Xuanwa Group
Blog
17
2026
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09
Read Your Teeth: What Wear Patterns Reveal About the Formation
Author：
Every tooth that comes out of the ground is data. Most crews throw worn teeth in a skip; the best contractors read them like a formation log. Here is how to decode the five most common wear patterns.
Rounded, Polished Cone — Abrasive Sand & Gravel
A smoothly rounded, almost polished tip means the carbide was ground away by abrasion, not broken. Typical of aeolian sand, gravelly sand, and silty layers. The tooth is telling you the formation is soft but highly abrasive: you need high carbide volume and a sharp replacement cycle, not harder rock tools.
Flat-Topped or Fractured Tip — Impact on Hard Rock
A flat, sheared top or a chipped shank means impact failure — the tooth hit unweathered rock, boulders, or concrete obstructions. If this appears in a layer logged as "sandstone," the sandstone is likely cemented far harder than the SI report suggests. Switch to roller-bit core barrels or increase tooth density on rock tools.
Asymmetric (One-Sided) Wear — Alignment Problem
One flank worn flat while the other stays sharp indicates the tooth is cutting off-axis: a bent Kelly bar, worn pilot, or unbalanced tool. Fixing the tool or Kelly alignment usually doubles tooth life instantly — a cheaper solution than "better teeth."
Heat Discolouration (Blue/Bronze Tint) — Speed & Cooling
Blue or straw-coloured tints show the carbide ran hot — excessive rotation speed in dense formations, or cutting with insufficient downforce so the tip skidded. Reduce RPM, increase crowd. Heat-softened carbide wears 3–5× faster.
Shank Erosion & Holder Galling — Maintenance Signal
If the shank and holder show galling or the tooth spins loose, holders are worn out. Worn holders let teeth micro-rotate, destroying both. This is the most common hidden cost on ageing fleets — and the cheapest to fix with a holder replacement programme.
Turn Diagnosis Into Procurement
Reading wear patterns tells you exactly which tooth specification — carbide grade, tip geometry, shank system — matches your ground. XUANWA supplies matched tooth + holder sets for all major rig fleets and provides a free wear-analysis service for GCC contractors: send photos of a project's worn teeth and we will recommend the specification and a trial pack, shipped same-day from KIZAD Abu Dhabi.
Want a free wear analysis? Contact our Abu Dhabi team or browse rotary digging teeth.
Tags: teeth wear analysis, bullet teeth, formation diagnosis, drilling consumables UAE
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