I have an MS in mechanical engineering from Tulsa University, where we researched the effect of surface abrasion on metal fatigue. The practical application was to predict any acceleration of fatigue failures in coil tube well drilling – if a method of rotating the tube could be developed (it is). Coil tube rigs use a huge, continuous spool of steel tube – not segmented in joints as in conventional rigs. We found some abrasions that might occur as the tube is spun against rocks in a directional bore bend (a “dogleg”) can even have beneficial effects due to residual stresses (like shot-peening). We used profileometers (roughness measurers), rotating-bending test machines, finite-element analysis, heat-treatment (to remove residuals), and electron microscopes to study the problem. Read my thesis here: “Gregg Carlson – Thesis“