A roller-cone bit is a drill bit

Drill bit

Drill bits are cutting tools used to create cylindrical holes. Bits are held in a tool called a drill, which rotates them and provides torque and axial force to create the hole. Specialized bits are also available for non-cylindrical-shaped holes....

 used for drilling through rock, for example when drilling for oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

 and gas

Gas

Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...

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Characteristics

The bits are sub divided into different categories depending on soil condition. There are three main categories: soft, medium and hard formation bits. Soft formation rock bits are used in unconsolidated sand

Sand

Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

s, clay

Clay

Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

s, soft lime stones, red beds and shale

Shale

Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...

. Medium formation bits are used in calcite

Calcite

Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...

s, dolomite

Dolomite

Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....

s, lime stones, and hard shale, while hard formation bits are used in hard shale, calcites, mudstone

Mudstone

Mudstone is a fine grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Grain size is up to 0.0625 mm with individual grains too small to be distinguished without a microscope. With increased pressure over time the platey clay minerals may become aligned, with the...

s, cherty lime stones and hard and abrasive formations.

The cutting structure of the bits varies according to the rock formation. Soft bits will have longer protruding teeth or chisel-shaped buttons, and fewer, more widely arranged teeth. Medium formation bits will have much closer teeth than soft formation bits, and the protrusion of the teeth is reduced. The teeth are very short and closely arranged on hard formation bits. Because of the shorter teeth the penetration of the rock bit during drilling is less than with soft or medium formation bits, but the other bits cannot be used in hard strata.

The bits are further classified based on their internal bearings. Each bit has three rotating cones and each one will rotate on its own axis during drilling. While the bits are fixed to the drilling rigs, the rotation of the drill pipe will be in a clockwise direction and the roller cones are rotated in an anti-clockwise direction. Each roller cone is rotated on its own axis with the help of the bearing. Again, the bearings are classified mainly into three types: Open bearing bits, Sealed Bearing Bits and Journal Bearing bits.