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Author's personal copy

Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 112 (2013) 227238

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/petrol

A comparative review of modelling and controlling torsional vibrations

and experimentation using laboratory setups
Parimal Arjun Patil n, Catalin Teodoriu
Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Clausthal University of Technology, Agricola Str. 10, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Niedersachen 38678, Germany

art ic l e i nf o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 19 December 2012
Accepted 2 November 2013
Available online 20 November 2013

Improved drilling performance enables us to drill a high quality well at less cost per foot in the lowest
time possible. Drillstring vibration is one of the limiting factors maximizing drilling performance. Also, it
has become necessary for drilling oil/gas/geothermal wells in order to optimize surface drilling
parameters and to reduce downhole dynamics while drilling. Operating a drillstring above or below
the critical speed will denitely reduce vibrations and the probability of premature catastrophic failure of
downhole components. Hence, it is necessary to carry out pre-drilling analysis as well as real time
analysis of drillstring dynamics.
The complexity of the drilling phenomenon makes it impractical to derive models having worldwide
acceptability. Modeling the entire drillstring system and validating the results using the laboratory
experiments or the eld data have been the best practice. Most of the times, the parameters affecting the
model's sensitivity are either unknown or insufciently studied during the modeling which makes the
study more challenging. The rst part of the current review article summarizes the work carried out by
the researcher in the eld of modeling and controlling torsional vibrations. The second part highlights
the experimental studies carried out in laboratories in order to reproduce modes of vibrations in the
laboratory. Based on the past development, further efforts can be outlined in this eld in order to
improve the quality of reproduction of torsional vibrations in the laboratory. The present article reviews
the information which needs to be considered while modeling a complete drilling system and developing
a laboratory model to reproduce torsional vibrations.
& 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
drillstring dynamics
vibrations
torsional oscillations
stickslip

Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. Studies on modeling and controlling of torsional drillstring vibrations .
3. Studies on reproducing drillstring dynamics experimentally . . . . . . . . .
4. Further development in studying torsional drillstring dynamics . . . . . .
5. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. Introduction
Drillstring is under dynamic loading while drilling a hole which
results in vibration. Vibration is dened as a to and fro movement
which is the manifestation of the oscillatory behavior in the
drillstring. Drillstring has its own mass, certain stiffness and

Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 5323 722889; fax: +49 5323 723146.
E-mail address: parimal.patil@tu-clausthal.de (P.A. Patil).

0920-4105/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2013.11.008

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227
228
231
236
237
237
238

dynamic forces acting while in process. Combination of mass,

stiffness and dynamic forces lead the system to vibrate. Vibrations
are unavoidable since drilling is the destructive process of cutting
rock either by chipping (using drag/PDC bits) or crushing (using
roller cone bits) action. Field observations have shown difference
in vibration measurements on surface and in downhole which
means BHA undergoes severe vibrations. Nonlinear interaction
between bit/formation and drillstring/borehole results in vibration
acting as an excitation source. Drillstring vibrates in three basic
modes/directions: axial, lateral and torsional. When the drillstring

Author's personal copy

228

P.A. Patil, C. Teodoriu / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 112 (2013) 227238

moves along its axis of rotation it is called axial vibration. Lateral

vibrations are caused when the drillstring moves laterally to its
axis of rotation. Torsional vibrations are caused due to an irregular
rotation of the drillstring when rotated from the surface at
constant speed and mostly observed while drilling with drag bits.
In reality, drillstring vibrates more often as combinations of all
these three basic modes which make the problem fairly complex
to measure and investigate. Drillstring vibration will generate
frequency noise which adds to the downhole measured data
leading to a dramatic deterioration of the transmitted data. It is
possible to avoid critical torsional and lateral resonance by simply
adjusting manually the weight on bit (WOB) and rotations per
minute (RPM) at the surface. Vibration prediction programs are
also available, mostly ofine, which can estimate critical RPMs for
a given drilling assembly. Controlling drillstring dynamics has
been a challenge in oil industry from past many years. Complex
interaction between bit, drillstring and formation has been solved
analytically as well as mathematically and many mathematical
models are also available. Control algorithms are available in order
to eliminate vibrations using the torque feedback system but the
proper tuning of the controller on the surface has been identied
as a critical issue. Following part of this study presents the
research carried out on modeling and controlling of torsional
drilling vibrations as well as attempts made to validate the models
using laboratory based experimental setups.

2. Studies on modeling and controlling of torsional drillstring

vibrations
Very rst problem was tackled by developing dynamic models
and verifying it with experimental study of the drillstring by Bailey
and Finnie (1960) and Finnie and Bailey (1960). Aarrestad et al.
(1986) worked extensively on understanding and mitigating
vibration both by developing mathematical models as well as
verifying them with experimental results but with limited insight
and have claimed that axial vibration at the top of the drillstring
depends on damping along the drillstring and frequency of the
excitation. According to Halsey et al. (1986), the lowest torsional
frequency is very sensitive to properties of drill pipes and drill
collars, and these frequencies are independent of rotations per
minutes, weight on bit and damping effect, as long as the drillstring rotates freely while the drillstring undergoes friction along
the wellbore. Dawson et al. (1987) has observed during drilling
that the torque at the top drive uctuates with time which is
caused due to interruption of downhole tool rotation and is
irregular because of the downhole friction factor. It was proposed
by Dawson et al. (1987) that a reduction in the static friction is a
possible solution to the stickslip problem. Stickslip situation
occurs when the static friction coefcient is sufciently high
enough than the dynamic friction coefcient. As drillstring is
rotated continuously on surface, it stores torsional energy. When
this torsional energy exceeds static friction, the bit accelerates and
rotates with maximum speed and unwinds the drillstring. This
phenomenon is called stickslip and can generate self excited
vibrations. Stickslip condition was mathematically modeled by
Halsey et al. (1988) by assuming the drillstring behaves like a
simple torsional pendulum with one degree of freedom. The
model could not predict occurrence of stickslip under given sets
of conditions. It was seen in model that with the increase in rotary
speed, there was a decrease in mean torque value, which was
not explained by the theory presented by Kyllingstad and Halsey
(1988).
The model developed by Apostal et al. (1990) considered
damping in FEM based forced-frequency response models due to
the presence of uid, formation, friction and other effects. In

