The drill rod is a slender rod. Although it looks simple and ordinary, it plays a vital role in civil infrastructure projects.
What is a drill rod?
A drill rod is a tool that connects the drill bit and is matched with a rock drilling machine to drill in the rock or soil. It is usually made of high-quality steel and has the characteristics of high strength and good wear resistance.
What is the drill rod used for?
The drill rod plays an indispensable role in rock drilling operations and finds extensive use in various engineering projects like construction, road construction, and tunnel excavation. One end of the drill rod links to the shank adapter and the rock drill through a coupler, while the other end connects directly to the drill bit. When the rock drill initiates its operation, the piston undergoes a high-frequency reciprocating motion, continuously impacting the shank adapter. The shank adapter transmits this impact force to the drill rod, and in turn, the drill rod conveys the impact force to the drill bit. The impacted drill bit pulverizes the rock, creating a cavity of a certain depth. Throughout this process, rock drilling tools must endure tension, compression, bending, torsion, and high-frequency impacts from the piston, all in the face of severe rock wear and pit water corrosion. As a result, these tools frequently fail due to stress corrosion fatigue fractures.
Hence, rock drilling tools are the most demanding of human tools, have the shortest service life, and a large number of expendable tools necessary for fundamental industry.
Type of drill rod
Drill rods include light drill rods and heavy drill rods. Light drill rods include tapered drill rod, shank rod, and integral drill rod. Heavy drill rods include extension rods and MF rods.
Tapered drill rod
It is a hexagonal hollow rod with a shank structure. The shank is connected with the rock drilling equipment. The head of the rod is a taper structure that can be connected with a tapered bit.
Shank rod
It is a hexagonal hollow rod with a shank structure. The shank is connected to the rock drilling equipment. The head of the rod is a threaded shape that can be connected with a threaded bit.
Integral drill rod
It is a rock drill tool that combines the shank adapter, shank collar, drill rod, and drill bit as a whole. It is suitable for small diameter shallow holes and is usually used for broken rock, weathered rock, and other soft rock.
Extension rod
A drill rod with external threads at both ends.
MF rod
A drill rod with external thread at one end and internal thread at the other end.
The manufacturing process of drill rod
- Material selection: choose high-quality steel as raw material.
- Forging: heating and forging raw materials to form preliminary shapes and sizes.
- Cutting processing: carry out cutting processing on the drill rod after forging to form the shape of the outer circle, end plane, and so on.
- Heat treatment: heat treatment is performed on the processed drill rod to improve strength and wear resistance.
- Surface treatment: harden the surface of the drill rod, such as shot peening, carburizing, and quenching, to improve its wear resistance and service life.
- Inspection: conduct a quality inspection of the drill rod manufactured to ensure it meets the design requirements and performance.
In short, the drill rod is one of the indispensable tools in rock drilling operations. It realizes rock drilling and chiseling by connecting rock drill and drill bit. Understanding the use, characteristics, type, and manufacturing process of the drill rod can help to use the drill rod better and improve the efficiency and quality of rock drilling operations. With the advancement of science and technology and changes in engineering needs, drill rods are also constantly developing and improving. At the same time, the design and specifications of drill rods are being optimized for different application scenarios. In the future, as market requirements increase, the production and use of drill rods will become more efficient.
