In pile foundation construction for large-scale projects such as bridges and high-rise buildings, rotary drilling rigs have always been core equipment. With increasingly complex engineering geology and ever-tightening construction schedules, the traditional mode of rotary drilling rigs relying on "experience-based operation and manual monitoring" is gradually becoming inadequate. A series of "black technologies" brought by intelligent upgrades are completely changing the construction logic of rotary drilling rigs from dimensions such as drilling control, condition monitoring, and collaborative management, driving a qualitative leap in construction efficiency.
The intelligent drilling control system is the core hub for improving efficiency. In traditional construction, operators had to manually adjust parameters such as rotation speed and torque according to changes in soil layers. This not only resulted in delayed responses but also easily led to drill jamming and low efficiency due to judgment deviations. Today, intelligent rigs launched by enterprises such as Sany and XCMG are equipped with a multi-sensor fusion drilling system. It collects real-time data on soil hardness and compactness through geomechanical sensors and automatically matches the optimal construction parameters based on a preset geological database. In the pile foundation construction of a high-speed railway bridge, the Sany SR285R intelligent rotary drilling rig encountered complex geology with alternating silty clay and moderately weathered sandstone. The system completed parameter switching in only 0.3 seconds, reducing the rotation speed from 25rpm to 8rpm and synchronously increasing the torque to 280kN·m. The drilling efficiency was 40% higher than manual operation, and the single pile construction time was shortened from 8 hours to 5 hours.
Remote monitoring and fault early warning technology provides guarantee for continuous equipment operation. Pile foundation construction is often tight on schedule, and equipment shutdown for maintenance will directly affect progress. Intelligent rotary drilling rigs transmit key data such as engine speed, hydraulic oil temperature, and drill pipe wear to the cloud platform in real-time through IoT modules, allowing technicians to remotely monitor the equipment operation status in real-time. Meanwhile, the fault early warning system based on big data analysis can identify potential problems in advance - when the hydraulic system oil temperature exceeds 65℃ for 10 consecutive minutes, the system will automatically send an early warning message and provide a solution of "check the cooling fan and replace the hydraulic oil filter element". In a municipal project, an intelligent rotary drilling rig detected abnormal wear of the main hoist wire rope in advance through this technology, avoiding a shutdown accident caused by wire rope breakage, ensuring continuous construction, and indirectly reducing the construction period loss by 3 days.
Collaborative operation and automation technology further amplify the efficiency advantages. On large construction sites where multiple rigs are working simultaneously, the traditional management mode is prone to problems such as chaotic process connection and inefficient site scheduling. The construction site collaborative management system equipped with intelligent rigs can realize multi-equipment construction data sharing and intelligent scheduling. Through real-time GPS positioning and construction progress upload, the system can automatically plan the construction sequence and movement route of each rig, avoiding cross-operation conflicts. More advanced automated rigs can even realize "one-click hole forming". Operators only need to set parameters such as hole depth and diameter, and the rig can automatically complete the whole process of positioning, drilling, soil dumping, and drill lifting, greatly reducing manual reliance. In the foundation construction of a super high-rise building in Shenzhen, 3 intelligent rigs achieved synchronous construction through the collaborative system, with the hole position deviation controlled within 2cm. Compared with traditional construction, it reduced manual input by 50% and improved the overall construction efficiency by 35%.
Intelligent upgrading is not a simple superposition of technologies, but an innovation in construction concepts. From "man-controlled equipment" to "equipment self-optimization" and "cloud collaboration", the application of black technologies has enabled rotary drilling rigs to get rid of the label of "cumbersome machinery" and become "intelligent construction units" with both efficiency and precision. With the further penetration of 5G and AI technologies, intelligent rotary drilling rigs will realize full-domain collaboration with equipment such as excavators and cranes in the future, as well as virtual construction simulation based on digital twins. It can be predicted that intelligence will continue to be the core direction of rotary drilling rig development, injecting more powerful momentum into infrastructure construction.
