Quantifying the Effect of Stress Hysteresis on the Drilling Window: How Mud Weight Variations Can Affect Wellbore Strength

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hussain AlBahrani ◽  
Nobuo Morita ◽  
Mohammad Alqam

Abstract The estimation of the drilling window limits ensures that lost circulation and wellbore instability events are minimized. These limits are conventionally defined during the pre-drilling phase based on offset wells data. As drilling commences, mud weights are selected to fit within these limits and they can be adjusted to react to different drilling scenarios as long as they don't violate the defined limits. This process fails to consider the effect of the initial mud weight and its subsequent adjustments on the strength of the wellbore. The concept of stress hysteresis dictates that when a body is subjected to a certain load, such as the one exerted by the hydrostatic pressure of the mud, its state will be altered in a manner that can shift its strength limits. This work presents a model that quantifies the changes in the drilling window due to variations in mud weight. The objective is to ensure that any subsequent mud weight changes will fall within the updated drilling window limits. The analysis is carried out using a novel process of a 3D poro-elasto-plastic finite element model (FEM) that is integrated with a machine learning (ML) algorithm. The integrated FEM-ML model uses offset wells data along with the best fitting failure criterion to estimate the initial limits of the drilling window. The offset wells data used consist of wireline logs, drilling reports, and mechanical testing lab results belonging to the formation of interest. The integrated model uses this data to estimate the stress distribution and learn the failure patterns. The model is then used to run different scenarios of mud weight variations while drilling a specific hole section to quantify their effect on the drilling window. The end result of each scenario is an update of the drilling window, which reflects the effect of stress hysteresis. When examining the initial estimations of the drilling window against those reflecting the stress path effect, a significant discrepancy in the window size is quantified. This examination is carried out for an offset well, which experienced multiple mud weight changes as a response to various drilling events. Subsequently, the changes in the drilling window and the actual mud weights used are analyzed in view of the drilling difficulties experienced in that specific offset well for the purpose of providing a form of validation. The model results show that the drilling window had shrunk significantly enough for the mud weight to violate the wellbore stability limit. Failure to consider the stress hysteresis effect in this well led major wellbore instability, tight hole, and overpull. The modelling effort presented in this work allows for a new aspect of dynamic responses to drilling events as they occur.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hussain AlBahrani ◽  
Nobuo Morita

Abstract In many drilling scenarios that include deep wells and highly stressed environments, the mud weight required to completely prevent wellbore instability can be impractically high. In such cases, what is known as risk-controlled wellbore stability criterion is introduced. This criterion allows for a certain level of wellbore instability to take place. This means that the mud weight calculated using this criterion will only constrain wellbore instability to a certain manageable level, hence the name risk-controlled. Conventionally, the allowable level of wellbore instability in this type of models has always been based on the magnitude of the breakout angle. However, wellbore enlargements, as seen in calipers and image logs, can be highly irregular in terms of its distribution around the wellbore. This irregularity means that risk-controlling the wellbore instability through the breakout angle might not be always sufficient. Instead, the total volume of cavings is introduced as the risk control parameter for wellbore instability. Unlike the breakout angle, the total volume of cavings can be coupled with a suitable hydraulics model to determine the threshold of manageable instability. The expected total volume of cavings is determined using a machine learning (ML) assisted 3D elasto-plastic finite element model (FEM). The FEM works to model the interval of interest, which eventually provides a description of the stress distribution around the wellbore. The ML algorithm works to learn the patterns and limits of rock failure in a supervised training manner based on the wellbore enlargement seen in calipers and image logs from nearby offset wells. Combing the FEM output with the ML algorithm leads to an accurate prediction of shear failure zones. The model is able to predict both the radial and circumferential distribution of enlargements at any mud weight and stress regime, which leads to a determination of the expected total volume of cavings. The model implementation is first validated through experimental data. The experimental data is based on true-triaxial tests of bored core samples. Next, a full dataset from offset wells is used to populate and train the model. The trained model is then used to produce estimations of risk-controlled stability mud weights for different drilling scenarios. The model results are compared against those produced by conventional methods. Finally, both the FEM-ML model and the conventional methods results are compared against the drilling experience of the offset wells. This methodology provides a more comprehensive and new solution to risk controlling wellbore instability. It relies on a novel process which learns rock failure from calipers and image logs.



