements are bonded, each bearing element having previously had a layer of a less hard, electrically conductive material applied thereto, the layer of less hard material having a thickness greater than about 0.05mm.
- 13. The downhole component of claim 12, and shaped to act as one of a roller cone bit, a fixed cutter bit, a stabilizer unit and a bias unit.
- 14. The downhole component of claim 12, wherein each bearing element comprises a body of thermally stable polycrystalline diamond.
- 15. The downhole component of claim 12, wherein the layer of less hard material comprises a coating applied to at least part of each bearing element.
- 16. The downhole component of claim 12, wherein the layer of less hard material is of high electrically conductivity.
- 17. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the layer of less hard material is formed from a material selected from a group consisting of nickel and alloys containing nickel.
- 18. The downhole component of claim 12, wherein each bearing element is bonded to the surface using an electrical resistance welding technique.
- 19. The downhole component of claim 12, wherein the layer of less hard material is of thickness of between about 0.1mm and about 0.3mm.
- 20. The downhole component of claim 19, wherein the layer of less hard material is of thickness of between about 0.15mm and about 0.25mm.
- 21. The downhole component of claim 20, wherein the layer of less hard material is of thickness of between about 0.15mm and about 0.2mm.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
9906114.5 |
Mar 1999 |
GB |
|
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. Patent application Ser. No. 09/340,984, filed Jun. 28, 1999, by Stephen Martin Evans, et al., entitled “Method of Applying a Wear-Resistant Layer to Surface of a Downhole Component” now pending.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09340984 |
Jun 1999 |
US |
Child |
09802838 |
Mar 2001 |
US |