Case Study: InFocus Energy Services achieves faster, lower-cost downhole drilling product development with SOLIDWORKS (SIMULIA Structural Simulation Engineer)

Developing Downhole Oil And Gas Drilling Products Faster with SIMULIA Structural Simulation Engineer

InFocus Energy Services, an R&D-focused Canadian developer of downhole oil and gas products, faced the challenge of reducing costly, time-consuming physical testing while accelerating development of nonlinear, complex-contact components. To address this, the company extended its SolidWorks-based product development environment by adding SIMULIA Structural Simulation Engineer (SSE) on the 3DEXPERIENCE cloud to gain high-end nonlinear structural simulation capability.

Using SIMULIA SSE integrated with SolidWorks, InFocus accurately simulated the bearing section of its RE|FLEX drilling motor, optimized a tapered, barrel-shaped high‑strength‑steel bearing design, and confirmed higher torque ratings and durability. The SolidWorks-enabled solution saved tens of thousands of dollars in testing and unnecessary mold iterations, cut months of development time and extra labor into weeks, freed up local computing resources, and produced close correlation between simulation and physical test results.

InFocus Energy Services

Peter Kjellbotn

Mechanical Engineer/Simulation Specialist