addition, viscous and structural damping mechanisms were also

considered. Having capability for computation of damping and
added mass effects within the program, it assumes cyclic behavior
of drillstring which is not a real situation downhole. Spanos and
Payne (1992) worked extensively on the complex dynamic behavior of drillstring using frequency response models. These models
were unable to reproduce the observed dynamic phenomenon,
though it provides qualitative analysis of BHA performance.
According to the sensitivity analysis by Spanos and Payne (1992),
understanding the critical BHA dynamic factors include (a) damping which plays an important role in controlling response at
excitation, (b) drilling uid density which alters the natural
frequencies of BHA elements, and (c) effect of weight on bit on
the system. The model also does not consider stiffness of components, excitation frequency of every BHA element, and mainly the
experimental analysis. Brett (1992) presented a model which
showed that the bitrock interaction initiates the torsional vibration in the system and could be eliminated by controlling gain
in surface rotary system. Simple model uses two differential
equations that were solved using the RungeKutta simulation
approach. Models developed consider the behavior of drillstring
as a lumped mass with spring and the surface drive system, see
Fig. 1. It assumes the standard relationship: (a) drill pipe stiffness
and the rotational inertial, and (b) constant drillstring friction
torque and laboratory drilling data, for the relationship between
bit torque and rotary speed. The model also describes that the bit
induced torsional vibration could be eliminated by overrunning
the motor which was not eld tested.
Dunayevsky et al. (1993) studied drillstring dynamics as a
function of drilling parameters. The nite element model (FEM)
was developed which considered continuous wall contact. With
the developed parametric resonance model, it was possible to
indicate the mode of failure but it lacked the behavior of failure
with respect to time. It does not consider the effect of whirl and
stickslip. Dykstra et al. (1994) evaluated interaction of drill bits
and different types of formation extensively by performing
laboratory and eld experiments recommending operational deciencies in order to reduce the downhole vibration. Further work
by Dykstra et al. (1996) presents numerical modeling which shows

Fig. 1. System diagram showing parameters considered for modeling (Brett, 1992).

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P.A. Patil, C. Teodoriu / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 112 (2013) 227238

that the main cause of downhole lateral vibration is a result of

mass imbalance of complete drillstring. Mass imbalance situation
occurs when the axis of rotation of a drillstring does not coincide
with central axis of a well. The developed model restricts one to
determine only the deection in a drillstring at different rotary
speeds. It does not predict drillstring dynamic behavior. Experimentation was carried out to quantify the drillstring imbalance
condition at different speeds of rotation on the surface but was
evaluated visually.
With the development of downhole measurement tools, analysis of downhole data was carried out to optimize drilling
performance. Several operational recommendations were made
in order to avoid rotating drillstring at critical frequencies.
Nicholson (1994) suggested integration of different approaches
for preventing and eliminating severe dynamic dysfunctions. The
utilization and limitations of developed models have been well
documented by Nicholson (1994). According to him, analytical/
numerical models are not able to account for all drilling dynamics
dysfunctions or expected downhole conditions such as over
gauged hole, friction interaction, etc.

Fig. 2. Equivalent mechanical representation of a drillstring driven by an electric

rotary drive and hydraulic top drives with an active damping system (Jansen and
van den Steen, 1995; Jansen et al., 1995).

229

The concept of active damping of self excited torsional drillstring with feedback control in the drive system originates from
Halsey et al. (1988). Attempt to mitigate torsional drillstring
vibration was done by Jansen and van den Steen (1995) and
Jansen et al. (1995) by developing active damping system for
drillstring driven by electric rotary drive and drillstring driven by
hydraulic top drive, shown in Fig. 2. This system makes the top
drive react to non-linear relationship between torque and angular
velocity of the bit vibrations. As soon as bit starts experiencing the
stickslip condition, the top drive system gets activated. The
drawback of both systems is that the drive system of the rig needs
to be changed completely, meaning rig need to be modied in
order to run the feedback control system. Kriesels et al. (1999)
proposed the soft torque rotary system (STRS) for preventing
torsional vibrations, mainly stickslip. Increased rate of penetration and bit life was observed after the development of STRS. Use
of vibration analysis software for BHA design and regular inspection of drillstring components also helped to improve overall
drilling performance. STRS also needs modication of rig top drive
system. Possible damage to drillstring could be answered with this
system but it does not take into account the overgauge holes,
inhomogeneous and hard formations (Fig. 3).
The work furthered by Dykstra et al. (2001) comprises bit
dynamic program which is coupled with drillstring dynamic
program to investigate drilling system performance more holistically. The equations of motion for the bit consist of six degrees of
freedom. Leine et al. (2002) studied extensively the behavior of
stickslip and whirl interaction in a drillstring. According to Leine
et al. (2002), nite element models provide quantitative information about the drillstring dynamics and some practical recommendations. FEM models are very complex with many degrees of
freedom and nonlinear large displacements which make it difcult
to study certain vibration phenomena occurring in the process. In
order to understand the dynamics downhole, models need to be
kept as simple as possible to give qualitative information. Understanding downhole forces, critical loads, critical rotary speeds,
integrating newly developed technology with drilling system
dynamic modeling and the formation modeling results in signicant improvement in overall drilling performance of the system
(Hood et al., 2001; Aadnoy and Huusgaard, 2002; Boyadjieff et al.,
2003; Hill et al., 2004; Maidla and Haci, 2004). Menand et al.
(2006) modeled the entire drillstring considering soft string and
stiff string models which were used together to determine the
torque and drag over the length of drillstring. The BHA and the

