CN104145072B - Apparatus and method for determining the inner contour of a hollow device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides an apparatus for determining the internal profile of a device under test, which in one embodiment comprises: a housing having a first axis; a measurement device configured to emit a light beam along a second axis offset from the first axis; a deflection device configured to direct the emitted beam to an interior surface of the device under test; and a driver configured to rotate the measurement device about the first axis.

Description

Apparatus and method for determining the inner contour of a hollow device

Cross References to Related Applications

This application claims the benefit of US Application No. 13/411333, filed March 2, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

technical field

The present disclosure generally relates to equipment used in wellbore operations employing progressive cavity power plants.

Background technique

To obtain hydrocarbons (oil and gas), a wellbore or wellbore is drilled by rotating a drill bit attached to the end of a drill string. Currently, a significant amount of drilling activity involves drilling deviated or horizontal wellbores for hydrocarbon production. Currently, drilling systems used to drill such wellbores typically employ a drill string with a drill bit at the bottom that is turned by a motor (often referred to as a "mud motor" or "drilling motor"). A typical mud motor includes a power section that includes a rotor having an outer lobe surface placed within a stator having a matching inner lobe surface. The power section forms progressive cavities between the lobe-like surfaces of the rotor and the lobe-like surfaces of the stator. Such motors are commonly referred to as progressive cavity motors or Moineau motors. Certain pumps used in the petroleum industry also employ progressive cavity power sections.

Stators typically comprise a metal casing internally lined with a helically shaped or lobe-shaped elastomeric material. The volumetric efficiency of a mud motor depends largely on the seal formed between the stator lobes and the rotor lobes during the rotation of the rotor within the stator. Cooperate. The rotor lobes are external and their dimensions can be accurately measured using a variety of inspection tools. The stator lobe profile located on the inner surface of the stator cannot usually be measured accurately. Relatively small deviations from the desired or designed dimensions of the stator profile can result in: (i) inefficient mud motors, for example due to gaps between rotor lobes and stator lobes as compared to optical gaps is too large; (ii) reduces the working life of the motor because of excessive contact between the rotor and stator lobes (smaller tolerances). Devices which can be used for the non-destructive inspection of the inner contour of the device are two-point measuring devices which measure the inner diameter of the stator, but not the entire section of the inner contour of the stator.

The present disclosure herein provides apparatus and methods for measuring profiled internal profiles of devices such as progressive cavity pumps, stators of mud motors, and tubular components.

Contents of the invention

In one aspect, an apparatus for determining the inner profile of a hollow part is disclosed, in one embodiment the apparatus comprising: a housing having a first axis; a measuring device located within the housing and configured to emit a light beam along a second axis, wherein the first axis is offset from the second axis; a rotatable deflection device configured to direct the emitted light beam to an inner surface of the hollow member; a driver configured to cause the measuring device rotating about a first axis; and a processor for determining the inner profile of the hollow part using the light beam reflected from the inner profile of the hollow part.

In other aspects, a method for determining the profile of a profiled interior surface of a device having a central axis (device under test) is disclosed, in one embodiment, the method includes directing a light beam from a selected Locating a location guided by a rotary deflection device onto an inner surface of the device, wherein the selected location is off-centre; receiving light reflected from the inner surface of the device under test; and using the reflected light to determine the inner surface and reflected position of the device under test the distance between.

Examples of specific features of the devices and methods disclosed herein are summarized rather broadly for a better understanding of the following detailed description of the devices and methods. There are, of course, additional features of the apparatus and method disclosed hereinafter which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

Description of drawings

The present disclosure is best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals generally refer to like elements, wherein:

Figures 1A and 1B (Prior Art) show a cross-section of an exemplary stator having a petal-like inner surface, the profile of which can be obtained using the apparatus and methods described herein;

Figure 2 is an isometric view of a device that may be used to profile or dimension an interior surface of a device such as that shown in Figures 1A and 1B;

3 is a cross-section of the device shown in FIG. 2 and a control unit for operating the device of FIG. 2 and a computer-based unit for determining the inner profile of the device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4 shows the relationship of various distances with respect to the rotating beam from the deflection device shown in Fig. 3 to the inner contour of an exemplary stator, such as the stator shown in Figs. 1A and 1B;

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing coaxial emitted and reflected beams corresponding to an embodiment of the device shown in Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is a graph showing the linear and rotational relationship of the rotational emitted light and the reflected light beam reflected from the inner surface of a stator such as that shown in Figure 3 .

detailed description

Figures 1A and 1B (Prior Art) show longitudinal and cross-sections of a typical stator 100 of a progressive cavity device, such as a mud motor or pump. The illustrated stator 100 includes a metal housing 110 having an inner surface 112 with a plurality of lobes 114 . The inner surface 112 may be a metallic surface or contain a layer composed of an elastomeric material. A section of stator 100 taken at 1B-1B is shown as element 120 in FIG. 1B .

