An Integrated Approach towards Predictive Maintenance on Land Drilling Rigs

The drilling industry faces the challenge of moving away from conventional maintenance strategies to maximise operational efficiency. This thesis introduces a holistic approach to land drilling rig Predictive Maintenance (PdM), integrating component maintenance into system-level decision-making. By taking the operations of the whole system into...

Motion Compensated Drilling From a Floating Vessel: Performance-based Motion Compensation selection for Floating Large Diameter Drilling

When drag anchors are no longer suitable for anchoring floating wind turbines to the seabed because of unfavorable soil conditions, it is necessary to use drilled and grouted anchor piles instead. For the installation of such anchor piles it is necessary to drill large diameter holes, with diameters ranging between 1 and 5 meters. The drilling...

Soil-grout interface friction for HDD installed heat transport pipes

The soil-grout interface friction was measured to be in between 0.0 [kPa] and 14 [kPa]. To measure this friction, a special research method was invented that enabled a tunnel to be recreated. With this setup, any formation could be used. The formation could be created with a hole in the middle which simulated a borehole. Next, by filling and...

Implementations of a Compact Drilling System (CDS) for bone

Bone drilling is a surgical action required for bone fixation using plates. The holes are currently drilled using a large, conventional drill. This causes problems when limited space is available, de to the size of the drill. For that reason a new, small Compact Drilling System is proposed. In earlier research a compact self-feeding mechanism...

Optical performance and drilling forces of an orthopaedic DRS drill with a stagnant optical probe

Introduction. In spinal surgery, the misplacement of spinal screws is a problem that causes (severe) pain, bleedings or even paralysis [2]. Screw misplacements are common as navigating in the spine is difficult due to the small vertebral dimensions and a lack of anatomical landmarks [3] [4]. In order to improve the navigational support of spine...

Optical performance and drilling forces of an orthopaedic DRS drill with a stagnant optical probe (Article): An article on a Biomedical Engineering Master thesis about orthopaedic DRS drilling at the Delft University of Technology

In spinal surgery, the misplacement of spinal screws is a common problem that causes (severe) pain, bleedings or even paralysis [1] [2] [3]. In order to improve the navigational support of spine surgeons, this research focuses on the development of an optical sensing diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) orthopaedic drill that identifies bone...

Towards improved orthopaedic drilling at hard to reach bone sites: The design of a compact Self-Feeding Angled Drill Attachment (SFADA)

Bone drilling is a crucial part of orthopaedic surgery. Internal fixation is a ommon orthopaedic procedure that requires drilling to improve healing of bone fractures. Tight spaces around hard to reach bone fractures impede the surgeon during the procedure. As a result there is an increased risk of complications such as thermonecrosis, overshoot...

Optimisation of Flow Distribution for Pipe Pullback in Horizontal Directional Drilling

Horizontal Directional Drilling permits the creation of tunnels which pass beneath rivers and canals to allow the passing of services from one side to the other. The final stage of this process involves lining the tunnel with a plastic or steel pipe. The pipe is pulled inside into the borehole using the same drilling rig that was used to bore...

Modelling of the drilling rates for large diameter offshore foundation piles

In a world where the awareness of global warming and climate change increases, the shift towards sustainable energy is essential. In the upcoming years, an increasing number of offshore wind farms is expected. Over the past years, all the 'best spots' are taken and the new locations in tougher soil conditions or even rock have to be overcome....