Fig. 3. Electrical and mechanical representation of Soft Torque Rotary System (STRS) (Kriesels et al., 1999).

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P.A. Patil, C. Teodoriu / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 112 (2013) 227238

Table 1
Summary of studies on modeling and controlling of torsional drillstring dynamics.
Researcher (year)

Research

Approach

Bailey and Finne

(1960)
Finne and Bailey
(1960)
Halsey et al. (1988)

Dynamic model development of a drillstring.

Theoretical

Verication of dynamic model by Bailey et al.

Experimental

Apostal et al. (1990)

Spanos and Payne

(1992)

Modeling of stickslip phenomena and torque

Theoretical
feedback to cure stickslip oscillations.
FEA
Effect of damping (presence of uid, formation,
friction, other effects) on forced frequency
response models of BHA vibrations.
Study of complex dynamics of drillstring behavior Theoretical
using frequency response models.

Brett (1992)

Model showing that the bit-rock interaction

initiates the torsional vibrations.

RungeKutta simulation

Dunayevsky et al.
(1993)

Study of drillstring dynamics as a function of

drilling parameters.
It was possible to indicate the mode of failure.
Recommended operational deciencies for
reducing downhole vibrations considering
interaction of drill bits and different formations.
Study of mass imbalance which results in the
cause of lateral vibrations.

FEA

Dykstra et al. (1994)

Dykstra et al. (1996)

Jansen et al. (1995)

Kriesels et al. (1999)

Dykstra et al. (2001)

Leine et al. (2002)

Menand et al. (2006)

Navarro-Lopez and
Suarez (2004)

DOF

Remark

One

Model could not predict occurrences of stick

slip under given sets of condition.
Model assumes cyclic behavior of drillstring
which is not a real situation downhole.
Unable to reproduce the observed dynamics
phenomena though models provide qualitative
analysis of BHA performance.
The model also does not consider stiffness, and
excitation of BHA components.
Assumes constant drillstring friction torque, and
standard relationship between drillstring
stiffness and BHA inertia.
Model considered continuous wall contact.
Lack the behavior of failure with respect to time.

Laboratory as well as
eld experiments
Numerical model as well
as experimental

Theoretical
Mitigation of torsional vibrations using active
damping system for a drillstring driven by electric
motor as well as hydraulic motor.
Development of soft torque rotary system (STRS). Theoretical and
experimental

Developed model restricts to determine the

deection in a drillstring at different rotary
speed.
Does not predict the drillstring dynamic
behavior.
Two and three The top drive of the rig needs to be modied for
this purpose.
Rig modication required.
The modeling does not consider over gauge
holes, inhomogeneous and hard formations.

Modeling
Investigation of drilling performance by
considering bit dynamics coupled with drillstring
dynamics.
Behavior of stickslip and whirl interaction.
FEA

Six

Modeled drill pipe as a soft string and BHA as a

stiff string.
Contacts between drillstring and wellbore was
modeled as a nonlinear spring.
The effect of temperature is also considered.
Modeling and controlling of stickslip.

Six

Theoretical model

Two

Navarro-Lopez and
Cortes, 2007

Reproduction of stickslip considering drillstring

as a discontinuous lumped parameter.

Theoretical model

Four

Navarro-Lopez (2009)

Modeling of stickslip vibrations as carried out

during previous studies.
Linear state feedback controller is proposed.
Drilling oscillation killer mechanism called
DOSKIL.
Developed model based stickslip control system.

Theoretical model

Three

Theoretical and
experimental
Theoretical and
validation using eld
data
Theories of mechanical
vibrations
Control theories

Two

Canudas-de-Wit et al.
(2008a, 2008b)
Rudat and Dashevskiy
(2011)
Omojuwa et al. (2012)
Bayliss et al. (2012)

Patil and Teodoriu

(2012)

Studied response of torsional vibration in a

viscous uid.
Considering stickslip model developed in Lu
et al. (2009) and mitigated stickslip vibrations
using a pole placement controller.
Modeling stickslip phenomena.
Studied inuence of drillstring stiffness, and
inertia, surface RPM and WOB on stickstick
behavior. Also, studied the inuence of surface
RPM, WOB and rock strength on ROP.

Theoretical model.
Experimental validation
in future.

One

System with many DOF is very complex and not

suitable for the study of certain vibration
phenomena.
Understanding downhole forces, critical loads,
critical rotary speeds, by keeping model as
simple as possible.
The model can be used in real time drilling
operation as it does not uses FEA.

WOB is considered during modeling.

