PART I: HAMMER DRILLING ENGINEERING LEG
INTRODUCTION
Experience gained on Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Legs 147 (Hess Deep) and 153 (located at
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at Kane Transform [MARK]) indicates that the current hard-rock base
design is not optimal for establishing boreholes in fractured hard-rock environments with
moderate slope. This is especially true on thinly sedimented slopes covered with debris or rubble.
Therefore, new hardware and techniques have been developed to establish boreholes in these
environments to meet the scientific objectives of hard-rock legs. Establishing a borehole refers to
actual borehole spudding, emplacement of casing to stabilize the borehole, and establishing reentry
capability.
The tool with the most promise of dramatically increasing ODP's ability to establish a borehole in
a hard-rock environment is the hammer drill-in casing system. Thorough testing of this tool prior
to deployment at sea in an actual hard-rock environment may increase the likelihood of success of
future hard-rock legs. Therefore, the engineering portion of Leg 179 will be dedicated solely to
testing a hammer drill-in casing system in a fractured hard-rock environment. We will conduct
these tests in the rift mountains of the Southwest Indian Ridge where there exists an uncommon
combination of hard-rock drilling targets and shallow- to deep-water exposures (Figs. 1, 2, 3).
BACKGROUND
Drilling and coring operations in fractured hard rock must overcome many challenges not
confronted in piston coring operations. These can be summarized as initiating the borehole,
stablilizing the borehole, and establishing reentry capability. Until a drilling/coring bit can gain
purchase, since it is not stabilized by sediment, it tends to chatter across the surface of a hard-rock
outcrop. Difficulty initiating a hole is exacerbated if the drilling target is on a slope. Rubble from
the seafloor, drill cuttings, and material dislodged from the borehole wall must continually be
removed, however the size and density of this material complicates this task. Due to bit wear in
hard rock, deep penetration (beyond a few tens of meters) absoutely requires the ability to perform
multiple entries into a borehole. The ideal system for drilling in hard rock environments would be
oblivious to local topographic variation, seafloor slope, and thickness of sediment cover or talus
accumulation. Such a system should initiate a hole, then simultaneously deepen the hole and
stabilize the upper part of the hole with casing. This requires the bit to cut a hole with a greater
diameter than the casing, and then to be withdrawn through the casing string. The casing in turn
would facilitate hole-cleaning operations by elevating the annular velocity of the drilling fluid, and
ease reentry operations by eliminating the possibility of offsets in the borehole wall (ledges or
bridges). Finally, this ideal system would leave behind a structure to simplify the required multiple
reentries.
The hammer drill-in casing system (Fig. 4) is composed of a hydraulically actuated percussion
hammer drill, a casing string or multiple casing strings, a free-fall deployable reentry funnel, and a
casing hammer. Once the casing string has been drilled into place and the reentry funnel installed,
the drilling assembly is unlatched from the casing string and removed. The borehole is left with
casing and a reentry funnel in place. If required, the casing string may be cemented in place and
multiple casing strings may be installed in the same borehole.
This type of drill-in casing system is currently being used in Iceland to install large diameter
(18.625 in) casing up to 100 m deep in fractured basalt. Unfortunately, the Icelandic system is
pneumatically driven and, thus, not suited for use in deep water. However, a hydraulically actuated
hammer drill suitable for use by ODP is currently under development in Australia. ODP is
assisting in the development of this hammer drill and will incorporate it into the hammer drill-in
casing system.
A viable hammer drill-in casing system would:
1. Eliminate the need for any form of independent seafloor structure, such as the hard-rock
base.
2. Allow spudding boreholes on much steeper slopes than can be achieved using an
independent seafloor structure.
3. Reduce sensitivity to thin sediment cover, debris, or rubble lying on the spudding
surface.
4. Reduce dependency on precise site surveys.
To 179 Part I: Engineering/Scientific Objectives
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