Stick-slip vibrations decrease the performance, reliability, and fail safety of drilling systems. The aim of this paper is to design a robust output-feedback control approach to eliminate torsional stick-slip vibrations in drilling systems. Current industrial controllers regularly fail to eliminate stick-slip vibrations, especially when multiple torsional flexibility modes play a role in the onset of stick-slip vibrations. As a basis for controller synthesis, a multimodal model of the torsional dynamics for a real drill-string system is employed. The proposed controller design strategy is based on skewed-μ DK iteration and aims at optimizing the robustness with respect to uncertainty in the nonlinear bit-rock interaction. Moreover, a closed-loop stability analysis for the nonlinear drill-string model is provided. This controller design strategy offers several benefits compared with existing controllers. First, only surface measurements are employed, therewith avoiding the need for down-hole measurements. Second, multimodal drill-string dynamics are effectively dealt with in ways inaccessible to state-of-practice controllers. Third, robustness with respect to uncertainties in the bit-rock interaction is explicitly provided and closed-loop performance specifications are included in the controller design. Case study results confirm that stick-slip vibrations are indeed eliminated in realistic drilling scenarios using the designed controller in which state-of-practice controllers fail to achieve this.

This paper considers the design of a nonlinear observer-based output-feedback controller for oil-field drill-string systems aiming to eliminate (torsional) stick-slip oscillations. Such vibrations decrease the performance and reliability of drilling systems and can ultimately lead to system failure. Current industrial controllers regularly fail to eliminate stick-slip vibrations under increasingly challenging operating conditions caused by the tendency towards drilling deeper and inclined wells, where multiple vibrational modes play a role in the occurrence of stick-slip vibrations. As a basis for controller synthesis, a multi-modal model of the torsional drill-string dynamics for a real rig is employed, and a bit-rock interaction model with severe velocity-weakening effect is used. The proposed model-based controller design methodology consists of a state-feedback controller and a (nonlinear) observer. Conditions, guaranteeing asymptotic stability of the desired equilibrium, corresponding to nominal drilling operation, are presented. The proposed control strategy has a significant advantage over existing vibration control systems as it can effectively cope with multiple modes of torsional vibration. Case study results using the proposed control strategy show that stick-slip oscillations can indeed be eliminated in realistic drilling scenarios in which industrial controllers fail to do so. Moreover, key robustness aspects of the control system involving the robustness against uncertainties in the bit-rock interaction and changing operational conditions are evidenced.