Bitrock interaction was modeled considering
dry friction model and WOB depending TOB
equation.
Elimination of stickslip is done by sliding mode
based controller approach.
Also mentioned that the automatic controlled
system is not feasible due to complexity of the
overall process.
Linear PI controller could possible eliminate
stickslip.

Model developed was adapted to actual drilling

process using eld data.
Stickslip can be mitigated by reducing WOB.

One

Two

Borehole is considered as a vertical hole.

No lateral movement of bit is assumed.
Drilling mud is assumed as a constant viscous
damping throughout the drillstring.
Drive torque is positive and constant.

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drillstring, each have six degrees of freedom (three rotational and

three displacements). The contact between the wellbore and the
drillstring was modeled as a nonlinear spring element. The effect
of temperature in case of high pressure/high temperature wells
was also considered in the model development as well as the
external forces applied on each element of the drillstring such as
hydraulic forces. The main advantage of the model developed by
Menand et al. (2006) was that it could be used in real time drilling
operation as it does not use the nite element analysis. Samuel
et al. (2006) studied the dynamics of the drillstring based on
forced frequency response analysis, which can predict and minimize occurrences of downhole equipment failures. Further work
derives ROP parameter which can be used as a guideline to
eliminate undesired WOBRPM pair. Eliminating these pairs will
avoid vibration or near-vibration peaks (Samuel et al., 2006).
The research continued in this eld considering all the possible
approaches and Navarro-Lopez and Suarez (2004) attempted to
solve the modeling and controlling challenges to help reduce
stickslip vibrations. The drillstring torsional behavior is described
by a simple torsional pendulum driven by a motor and the bit
rock interaction (two degrees of freedom model). The difference
between the proposed model and the previous ones is the
consideration of WOB. Bitrock interaction was modeled separately in two different ways: (a) a dry friction model which leads
to a velocity weakening TOB at low bit angular velocity and
(b) WOB depending TOB equation. The second approach of
controlling vibrations concluded that variation in WOB and shock
sub at the top of BHA reduces stickslip. It is necessary to analyze
the inuence of drillstring length, formation properties and bit
characteristics in model parameters for better performance of the
developed models (Navarro-Lopez and Suarez, 2004). NavarroLopez and Cortes (2007) continued working toward the previous
research problem and during the study a discontinuous lumped
parameter torsional model of four degrees of freedom was
considered in order to reproduce stickslip. To eliminate stick
slip vibrations, a sliding mode based controller approach in
existence with open loop system was introduced in spite of WOB
variations. It has also been mentioned that an automatic controlled drillstring system is not feasible due to the complexity of
the oilwell drillstring and drilling practices and the proposed
controlling schemes can only be used ofine to develop operational recommendations and parameter selection (Navarro-Lopez
and Cortes, 2007). Since, drillstring exhibits undevised stickslip
vibrations, Navarro-Lopez (2009) furthered previous research and
proposed a linear state feedback controller for a simple torsional
lumped parameter model of a drillstring consisting of three
degrees of freedom. Bitrock interaction has been modeled as
done previously. The elimination of non-desired stickslip could
be possible by use of linear PI type controller.
A new mechanism for controlling stickslip vibrations called
D-OSKIL (drilling oscillation killer) mechanism was proposed by
Canudas-de-Wit et al. (2008a, 2008b) which uses WOB as a
control parameter to reduce stickslip. The type and the complexity of the model used are closely related to objectives such as
modeling, simulation, or model for control scheme but lumped
parameter models have shown to be valid enough to describe the
stickslip vibration phenomena (Canudas-de-Wit et al., 2008a,
2008b). Model used for D-OSKILL mechanism is a two degrees of
freedom model which allows WOB to recover to the nominal
drilling value while the stickslip is being suppressed. As drilling
process is a nonlinear process, D-OSKILL is adapted for this
purpose. Experimental study of D-OSKILL for controlling stickslip
was also performed in laboratory which is discussed in later part
of this section. The mind-set of drilling industry was changing
according to Bailey et al. (2008) from considering drillstring
dynamics as an analytical problem to avoiding of critical modes

231

by designing optimal drillstring and then predicting the best

specic operating parameters. The time domain frequency models
facilitate the characterization of drillstring dynamics as well as
consider complex modeling systems efciently. But the control
methodologies introduced for suppressing or damping vibrations
at the bottom-hole, which are actively or passively functioning,
have provided successful theoretical results; but in order to design
and implement the monitoring and controlling strategic system
experimental model reproducing torsional drillstring vibrations is
required for correctly identifying the optimum ranges for drilling
parameters and to predict the behavior of the drillstring under
wide range of drilling parameters.
Rudat and Dashevskiy (2011) developed a model based stick
slip control system. It is based on a one rotational degree of
freedom drillstring model which predicts the downhole stickslip
vibrations for a given set of drilling parameters in a drilling
process. Considering the eld data, the developed drilling model
was adapted to the actual drilling process. Later, the model
developed could be used to nd the optimal operating parameters
in order to reduce stickslip. Rudat and Dashevskiy (2011) carried
out this study to investigate, rst of all, the possibility of using
simple lumped mass model to represent the real drilling process.
Secondly, to investigate the control methods based on the developed model. It has been successfully investigated that the model of
drillstring with one degree of freedom, when continuously
adjusted to the drilling conditions, can reproduce complex nonlinear drillstring dynamics. Model of bitrock interaction was also
considered separately which provided a relation between applied
WOB and the resulting TOB at a given angular speed and online
identied friction parameters. Modeling and controlling methodology was tested and implemented which showed successful
results. Omojuwa et al. (2012) investigated the response of drillstring to torsional vibrations through analysis on an elemental
stepped shaft drillstring model in a viscous damped environment.
Downhole torque during stickslip has been derived from the
forces and reactions at the bitrock interaction. Developments of
equations were based on theories of mechanical vibration which
uses the transient state and steady state responses. Simulation/
computer program results showed that the stickslip can be
mitigated by reducing WOB ultimately reducing ROP (Omojuwa
et al., 2012).
Bayliss et al. (2012) carried out work for mitigation of stickslip
vibrations and the torsional drillstring model used during the
study is the one which was used in Rudat and Dashevskiy (2011).
An online pole placement design utilizing a derivate and integral
nested architecture with an additional zero canceling slow pole is
implemented in conjunction with a standard recursive least square
forgetting factor algorithm and output stage evaluating speed set
by controller to the required differential torque across the drillstring. The current and the latest work carried out for modeling
torsional drillstring and investigating parametrically the stick
slips inuencing factors such as surface rotations and weight-onbit on torsional oscillations, has been carried out by Patil and
Teodoriu (2012). Effects of drillstring stiffness and inertia on
torsional oscillation/stickslip have also been studied. Summary
of all the above mentioned studies on modeling and controlling of
torsional vibrations has been tabulated in Table 1.

