Frictional behaviors of iron based tools-casing with sand deposition

Sand deposition has caused damages to downhole equipment during energy exploitation. The frictional behavior of washing tool against casing under sand condition has been investigated using home-developed tribometer. Experimental results show that friction process has three stages, initial friction, fluctuation friction, stable friction stage. Sand particles get and crush into small during friction process in contact area. The wear rate is inversely related with tool material hardness. The growth rate of tool wear rate decreased with load increasing for surface hardened by small crushed particles indentation, demonstrated by surface morphology and element analysis after test. The wear rate decreased with rotation increasing for more crushed particles indentation. The dominate wear form is abrasive wear and micro-cutting, accompanied with adhesion.