Book excerpt: Master the principles and practices of modern drilling mechanics This in-depth guide offers complete coverage of drilling mechanics with a focus on the horizontal drilling of shale plays and offshore wells. The book lays out drilling engineering fundamentals and clearly explains the latest technological developments. Written by a team of seasoned educators, Drilling Engineering: Advanced Applications and Technology covers every key topic, including geo-mechanics for drilling applications, well construction techniques, wellbore hydraulics, and optimization. You will enhance your understanding of drilling operations, improve your designs, and plan for more productive and cost-effective wells. Coverage includes: Well construction and hydraulics Drillstring mechanics and casing design Drilling hydraulics Cuttings transport Geomechanics Fundamentals of rock mechanics Wellbore stress, stability, and strengthening Coupled fluid flow—stress formulation Drilling optimization methods Vector and tensor analysis Principles of deformable materials Elasticity concepts