3. Studies on reproducing drillstring dynamics experimentally

Progress was made from time to time, by advancing the
practical understanding, of the inuence of drillstring dynamics
on bit life, downhole tool life and overall drilling performance.
New theories with more and more complicated models came up
and were validated with the experimental or eld data. Still the

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self excited oscillations in the drilling process due to nite delays

or due to the wave propagation in the elastic drillstring have not
been simulated. Another approach to study vibrations closely is by
building a simulated drillstring to reproduce downhole condition
in laboratory.
Melakhessou et al. (2003) worked on modeling and experimenting non linear interaction between drillstring and wellbore
wall, see Fig. 4. Coefcient of friction was taken into consideration
and the initial string position too. The proposed model consists of
four degrees of freedom which are radial displacement, rotational
bending along the tangent, and torsion of the string. The model
was developed and derived from equation of motions using
Lagrange equations and were solved using the RungeKutta
algorithm.
From Fig. 4, it can be seen that the location of opto-electronic
cameras was located just above the cylinder. Cameras measured
the lateral displacement of the rod. The study focuses on the BHA
which is under compression. The phenomenon takes into account
the interaction between tool joints and wellbore as well as the
drillstring and wellbore. Experimental model takes into account
only lateral displacement and not other modes of vibrations. The
experimental setup consists of a DC brushless motor, steel rod as a
drillstring, computer to monitor and control the rotations, torque
meter and the powder brake at the end of the rod. Two optoelectronic cameras from Sysmat OM5 were used to measure the
lateral displacement of the rod. Drillstring rod used which was
4 mm in diameter; inside diameter of the cylinder was 24 mm,

disc diameters were 20 mm and the whole string was rotated with
the speed of 180 rpm.
Downhole friction induces negative damping, which leads to
vibrations according to Mihajlovic et al. (2006). Mathematical
model was developed and then analyses were carried out on the
basis of theoretical stability and numerical bifurcation. In order to
compare the model results with the experiment, a setup was built.
The experimental setup allowed interaction between torsional and
lateral vibration, effect of dry friction and mass imbalance scenarios. The material selected for the string was steel with modulus of
elasticity of 2e11 N/m2. The length of string used was 1.47 m with
added mass of 0.45 kg at the end of the string. The string was
rotated from the top with the help of DC motor mounted on the
top as shown in Fig. 5. Experimental setup consists of a power
amplier, a DC motor, two rotational inertias interconnected with
a low stiffness string as a drillstring and braking mechanism at the
lower end to create stickslip. The experimental results showed
that two types of torsional vibrations appeared: (a) friction
induced torsional oscillations and (b) torsional vibrations due to
a coupling between torsional and lateral dynamics in the system.
An important observation made was that the normal force in the
frictional contact inuences the friction force in a complex way
which can induce higher negative damping for higher normal
forces giving rise to stickslip phenomena.
Raymond et al. (2008) developed a laboratory scaled drilling
facility to gain practical understanding of axial vibrations, and to
dene the best operational parameters in order to eliminate

Fig. 4. Laboratory simulation of drillstring dynamic (Melakhessou et al., 2003).

Upper Part

Computer,
power amplifier
and additional
electronics

Low stiff string

Lower Part

Fig. 5. Schematic and experimental representation of drillstring setup (Mihajlovic et al., 2006).

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Fig. 6. Simulation of drillstring dynamics using model based control approach

(Raymond et al., 2008).

Fig. 7. Laboratory simulation of drillstring dynamics (Raymond et al., 2008).

