- Key People:
- Alfred Brandt
- Germain Sommeiller
- Related Topics:
- hammer drill
- air drill
- drifter drill
- piston drill
- rock drill
drilling machinery
-
What is drilling machinery?
Drilling machinery is equipment used to create holes in the ground. It is used in activities such as prospecting, well sinking for petroleum, natural gas, water, and salt, and scientific explorations. It is also used to drill holes in rock for blasting charges in tunneling, mining, and other excavating activities.
Modern drilling machines are either percussive, using intermittent impact to chip away at rock or ground, or rotary, which cut or grind. Some drills combine both actions for harder surfaces. The simplest rotary drill is the hand-operated earth auger, while other types of rotary drill bits include drag bits, roller bits, and diamond bits.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What are the main parts of a drilling machine?
A drilling machine makes holes in hard materials using a rotating drill bit that is fed into a workpiece.
Main parts:
* Spindle A rotating component that holds the drill.
* Chuck A three-jawed mechanism that secures the drill bit.
* Table A surface, often with a vise, where the workpiece rests.
* Drill pipe A heavy-walled tube that connects the drill bit to the surface equipment.
* Kelly A tube with a square cross section at the top of the drill pipe that passes through the turntable.
* Drill collars Extra-heavy sections at the bottom end of the drill pipe that concentrate weight on the rotating bit.3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How does a drilling machine work?
A drilling machine, or drill press, makes holes in hard materials. The drill is secured in a rotating spindle and fed into the workpiece, which is clamped in place.
Drilling machines use various cutting tools to perform hole-machining operations such as reaming, boring, counterboring, countersinking, and tapping internal threads. Modern drilling machines are either percussive, using impact to chip away at rock, or rotary, using a cutting or grinding action. Some drills combine both actions.
Drilling machines range from small bench-mounted devices to large production machines. Special-purpose drilling machines can be constructed with spindles arranged in various positions for large quantities of identical mechanical components.
5 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What are the different types of drilling machines?
Drilling machines, also known as drill presses, utilize various cutting tools to create holes in metal and perform operations such as reaming, boring, counterboring, countersinking, and tapping internal threads. Drill presses consist of a rotating spindle that holds the drill and feeds it into the workpiece, which is secured in a vise on a table.
Variations of drilling machines include single-spindle, multiple-spindle, and special-purpose machines. For high-volume production of identical components, special-purpose drilling machines with spindles in various positions can be constructed. Gang-drilling machines have multiple columns and spindles on a single base for sequential machining. Radial drills feature a movable toolhead and saddle along a rotating arm.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What materials can drilling machines drill into?
Drilling machines, also known as drill presses, are versatile tools primarily used to create holes. They can cut holes in metal using a twist drill and perform operations such as reaming, boring, counterboring, countersinking, and tapping internal threads. Drilling machinery can bore holes in the ground for activities like prospecting and well sinking for resources like petroleum, natural gas, water, and salt.
Modern drilling machines are either percussive, which chips away at rock, or rotary, which cuts or grinds. Rotary drill bits include drag bits for soft rock, roller bits for harder rock, and diamond bits for grinding away rock.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How is drilling machinery used in construction and industry?
Drilling machinery is used across construction and industry for various purposes, including creating holes for prospecting, well sinking in petroleum, natural gas, water, and salt extraction, and conducting scientific explorations. In tunneling, mining, and other excavation activities, drilling machines bore holes in rock to place blasting charges.
In the construction of commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings, drilling machines are utilized to create caissons, which are round holes that provide structural support for heavy loads. In petroleum production, directional drilling techniques employ drilling machinery to access deposits in mature fields and previously inaccessible areas, including horizontal sections of reservoirs.
4 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
drilling machinery, equipment used to drill holes in the ground for such activities as prospecting, well sinking (petroleum, natural gas, water, and salt), and scientific explorations. Drilling holes in rock to receive blasting charges is an operation in tunneling, mining, and other excavating.
Most modern drilling machines are either percussive (chipping rock or ground intermittently by impact) or rotary (involving a cutting or grinding action). A combined rotary-percussive drill uses both types of action when the hardness of the stratum warrants it.
The simplest rotary drill is the earth auger, which is hand-operated and resembles the wood auger used in carpentry. The earth auger, used principally for drilling holes in relatively soft earth, is armed with either a spiral drill or a pod-type drill and is attached to a shaft by a socket joint. Successive sections are added to the shaft as the hole deepens.
" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">
Rotary drilling may be adapted for use at any angle and is suitable for underground mining. In most rotary drilling, hollow rods of steel provide circulation of cooling water or other fluid. There are three kinds of rotary drill bits: (1) drag bits, which cut the rock with two, three, or four wings, sometimes tipped with tungsten carbide, and are used mostly in soft rock; (2) roller bits, which operate with a crushing action by means of wedge-shaped teeth and are used for harder rock; (3) diamond bits, which grind away the rock. The coring-type diamond bit makes an annular hole, the core of which provides a sample cross section of the strata penetrated, and is used for prospecting.
Percussive drilling is slower than rotary drilling but has a number of special applications, such as for shallow holes. In percussive drilling, blows are applied successively to a tool attached to rods or a cable, and the tool is rotated so that a new portion of the face is attacked at each blow.
Another simple percussive drill consists of one or more lengths of wrought-iron pipe open at both ends, driven by a heavy hammer or, for larger holes, a light pile driver. A second cylinder is sunk inside the first, and water is pumped down the inner pipe to loosen soil and raise debris. For deep boring, rotary drilling has replaced these methods.
Long after the rock drill was invented, manual drilling by two men was still usual in mining operations. One man turned the drill, while the second swung the hammer. Most advances in drilling machinery have been developed by tunnelers. The driving of two particular tunnels, the Mont Cenis (Fréjus) tunnel, between France and Italy, and the Hoosac tunnel, in Massachusetts, U.S.—both driven during the 1850s and ’60s—produced a great number of innovations in rock-drilling equipment, most notably the compressed-air drill.
The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.
SUBSCRIBE
The first patented rock drill was invented in 1849 by J.J. Couch of Philadelphia. Its drill rod passed through a hollow piston and was thrown like a lance against the rock; caught on the rebound by a gripper, it was again hurled forward by the stroke of the piston. A notable development was a hammering-type rock drill for overhead drilling devised by C.H. Shaw, a Denver machinist, before 1890. Cuttings dropped out by gravity. This machine was called a stoper when it was used in Colorado and California mines. A pneumatic feed held the machine in place and fed the steel into the rock. These two developments, hammering action and air-leg feed, became important in modern machines. The problem of removing the cuttings from horizontal drill holes was eventually solved by the invention of the hollow drill with an air channel for blowing compressed air into the bottom of the hole.
Modern rock drills are commonly mounted on large rigs to bore many holes at one time; the Mont Blanc Tunnel between France and Italy (1960s) was the first tunnel the entire diameter of which was drilled and blasted in a single operation. At the opposite end of the scale, lightweight pneumatic rock drills have also found wide favour in mining and certain tunneling operations. The chief prototype is that designed by Eric Ryd of Sweden, employing a tungsten carbide bit.