2 is a diagram of a detection device 200 configured to measure the dimensions of an inner contour of a hollow device (also referred to herein as a "device under test")—for example, a stator of a mud motor or a progressive cavity pump, a tube, etc. distance view. The device 200 includes a rotatable housing 202 along a central axis 210 of the device 200 . The housing 202 encloses a sensor part 220 (also referred to as a measuring device) and a deflection device part 250 . The sensor portion 220 includes an optical sensor 222 that directs emitted light along an axis 251 offset from the central axis 210 by a distance "a". Portion 250 includes deflection means 252 configured to rotate about a position on axis 251 . Thus, both the center of the deflection means and the emitted beam are offset from the central axis 210 of the device 200 by a distance "a". The device 200 also includes a clamping device 230 a near the end of the sensor portion 220 and a clamping device 230 b near the end of the deflection device portion 250 . When the device 200 is placed within a shaped part or device, such as the stator 100 shown in FIG. The device 200 is clamped within the stator 100 such that the central axis 210 of the device 200 is coaxial with the central axis of the stator. In various aspects, deflection device 252 rotates about a position on emitted beam axis 251 and housing 202 is rotatable about central axis 210 between clamping device 230a and clamping device 230b. Thus, rotating the housing 202 rotates the deflection device portion 250 and the sensor portion 220 about the central axis 210 . The deflection device 252 and the sensor part can be rotated independently of each other at different rotational speeds.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section through the device 200 shown in FIG. 2 and a control unit 370 for operating the sensor 222 and the deflection device 252 . Device 200 includes a drive 350 (eg, a motor) that rotates housing 202 about device central axis 210 at a selected rotational speed between clamping device 230a and clamping device 230b. The deflection section 250 includes a deflection device drive 340 configured to rotate the deflection device 252 at a selected rotational speed about a fixed position 360 on the sensor axis 254 . In operation, sensor 222 directs beam 312 along beam axis 251 onto deflection device 252 . The light beam 312 is reflected from the deflection means 252 and directed into the interior of the part in which the device 200 is clamped by the clamping means 230a and 230b. The offset between the central axis 210 of the device 200 and the beam axis 251 is shown as "a". In one configuration, sensor 222 may be a confocal chromatic aberration sensor. Such sensors are known in the prior art and therefore will not be described in detail here. For the purposes of this disclosure, any available confocal chromatic aberration sensor may be employed. In one aspect, the control unit 370 may include a sensor/motor controller or control unit 372 and a computer or processor 374 for controlling the operation of the controller 372 . In order to determine the internal profile of a component, such as a stator with lobes inside, the device 200 is placed inside the stator and clamped within the stator by the clamping device 230a and the clamping device 230b. Sensor/motor controller 372 , operated by computer 374 , causes sensor 222 to direct beam 312 onto deflection device 252 while deflection device 252 rotates about beam axis 251 and housing 202 about central axis 210 . In various aspects, controller 372 independently controls the rotational speed of drives 340 and 350 in response to commands from computer 374 . The light beam 314 reflected from the interior of the stator is received by the sensor 222 . The axis 254 of the reflected beam 314 is the same axis as the emitted beam axis 251 .

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing the geometric relationship between the rotation of the deflection means and the rotation of the means 200, the transmitted and reflected beams and the offset of the deflection means 252 (Figure 2). Line 400 defines the inner contour of stator 100 . Point P1 represents the position of the deflection means; distance "a" represents the offset or "eccentricity" between the central axis 210 and the sensor or transmitted beam axis 251 or reflected beam axis 254 as described with reference to FIG. The distance "b" represents the initial measurement interval of the beam, as described in more detail with reference to FIG. 5 . "P2" is the position of the center of the deflection device away from P1 by a distance "a" (offset). The deflection device rotates around P2 while the device 200 and the deflection device rotate around P1. The distance "c" represents the actual known measured distance. β is the known rotation angle of the system and γ is the known rotation angle of the deflector angle, as shown in FIG. 5 . In one embodiment, gamma is 45 degrees.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the path of the light beam 510 from the sensor 222 to the inner surface 112 of the stator. Beam 510 travels distance x1 from sensor 222 and onto deflection device 252 . The beam is deflected from deflection means 252, travels distance x2 plus distance c and arrives on stator interior 112 at position P3. Light is reflected from position P3 back to deflection means 252 and provided to sensor/motor controller 370 (FIG. 3) for processing received signals. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, a is the offset, b is the starting measurement distance and is the sum of X1 and X2 (b=X1+X2), β is the distance between the vertical line and the zero vector of the deflection device The angle, γ, is the angle between the deflection unit zero vector and position P3. The distance d is unknown and has to be determined by the system.

