Buckling of Tubulars in Actual Field Conditions

Abstract

Buckling of Tubulars in Actual Field Conditions Stephane Menand; Stephane Menand Paris School of Mines Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Hedi Sellami; Hedi Sellami Paris School of Mines Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Michel Tijani; Michel Tijani Ecole Des Mines de Paris Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Joel Akowanou Joel Akowanou Ecole Des Mines de Paris Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, USA, September 2006. Paper Number: SPE-102850-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/102850-MS Published: September 24 2006 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Menand, Stephane, Sellami, Hedi, Tijani, Michel, and Joel Akowanou. "Buckling of Tubulars in Actual Field Conditions." Paper presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, USA, September 2006. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/102850-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition Search Advanced Search AbstractBuckling of tubulars inside wellbore has been the subject of many researches and articles in the past. However, these theories have always followed the same assumptions : the wellbore has a perfect and unrealistic geometry (vertical, horizontal, deviated, curved) and the friction is ignored, conditions relatively far from actual field conditions. How do tubulars buckle in actual field conditions, that is, in a naturally tortuous wellbore with friction and rotation ? Can we apply conservatively theories developed for perfect well conditions (no tortuosity, no friction) to actual well conditions ? This paper gives answers to these questions in comparing results obtained from existant models with results obtained from an advanced model dedicated to drillstring mechanics.Firstly, this paper presents the new developments integrated in a recently advanced model for drillstring mechanics and enabling to take into account the buckling phenomenon in any actual well trajectory. Secondly, this paper shows the influence of tortuosity and friction on the buckling phenomenon for some practical and critical case met in the drilling industry. These tortuosity and friction effects are demonstrated with an experimental set up that enables to confirm theoretical features. Lastly, we compare results obtained from existant models with results obtained from our new model to evaluate the tortuosity and friction effects on the critical buckling load found in the literature.IntroductionThe ever-increasing complexity of well trajectories and drillstring designs has renewed and amplified the importance of the understanding of buckling behavior of well tubulars inside wellbores. The necessity to have a realistic model is essential to make such complex field operations a success. For example, a fine prediction of axial force transfer in a long horizontal or extended reach drilling well without compromising the drillstring mechanical integrity is so important.While many equations have been derived for perfect vertical, inclined, horizontal and curved wellbore without friction or rotation effect, no theory has been developed or applied to actual well conditions, that is, for a drill pipe rotating in a naturally tortuous wellbore. After a brief literature review, an advanced model dedicated to drillstring mechanics is presented and used to predict the onset of buckling in actual well conditions (with rotation and friction effect). A comparison of the model is then proposed with an experimental set up that enables to reproduce the tortuosity of a wellbore.State of the ArtIntroductionBuckling occurs when the compressive load in a tubular exceeds a critical value, beyond which the tubular is no longer stable and deforms into a sinusoidal or helical shape. The sinusoidal buckling (first mode of buckling) corresponds to a tube that snaps into a sinusoidal shape. This first mode of buckling is sometimes called lateral buckling, snaking or two-dimensional buckling. The helical buckling (second mode of buckling) corresponds to a tube that snaps into a helical shape (spiral shape).The first work dedicated to the buckling behavior of pipes in oil well operation was initiated by Lubinski1,2. Since then, many theoretical works and/or experimental studies have been developed to better understand the buckling phenomenon. The aim of the following section is to select and present briefly the different improvement steps made during the last fifty years, in terms of theoretical and experimental works, going from the basic buckling models to more complicated modeling. A comprehensive literature review can be found in a recent paper3, referring the most important contributions on the subject of buckling of tubulars inside wellbores. Keywords: Upstream Oil & Gas, phenomenom, pipe, compression, compressive load, horizontal case, tortuosity, wellbore, drilling operation, compressive force Subjects: Drillstring Design, Drilling Operations, Torque and drag analysis This content is only available via PDF. 2006. Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.