Failure Modes and Root-Cause Analyses of Advanced Drill-Collar Connections

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Michael H. Du ◽  
Ke Li ◽  
Fei Song ◽  
Haoming Li ◽  
David L. Smith ◽  
...  

Summary Advanced drill-collar connections have been developed with 10 times extended fatigue life compared with the corresponding replaced connections. More than 4,000 advanced connections have been run in North America. Although these connections have demonstrated substantial fatigue-strength improvement in operation, some failures have occurred. Multiple failed connection samples have been retrieved and analyzed for their failure modes and the root causes. In the failure analyses, manufacturing data were reviewed to identify any possible discrepancies between design specifications and manufactured components. The field run data were analyzed for the loading histories of the connections. The downhole fluid properties were also reviewed to identify their possible effects on the connection performances. The bottomhole assemblies (BHAs) were numerically analyzed to determine the loading distributions. The failed connection samples were physically processed and inspected in a metallurgical laboratory. Based on the combined numerical and testing analyses, the conclusions on the failure modes and the root causes were drawn. It was found that the primary failure mode for these connections was fatigue. The root causes for the fatigue failures can be divided into two categories: manufacturing causes and operational causes. Among the manufacturing failure causes, incorrect cold rolling is the primary one. The operation-related failures were mainly caused by overloading. Through failure mode and root-cause analyses, the manufacturing and operational related risks for the advanced drill-collar connections were mitigated accordingly. It therefore greatly improved the quality assurance of the advanced connections.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Hui Du ◽  
Ke Li ◽  
Fei Song ◽  
Haoming Li ◽  
David L. Smith ◽  
...  

Abstract Advanced drill collar connections have been developed with 10 times extended fatigue life compared with the corresponding replaced connections. More than 4,000 advanced connections have been run in North America. Although these connections have demonstrated substantial fatigue strength improvement in operation, some failures have occurred. Multiple failed connection samples have been retrieved and analyzed for their failure modes and the root causes. In the failure analyses, manufacturing data were reviewed to identify any possible discrepancies between design specifications and manufactured components. The field run data were analyzed for the loading histories of the connections. The downhole fluid properties were also reviewed to identify their possible effects on the connection performances. The bottom hole assemblies were numerically analyzed to determine the loading distributions. The failed connection samples were physically processed and inspected in the metallurgical laboratory. Based on the combined numerical and testing analyses, the conclusions on the failure modes and the root causes were drawn. It was found that the primary failure mode for these connections was fatigue. The root causes for the fatigue failures can be divided into two categories: manufacturing causes and operational causes. Among the manufacturing failure causes, incorrect cold rolling is the primary one. The operation related failures were mainly caused by overloading. Through failure mode and root cause analyses, the manufacturing and operational related risks for the advanced drill collar connections were mitigated accordingly. It therefore greatly improved the quality assurance of the advanced connections.


Author(s):  
Martin Versen ◽  
Dorina Diaconescu ◽  
Jerome Touzel

Abstract The characterization of failure modes of DRAM is often straight forward if array related hard failures with specific addresses for localization are concerned. The paper presents a case study of a bitline oriented failure mode connected to a redundancy evaluation in the DRAM periphery. The failure mode analysis and fault modeling focus both on the root-cause and on the test aspects of the problem.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Monzur Morshed ◽  
Esther Chen ◽  
Anita Madan

Abstract Dissimilarities of thermal expansion coefficient between chip and package materials results in stress and strain at the solder interconnect leading to fatigue failures. Underfill is used between chip and package to reduce the interfacial stress and hence increase reliability. In this work, four flipchip package test vehicles underwent thermal cycling to accelerate the stress and were investigated systematically with different failure analysis techniques to study their failure modes. The prevalent failure mode was observed to be at the corner area between the chip and package using different advanced failure analysis techniques. This work demonstrates the technical complexity of analyzing stress induced defects and provides insight into CPI-based material selection.


