Patent ID: 6879947

Claim:
A method for improving a drill bit assembly design for drilling a well bore section, comprising: determining a range of operating parameter values for a drilling system to be employed to drill said well bore section, determining characteristics of the formation along a trajectory through which said well bore section is to be drilled, calculating a first rate of penetration through said well bore section for a first drill bit assembly design to be employed with said drilling system for drilling said well bore section, said calculated rate of penetration being determined as a function of calculating with operating parameter values within said range of operating parameter values, modifying a depth of cut parameter of said first drill bit assembly design to provide a subsequent drill bit assembly design, calculating a second rate of penetration through said well bore section for said subsequent drill bit assembly design to be employed with said drilling system for drilling said well bore section, said second rate of penetration for said subsequent drill bit assembly being determined as a function of applying operating parameters within said range of operating parameters, and selecting a selected drill bit assembly design from said first and subsequent drill bit assembly designs having the calculated rate of penetration.