233

drillstring axial vibrations. Research showed that rockbit interaction together with drillstring dynamics can be reproduced in the
laboratory using two approaches: (a) mechanical analog approach
and (b) model based control. Both the approaches demonstrate
necessity for addressing the effect of rock type, bit design, and drill
string properties on the stability of the drilling process. In mechanical analog approach vibrations are introduced in the system while
in model based control approach, drillstring dynamics with the
change in weight on bit were predicted using numerical models.
The experimentation is limited to the axial model of vibrations only.
This experiment actually drills the rock formation in laboratory
giving a good insight of response of drill bit/formation interaction
and dynamics of drillstring as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The model
based control system was capable of reproducing the laboratory
dynamics and it was used to predict the axial displacement of the
bit. Feedback response from the control system to the drillstring
actuator proved to be faster for higher frequencies vibrations in a
drillstring.
Further experimental investigation in this eld was done by
Khulief and Al-Sulaiman (2009). Previously studying the impact of
drillstring with wellbore and the dynamics of drillstring together,
which results in high frequency excitations, the impact model was
developed considering the material properties and damping
coefcients which was integrated with dynamic model of whole
the drillstring. The Lagrange approach was used to derive dynamic
models of a drillstring. The model takes into account torsional
bending coupling and axialbending nonlinear coupling. Time
response of drillstring system was calculated. Laboratory investigation of drillstring dynamics involves a test rig which can
simulate stick slip, string/wellbore contact, and drilling uid
interaction, Fig. 8(a) and (b). The setup consists of a steel frame,
a DC motor, stainless steel vertical shaft as a drillstring ranging
from 1 to 2 m in length and 0.3 to 1.0 cm in diameter, and Plexiglas
pipe as a wellbore containing uid. Magnetic tension brake was
used to simulate the stickslip while shaker excited the drillstring
axially, as shown in Fig. 8(d). The string was rotated with
the speeds ranging from 50 to 1000 rpm. It is necessary to build
such sophisticated dynamic models in laboratory in order to
investigate coupling modes of vibrations which are difcult to
model and challenging to predict analytically (Khulief and AlSulaiman, 2009).
Canudas-de-Wit et al. (2008a, 2008b) concluded that using an
adaptation law, named D-OSKILL, the stickslip can be effectively

Drive motor
Key Phasor

Frame

DC motor

Flex coupling
& Universal joint

Flex Coupling
Measurement station 1

Shaft

Measurement station 2

Measurement station 3
Plexiglas Pipe

Magnetic
tension brake

Shaker

Fig. 8. Laboratory investigation of drillstring vibration (Khulief and Al-Sulaiman, 2009).

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M3

DC motor + Sensor

DC motor (M3)
Force sensor
Pulling force f3

DC motor (M2)

Vertical displacement x3

Rotary system
DC motor
+ Sensor

Transmission box

Rotary table
Drillstring

Drillstring

Sensor

Bit

Bit
Specimen
holder

Fig. 9. Schematic and experimental setup of rotary system (Lu et al., 2009).

Fig. 11. Lateral rig (left) and torsional rig (right) layout (Forster et al., 2010).
Fig. 10. Experimental drilling rig (Franca, 2010).

eliminated without requiring a re-design of the top drive, drillstring design, etc.. To prove this, Lu et al. (2009) constructed an
experimental facility to reproduce stickslip vibrations in laboratory. Fig. 9(a)(d) shows the laboratory setup which is composed
of DC motor (M2) with inbuilt rotary speed sensor, transmission
box connecting the motor and the rotary table, drillstring, quadrature encoder, and a bit. Rotary table is a large inertia disc
coupled with the drillstring. Drillstring is made of small tubes
having low rotational stiffness of 0.6706 N m/rad. The model used
during this study is a two degrees of freedom model with two
inertial masses. The parameters from the setup such as motor
inertia, inertia of the mass, damping coefcients were identied
before the experiment. The oscillation frequency was found be to

around 3.2 Hz and thus the chosen speed was 20 rad/s. The
nominal WOB used was 180 N for both the experiments such as
with and without D-OSKILL. As concluded in simulation results the
WOB is recovered to the nominal values when stickslip is
eliminated; it has been validated by Canudas-de-Wit et al.
(2008a, 2008b), during their experiments too. Also observed the
ROP with D-OSKILL was smaller without D-OSKILL due to the loss
of optimal WOB; but the stickslip oscillations were effectively
mitigated.
In order to prove the drilling response model developed on the
basis of literature, Franca (2010) performed several laboratory
tests using in-house designed and built drilling rig, see Fig. 10. The
upper assembly consists of a geared brushless servomotor as a top
drive and a linear actuator on the top of the frame. The drilling rig

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itself has the ability to provide a precise ROP from 0.01 mm/s to
100 mm/s. The drill bit assembly consists of a roller cone bit, a drill
shaft and an anvil. The core drive mechanism, at the bottom of the
assembly, consists of a geared brushless servomotor and a lathe
chuck. The main difference from the conventional drilling rigs is
that the core drive mechanism drives the rock sample at a
controlled angular velocity which ranges from 10 to 400 rpm.
Small scale vibration test rigs were designed and built also by
Forster et al. (2010) in order to reproduce lateral and torsional
vibrations, separately. The main purpose of their study was to
understand and quantify the behavior of an asymmetric vibration
damping tool (AVDT). For the testing of AVDT, the tests comprised
a lateral vibration rig and a torsional vibration rig. Rigs use a DC
drive motor, and a steel rod of diameter 5 mm and length of
2000 mm. The unsupported length of steel rod ranges from
250 mm to 2000 mm. To replicate WOB acting on the string,
compressive loading weights of 1 kg, 1.5 kg and 3.5 kg were used,
see Fig. 11(a) and (b). The torsional vibration rig included an inertia
wheel to replicate the top drive, and inertia wheel to replicate BHA
and 1 mm diameter high tensile steel wire to represent drillstring.
The bit is located at the BHA contacting a steel bore and the
diameter is 8 mm, see Fig. 11. Both the rigs were powered using 0
30 V DC supply and nominal operating speed of the drive motors
at 12 V was 400 rpm, depending on the load. The lateral test rig
was equipped with an accelerometer to measure the shocks
occurring between the drillstring and the borehole.
Forster (2011) has used axial loads as a means of mitigating
stickslip vibrations. The experiment uses the same rig as
designed in Forster et al. (2010) with few modications. Drillstring
used during the experiment is a high tensile wire of 1250 mm
length. The torsional stiffness of the wire was varied by tensioning
the string. Pre-test includes load of about 11.5 kg and with no
lubrication at the bit and weights attached. Axial excitation was
generated by using two DC solenoids which uses variable amplitude alternating single phase power supply as shown in Fig. 12.
The frequency range for the test was restricted to 515 Hz to be
consistent with downhole tools and minimizing over heating of
solenoids. Maximum WOB for axial excitation applied was 20 N
including BHA weight and tension in a string. It was concluded
that the axial excitation of the string successfully minitated stick
slip vibrations (Forster, 2011).

