In the world of drilling, the drill bit dull condition contains our best forensic evidence of the drilling assembly's interaction with the formation. Dull grading forensics is the first place to look to identify drilling dysfunction yet commonly overlooked or misunderstood by operators. The drill bit dull condition can be leveraged to learn about the formation, drilling dynamics and drilling practices (Watson et. al. 2022).

The IADC bit dull grading classification system received its most recent revision in 1992 and currently consists of an average inner and outer dull grade severity, rated from 0 – 8 with a major and other dull characteristic along with a reason pulled. These grades can be used to make critical operational and bit design decisions to overcome drilling challenges thereby improving performance and allowing drilling teams to drill consistently further and faster.