Mud Rotary for collecting the least disturbed/highest quality in-situ test
The mud rotary drilling method is a gentle and mud-balanced drilling technique to collect the best quality sample or least disturbed / highest quality in-situ test (SPT, thin-walled-tube, Vane Shear, PMT, etc.).
- High-quality undisturbed sampling (hydraulic or mechanical fixed piston thin-walled tube samples)
- High-quality SPT testing, with a calibrated SPT hammer (SPT energy testing)
- High-quality in-situ testing (EVST, PMT, DMT, other)
- Representative samples at discrete elevations
- Performed on its own, or through Air Rotary or Sonic Drilling or Auger Drilling cased holes
- On or off-shore applications
Air Rotary for consolidated formations with a high risk of caving
The equipment used in air rotary drilling is adapted from the air-operated down-the-hole hammer.
Cuttings blow up through the drive sub and casing annulus to a swivel, which conducts them to a sample collector or onto the ground.
- No need for drilling mud
- Rapid removal of cuttings
- Simple groundwater and soil sampling during drilling
- Ability to measure yield estimates at a selected depth in the formation
- High rates of penetration, especially in resistant rock formations such as basalt