Author(s):  
Brad Jones ◽  
André-Michel Ferrari

Scorecards are generally used to track operational performance in various fields of work and direct the management team toward correcting the observed deviations. Generally, a Scorecard is made up of specific metrics which have been carefully identified against defined operating objectives. In this paper, the Scorecard examined uses a reliability growth indicator in combination with other traditional factors to measure speed of progress to a target level. As a leading liquid pipeline operator, Enbridge Pipelines Inc. (hereafter “Enbridge”) holds established and comprehensive management systems governing all aspects of its operations. In essence the Reliability Scorecard adds enhanced capabilities to the existing systems. In September 2010, using current throughput performance and failure historical data, the Reliability Team in Enbridge developed a quarterly Reliability Scorecard for its pipeline network. Metrics for each pipeline consisted of utilization, adherence to shipping schedules and a unique reliability growth indicator of the overall line as well as the top ten failure modes. This enabled not only the tracking of performance levels but also the direction and speed of improvement or decline in those metrics. The analysis was conducted using the Crow-AMSAA Analytical Process. Using the throughput impact (e.g. barrels not shipped), level of reliability performance and magnitude of reliability improvement for each failure mode on all pipelines, it became easy to select targets for improvement. Unacceptable deviations were those having more than a 10% share of throughput volume impact per failure mode combined with a Crow AMSAA growth factor (Beta) of 1.2 or greater. The advent of this Reliability Scorecard has improved the organizational focus on areas with greatest impact on pipeline performance and revenue generation. Having a solid indication of the issues affecting each pipeline system, the Reliability Team was able to target its efforts accordingly. For example, for a specific high impact failure mode, a formal Root Cause Analysis would be conducted to identify the causes and implement a corrective action plan. Additionally, systematic lack of improvement for one failure mode over multiple quarters would be shared with relevant teams as awareness of specific threats to performance in their area. In essence, if well-defined and accepted, an effective Scorecard can be a powerful driver for improvement in an organization. It can assist in channeling the efforts of individuals, departments or the overall organization in addressing real threats to performance specific fields. Management can also use this tool to justify where appropriate resources need to be allocated. Finally, as demonstrated in this case, in addition to traditional operational targets, an improvement or regression factor can also be used to measure the progress or decline of specific scorecard metrics.


Author(s):  
Cha-Ming Shen ◽  
Tsan-Cheng Chuang ◽  
Jie-Fei Chang ◽  
Jin-Hong Chou

Abstract This paper presents a novel deductive methodology, which is accomplished by applying difference analysis to nano-probing technique. In order to prove the novel methodology, the specimens with 90nm process and soft failures were chosen for the experiment. The objective is to overcome the difficulty in detecting non-visual, erratic, and complex failure modes. And the original idea of this deductive method is based on the complete measurement of electrical characteristic by nano-probing and difference analysis. The capability to distinguish erratic and invisible defect was proven, even when the compound and complicated failure mode resulted in a puzzling characteristic.


Author(s):  
Bhanu P. Sood ◽  
Michael Pecht ◽  
John Miker ◽  
Tom Wanek

Abstract Schottky diodes are semiconductor switching devices with low forward voltage drops and very fast switching speeds. This paper provides an overview of the common failure modes in Schottky diodes and corresponding failure mechanisms associated with each failure mode. Results of material level evaluation on diodes and packages as well as manufacturing and assembly processes are analyzed to identify a set of possible failure sites with associated failure modes, mechanisms, and causes. A case study is then presented to illustrate the application of a systematic FMMEA methodology to the analysis of a specific failure in a Schottky diode package.


Author(s):  
Norman J. Armendariz ◽  
Carolyn McCormick

Abstract Via in pad PCB (Printed Circuit board) technology for passive components such as chip capacitors and resistors, provides the potential for improved signal routing density and reduced PCB area. Because of these improvements there is the potential for PCB cost reduction as well as gains in electrical performance through reduced impedance and inductance. However, not long after the implementation, double digit unit failures for solder joint electrical opens due to capacitor “tombstoning” began to occur. Failure modes included via fill material (solder mask) protrusion from the via as well as “out gassing” and related “tombstoning.” This failure analysis involved investigating a strong dependence on PCB supplier and, less obviously, manufacturing site. Other factors evaluated included via fill material, drill size, via fill thermal history and via fill amount or fill percent. The factor most implicated was incomplete cure of the via fill material. Previous thermal gravimetric analysis methods to determine level of polymerization or cure did not provide an ability to measure and demonstrate via fill cure level in small selected areas or its link to the failures. As a result, there was a metrology approach developed to establish this link and root-cause the failures in the field, which was based on microhardness techniques and noncontact via fill measuring metrologies.


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