235

Lately, Esmaeili et al. (2012) found out that most of the

experiments investigating drillstring dynamics have been carried
out by considering just a part of the drillstring, such as small cross
sections of the drillstring and in most of the cases vibrations were
not recorded during the real time experimentation of the laboratory scaled setup. This was the reason for construction of a fully
automated laboratory scale drilling rig called the CDC miniRig. The
experimental setup actually drills in to the rock sample. It consists
of a steel frame, drawwork, topdrive, weights, measurement

Fig. 13. (a) Experimental CDCminiRig and (b) vibration sensor sub (Esmaeili
et al., 2012).

Fig. 12. Torsional rig layout drive to BHA (Forster, 2011).

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Table 2
Summary of studies reproducing drillstring dynamics experimentally.
Researcher
(year)

Investigation

Approach

Setup details

Melakhessou
et al.
(2003)

Study of nonlinear interaction

between drillstring and wellbore
with the help of model and
experiment.
Study of friction induced limit
cycling in a exible rotor system.

Modeling with
four DOF and
experimental

Drillstring dia. 4 mm, wellbore dia.

The study focuses on the BHA which is in
24 mm, stabilizer dia. 20 mm, 180 RPM compression.
Only lateral vibrations investigated.

Modeling with
two DOF and
experimental

Drillstring length 1.47 m, added mass

0.45 kg

Mihajlovic
et al.
(2006)

Dening best operational

parameters to eliminate axial
vibrations.
Studied impact of drillstring with
the wellbore.
Model accounts torsional-bending
and axial-bending nonlinear
coupling.
Lu et al.
Reproduction of stick-slip vibration
(2009)
in laboratory for D-OSKILL
mechanism.
Franca (2010) To prove the drillstring response
model on the basis of literature.
Raymond
et al.
(2008)
Khulief and
AlSulaiman
(2009)

Forster et al.
(2010)

To reproduce lateral vibrations.

Limitations

Experimental

Observation made was that the normal force in the

friction component can induce higher negative
damping for higher normal forces giving rise to stick
slip.
Experiment is limited to axial mode of vibration.

Modeling with
Lagrange
approach and
experimental

Drillstring length 12 m, dia. 310 mm, Sophisticated dynamic models need to be developed
501000 RPM
to investigate coupling modes of vibrations.

Experimental

Drillstring stiffness 0.6706 Nm/rad,

190 RPM, Nominal WOB 180 N

Experimental

Experimental

Understand and quantify the

behavior of AVDT.
Forster
To reproduce torsional vibrations.
Experimental
Understand and quantify the
(2011)
behavior of AVDT.
Esmaeili et al. Investigation of drillstring dynamics Experimental
(2012)

Smaller ROP with D-OSKILL mechanism due to loss of

optimal WOB while effectively mitigating stickslip
vibrations.
10400 RPM
Drilling rig has ability to provide ROP from 0.01
100 mm/s.
The rock sample is driven instead of the drilling
assembly.
Drillstring length 2 m, dia. 5mm, WOBs Inertia wheels used to replicate the top drive and the
BHA.
1, 1.5 and 3.5 kg, for torsional rig dia.
Accelerometers used to measure shocks occurring
1 mm, wellbore dia. 8 mm, 400 RPM
between the drillstring and borehole.
Axial excitation successfully mitigated stickslip.
Drillstring length 1.25 m, stiffness
adjustable by varying tension, load
11.5 kg, Max WOB 20 N, 400 RPM
Drillstring length 0.524 m, dia. 40 mm, Increasing WOB and rotary speed increases ROP.
360 RPM, WOB 800 N.
Keeping constant WOB and by reducing rotary speed,
vibrations and ROP decreases.

sensors, drillstring, srill bit and a control unit, see Fig. 13. The
experimental rig has the capacity of applying 80 kg WOB on a drill
bit of 23 in. in size. The rig can handle a 52.4 cm long drillstring
of 4 cm in diameter and can rotate it up to 360 rpm. Rock samples
used during the experiments were of the dimensions 30 
30  30 cm3. In order to record all the vibrations anticipated by
the drillstring, a vibration sensor sub, Fig. 13(b), is mounted
directly onto the drillstring. Experimental results show that
increasing the WOB and rotary speed increases the ROP. It has
also been observed that keeping WOB constant and by reducing
rotary speed, drillstring vibrations as well as ROP decreases.
Table 2 below summarizes all the above mentioned experimental studies on reproducing modes of vibration in the laboratory which have been tabulated.