In order to determine the inner contour of the device, the detection device 200 is clamped within the device. Both the deflector and the sensor assembly rotate about their respective axes. A beam of light is launched from a sensor (such as a confocal chromatic aberration sensor) to a rotating deflection device (such as a mirror) that is offset from the sensor assembly by a known offset. The light beam reflects off the deflection device and onto the inner surface of the device. A computer processes the light beams reflected from the inner surface of the device and determines the distance from the center of the deflection device or other suitable location to the inner surface of the device. As the deflection device rotates about its own axis, and also rotates about the axis of the measuring device, the beam scans the entire inner contour of the device, and the signals received from the inner contour are processed by a controller/computer combination to provide the entire inner contour of the device. contour. Profiles can be generated in 2D or 3D. To obtain profiles at other internal locations of the device under test, the device 200 is moved to that location, clamped within the device under test, and the process described above is repeated.

As shown in Figures 2 to 5, the elements of the device 200 include: a measuring device that is coaxial with the optical paths of the emitted beam and the reflected beam; a rotating deflection device that guides the emitted beam to the inner surface of the device under test , and direct the reflected light from the inner surface to the measurement device; the driver, which rotates the deflection device; the driver, which rotates the measurement device and the deflection device around the central axis of the device 200; the controller, which controls the light beam and the deflection device Rotation of the device and measuring device; computer or processor for processing the reflected beam signal to determine the internal profile of the device under test. The device 200 adopts a coaxial optical path for emitting light beams and reflecting light beams, and the computer measures the inner contour of the tested device according to the geometric relationship among the light beam, the deflection device and the inner contour of the tested device.

In various aspects, a measurement device may have a limited measurement interval. The eccentricity "a" moves the measuring section of the beam to the closest position to the inner contour of the device under test. The deflection means deflects the emitted light to the inner contour and the reflected light to the measuring means. The combination of the rotary deflection device with the measuring device and the offset from the central axis produces the following effects: (a) the angle between the beam and the inner profile surface of the high-angle side or inverted cone is reduced, which increases the accuracy of the measured data Quantity and accuracy; (b) the superimposed rotation of the measuring device and the deflection device can reduce the time required for the measurement; (c) can measure multiple surface points with different beam-surface angles to increase the stability of the measurement, thus Increase the quality of measurement data. The measuring system can be adapted to different inner contours without compromising cycle time, quality and accuracy of the measurement data.

As previously described with reference to Figures 2 and 3, when the housing is clamped within the DUT being measured, the central axis of the housing (which encloses the measuring device, deflection device and driver) is aligned with the DUT's The central axis is coaxial. Alternatively, device 200 may be configured to move linearly within the device under test while rotating about a central axis. In this configuration, linear movement provides measurement of a linear profile, while rotational movement provides measurement of a circular profile. Thus, by employing both linear and rotational movements, device 200 is capable of generating a three-dimensional profile of the device's inner surface.

Thus, in various aspects, device 200 is a mobile internal profile measurement device or system for measuring cross-sections of hollow devices, such as stators. In one aspect, device 200 includes a measurement device including a sensor (eg, a confocal chromatic aberration sensor). The reflected beam reflected by the device under test is coaxial with the emitted light from the sensor. The effect is exploited and the light (emitted and reflected) is deflected to the inner surface of the device under test by means of deflecting means. In order to obtain a large amount of direct reflected light, the system 200 employs: (1) a sensor and deflection device positioned eccentrically with respect to the central axis of the device under test, wherein the emitted and reflected beams are coaxial with each other; (2) a drive for the sensor to rotate the deflection device in front of the sensor; and (3) a rotation system for rotating the deflection device around the interior of the device under test. The result is a rotational superposition of the deflection device and the measuring system 200 . The system provides a precise measurement of the angle between the emitted beam of the sensor and the inner surface of the stator. The system measures the distance to the sides of the inside of the device under test (eg the lobe of the stator) and provides the distance to each location in the side of the lobe (ie the complete inner contour).

