Over the past 70 years, an increasing number of researchers have investigated the drillstring dynamics to understand its root causes, modelling, evaluation, control, and applications. The application of drillstring dynamics can bring immeasurable economic benefits for the oil industry. Consequently, the research and investigation of drillstring dynamics is an important and interesting problem.

Understanding drillstring dynamics is not only an interesting mechanics problem, but it also has a considerable impact and benefits for the oil industry. The analytical, numerical, and experimental study of vibration and shock of the bottom hole drilling tool, such as a rotary steerable system and drillbit measurement while drilling is of particular interest. Dynamics measurement and data processing is also an essential aspect, as high-frequency measurement technology has become an important means of drilling string dynamics research in recent years.

This Special Issue welcomes research and review articles concerning both theoretical advances and potential applications for nonlinear dynamics of drillstring in oil and gas wells. Submissions are encouraged related to bifurcation and chaos in drillstring variation, vibrations forms and evaluation methods, theoretical models of slender flexible drillstring, dynamics measurement and data processing, stick-slip, vibration control, and applications of drillstring vibrations and shocks.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Nonlinear analysis on drillstring dynamics
• Vibrations forms and evaluation methods
• The latest technologies for dynamics measurement in drilling engineering
• Recent advances about the dynamics of the rotary steerable system
• Higher dimensional hidden attractors in drillstring vibration
• Chaotic behavior of the nonlinear drillstring dynamics
• The friction force between the drillstring and borehole wall
• Drill bit vibration as a power source for subsurface imaging
• Application methods of drillstring vibrations and shocks
• New trends in vibration control
• New understanding of stick-slip vibration
• Dynamics, measurement and data processing