4. Further development in studying torsional drillstring

dynamics
High drilling costs and drilling inefciencies inuence signicantly the development of the project by extra addition of cost. It
can be summarized from above that improving drilling efciency
by integrated rock mechanics analysis, optimizing downhole
drilling parameters, reducing drillstring dynamics and reducing
nonproductive time will maximize ROP which is with the current
state-of-the-art techniques that still remains the main challenge
(Tikhonov and Safronov, 2011; Nes et al., 2012; Gradl et al., 2012).
Most of the drilling rigs worldwide still rely on the driller in order
to allow for real-time changes in drilling parameters to react over
the incidence and severity of the torsional vibration levels which
are computed using sensor measured near-instantaneous downhole data. The process of reacting to the received information by a

driller is always slow to nd the narrow window of the optimum

drilling parameters for reducing dynamic dysfunction of drillstring. In order to have precise downhole torsional vibrations
suppressing system, adaptive controller needs to be designed
which can t the purpose without modifying the drilling control
system on rig completely. Stability analysis of these controllers and
robustness need to be veried before introducing an innovative
mechanism for preventing vibrations in reality. To perform this
task a laboratory setup needs to be built which replicates the
downhole dynamic condition of a drillstring while in process. This
laboratory setup should be able to reproduce the stickslip
phenomena. Most of the mentioned laboratory experimental
facilities in the presented study are vertical, though most of the
wells drilled today are deviated, because the main objective
behind the reproduction of downhole stickslip condition in
laboratory is to study the bit induced stickslip vibrations. Bit
induced and the BHA induced torsional/stickslip vibrations can
be distinguished depending on the geometry and the friction
coefcient which are in interaction. In order to investigate the
inuence of the non-linear wall friction along the wellbore on
torsional/stickslip vibrations, laboratory facility could be built
horizontally which focuses on the non-linear friction coefcients.
The occurrence of stickslip at the bit reduces as the well
deviation increases (Reckmann et al., 2007) and also the severity
of stickslip should reduce which could be due to high drillstring/
wellbore contact and increased damping effect. With the increasing drilling uid viscosity, the BHA induced torsional vibrations
will decrease due to the damping effect while at the bit the change
will not be very signicant as the bit is cutting the formation with
high aggressiveness. The uid viscosity has an effect on the
dynamics of the BHA as it is expected there exists uidelastic
coupling forces which modies the inertia, stiffness, and damping

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237

Fig. 14. Experimental facility of torsional drillstring system at TU Clausthal.

characteristics of the drillstring (Khulief and Al-Sulaiman, 2009)

but more investigation needs to be done to identify the clear
effects of these parameters on stickslip. Dimensions as well as the
operating parameters need to be scaled down. By doing so
experimental investigation could be carried out which will represent close to the actual in eld scenario. This will also allow the
simulation of various lengths of drillstring with different diameters in a convenient environment.
The model facility, as shown in Fig. 14, is being built in order to
validate the torsional drillstring model developed by Patil and
Teodoriu (2012). The developed model assumes that the wellbore
is vertical, well stabilized bit and there is no lateral displacement
at the bit; the top drive motor provides contact and positive
torque. Facility incorporates all the basic assumptions made while
modeling a torsional drillstring. Once the experimental facility is
available, the inuence of operating parameters such as weighton-bit and rotational speed will be studied. The effect of length of
the string, its stiffness and the inertia on the dynamics of the
string will be analyzed. The downscaled laboratory setup is
designed using law of similitude. Bottom hole assembly in a
drillstring consists of downhole measurement tools which is
under compression while drilling and undergoes severe vibrations
compared to the drillstring above it. Hence, 150 m of bottom hole
assembly is downscaled to 5 m of laboratory drillstring for testing
purpose. The diameter of the Plexiglas cylinder varies from 6 to
12 mm. Outer and inner diameters of the test drillpipe are 4 mm
and 2 mm respectively. Since the laboratory facility focuses on the
bit induced stickslip vibrations, the braking device has been
developed which will represent the non-linear friction at the bit.
Torque sensor will help to measure the torsional uctuations at
the bottom. The setup is kept as simple as possible in order to
study bit induced torsional vibrations, but could also be modied
in future to investigate the inuence of string induced torsional
vibrations by using a curved Plexiglas tube and a steel pipe inside
it. The operating parameters in the laboratory have also been

determined by downscaling the minimum and maximum values

anticipated in eld.

5. Conclusion
Lacking capabilities in previous laboratory studies need to be
evaluated in order to build a state-of-the-art laboratory facility and
keeping holistic approach at the same time. Consideration of all
possible factors which affects drillstring dynamics in reality and
reproducing these factors in laboratory will make this facility, one
of its kinds for the analysis of downhole dynamics. The facility will
reproduce the vertical drilling wellbore in order to investigate the
bit induced torsional vibrations and in future will be modied to
investigate the drillstring induced torsional vibrations inuencing
factors such as high-hole angle, wellbore undulation, wellbore
quality, etc. Adaptive controlling algorithm could then be developed for mitigating the torsional oscillations/stickslip while
drilling and optimizing rate of penetration using the vibration
data. An innovative controller can integrate the adaptive controlling algorithms which will use the real time measured data to
predict narrow window of optimum operating parameters in order
to have a control over all possible vibration modes. Before
implementing for real time operations, verication and rigorous
testing of such control systems for their stability and robustness
using the experimental setup cannot be ignored.

Acknowledgments
This contribution was made possible by nancial support from
the Ministry of Science and Culture, Lower Saxony (NWK) and
Baker Hughes, Celle within the research program gebo (Geothermal Energy and High Performance Drilling).

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