FIG. 6 shows the linear and rotational relationship between the rotating transmitted and reflected beams used in the apparatus 200 of FIG. 3 . A method of measuring the distance "d" from the relationship shown in FIG. 6 may be as follows. As mentioned earlier, the eccentricity "a" is a fixed and known value. The starting measurement interval "b" is also a fixed and known value. The measured value "c" is the actually known measured value. β is fixed and known, and γ is the known angle of deflection rotation. The resultant vector "d" can be calculated as follows:

The x component and y component of the eccentricity a can be obtained according to the following relationship.

a _x = sinβ*a

a _y =cosβ*a

The x-component and y-component of the starting measurement interval b can be calculated as follows:

b _x = sin(β+γ)*b

b _y =cos(β+γ)*b

The x and y components of the measured value c can be calculated as follows:

c _x = sin(β+γ)*c

c _y =cos(β+γ)*c

The composite component of d (e.g., the coordinates of P3) can be calculated as follows:

d _x =a _x ±b _x ±c _x

d _x = a _y ± b _y ± c _y

An example of calculating the distance d can be as follows: if a=6mm; b=13mm; c=12mm; β=30°; _γ =290°; a _x /a _{y =} 3mm/5.19mm; /9.96mm; c _x /c _y =-7.71mm/9.19mm, then d _x /d _y =13.06mm/25.06mm.

While the foregoing description is for specific exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, various modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. All modifications within the scope and spirit of the appended claims are intended to be embraced by the foregoing description.

Claims (17)

1. being used for an equipment for the Internal periphery of components of assays, this equipment includes:

Housing, this housing has the first axle being positioned at casing center；

Measurement apparatus, this measurement apparatus is configured to deviate described first axle along with distance " a " Second axis launch light beam；

Arrangement for deflecting, this arrangement for deflecting is along the second axis location and can revolve around the second axis Turning, this deflection device construction becomes the transmitting light beam guiding from the second axis to described parts Inner surface and guiding along the second axis from the reflection light beam that the inner surface of described parts reflects To measurement apparatus, to measure the Internal periphery of described parts；And

Driver, this driver constructions becomes to make described measurement apparatus rotate around described first axle.

Equipment the most according to claim 1, described equipment also includes that being positioned at described measurement fills Putting interior sensor, this sensor is configured to guide extremely described transmitting light beam along the second axis Described arrangement for deflecting.

Equipment the most according to claim 2, wherein said sensor is also configured to receive and leads to Cross the light beam that described arrangement for deflecting reflects from the inner surface of described parts.

Equipment the most according to claim 1, it is described that described equipment also includes being configured to control The controller of the rotation of arrangement for deflecting.

Equipment the most according to claim 4, wherein said controller be also configured to independent of The rotation controlling described measurement apparatus rotatably of described arrangement for deflecting.

Equipment the most according to claim 1, described equipment also includes making described arrangement for deflecting The device rotated around the position on described first axle.

Equipment the most according to claim 1, described equipment also includes processor, this process Device is configured to process the light beam reflected from the inner surface of described parts, to provide one below: (i) The two-dimentional Internal periphery of the inner surface of described parts；And the three-dimensional of the inner surface of (ii) described parts Internal periphery.

Equipment the most according to claim 3, wherein said transmitting light beam and reflection light beam are Coaxial.

Equipment the most according to claim 1, described equipment also includes clamping device, this folder Tight device is configured to described measurement apparatus to be made to revolve around described first axle with described driver Described equipment is joined to the inner surface of described parts by the mode ground turned.

10. the side of the profile of the inner surface of a tested device for mensuration with central axis Method, the method includes:

Direct the light beam on arrangement for deflecting along the beam axis deviateing described central axis, institute State arrangement for deflecting to be positioned on described beam axis and can rotate around described beam axis；

At described arrangement for deflecting, the light beam from beam axis is deflected to the interior table of tested device On face；

Receive in response to deflect to described tested device inner surface described light beam and from tested dress The light of the inner surface reflection put；And

According to the reflection light received from the inner surface of described tested device, measure the interior of tested device The profile on surface.

11. methods according to claim 10, described method also includes making described deflection dress Put and rotate to an angle around described central axis.

12. methods according to claim 10, are wherein deflected to described tested device The light beam that the described light beam of inner surface and the inner surface from tested device reflect is coaxial.

13. methods according to claim 11, wherein said arrangement for deflecting is around described light Rotating with described arrangement for deflecting around the described certain angle of rotation of described central axis of bundle axis It is applied.

14. methods according to claim 10, described method also includes:

I () be mobile described arrangement for deflecting in described tested device；And

(ii) light beam reflected from the inner surface of described tested device is processed, to provide described tested The three-dimensional Internal periphery of device.

15. methods according to claim 10, described method also includes:

I (), while rotating described arrangement for deflecting along both direction, moves in described tested device Dynamic described arrangement for deflecting；And

(ii) light beam reflected from the inner surface of described tested device is processed, to provide described tested The three-dimensional Internal periphery of device.

16. methods according to claim 10, described method also includes described deflection dress Put and be fixed in described tested device.

17. methods according to claim 10, wherein guide light beam to include by being placed on Sensor in tested device guides light beam, and this sensor is configured to enclose in described tested device Rotate to an angle around described central axis.