2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 003685042098705
Author(s):  
Xinran Wang ◽  
Yangli Zhu ◽  
Wen Li ◽  
Dongxu Hu ◽  
Xuehui Zhang ◽  
...  

This paper focuses on the effects of the off-design operation of CAES on the dynamic characteristics of the triple-gear-rotor system. A finite element model of the system is set up with unbalanced excitations, torque load excitations, and backlash which lead to variations of tooth contact status. An experiment is carried out to verify the accuracy of the mathematical model. The results show that when the system is subjected to large-scale torque load lifting at a high rotating speed, it has two stages of relatively strong periodicity when the torque load is light, and of chaotic when the torque load is heavy, with the transition between the two states being relatively quick and violent. The analysis of the three-dimensional acceleration spectrum and the meshing force shows that the variation in the meshing state and the fluctuation of the meshing force is the basic reasons for the variation in the system response with the torque load. In addition, the three rotors in the triple-gear-rotor system studied show a strong similarity in the meshing states and meshing force fluctuations, which result in the similarity in the dynamic responses of the three rotors.



2007 ◽  
Vol 345-346 ◽  
pp. 845-848
Author(s):  
Joo Yong Cho ◽  
Han Suk Go ◽  
Usik Lee

In this paper, a fast Fourier transforms (FFT)-based spectral analysis method (SAM) is proposed for the dynamic analysis of spectral element models subjected to the non-zero initial conditions. To evaluate the proposed SAM, the spectral element model for the simply supported Bernoulli-Euler beam is considered as an example problem. The accuracy of the proposed SAM is evaluated by comparing the dynamic responses obtained by SAM with the exact analytical solutions.



Author(s):  
Hervé Algrain ◽  
Calogero Conti ◽  
Pierre Dehombreux

Abstract Finite Element Model Updating has for objective to increase the correlation between the experimental dynamic responses of a structure and the predictions from a model. Among different initial choices, these procedures need to establish a set of representative parameters to be updated in which some are in real error and some are not. It is therefore important to select the correct properties that have to be updated to ensure that no marginal corrections are introduced. In this paper the standard localization criteria are presented and a technique to separate the global localization criteria in family-based criteria for damped structures is introduced. The methods are analyzed and applied to both numerical and experimental examples; a clear enhancement of the results is noticed using the family-based criteria. A simple way to qualify the stability of a localization method to noise is presented.



2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Vladimirovna Norkina ◽  
Sergey Mihailovich Karpukhin ◽  
Konstantin Urjevich Ruban ◽  
Yuriy Anatoljevich Petrakov ◽  
Alexey Evgenjevich Sobolev

Abstract The design features and the need to use a water-based solution make the task of ensuring trouble-free drilling of vertical wells non-trivial. This work is an example of an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of the mechanisms of instability of the wellbore. Instability can be caused by a complex of reasons, in this case, standard geomechanical calculations are not enough to solve the problem. Engineering calculations and laboratory chemical studies are integrated into the process of geomechanical modeling. The recommendations developed in all three areas are interdependent and inseparable from each other. To achieve good results, it is necessary to comply with a set of measures at the same time. The key tasks of the project were: determination of drilling density, tripping the pipe conditions, parameters of the drilling fluid rheology, selection of a system for the best inhibition of clay swelling.



2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wagg ◽  
Jin-Song Pei

In this paper, experimental data from tests of a helical fluid inerter are used to model the observed hysteretic behaviour. The novel idea is to test the feasibility of employing mem-models, which are time-invariant herein, to capture the observed phenomena by using physically meaningful state variables. Firstly we use a Masing model concept, identified with a multilayer feedforward neural network to capture the physical characteristics of the hysteresis functions. Following this, a more refined approach based on the concept of a multi-element model including a mem-inerter is developed. This is compared with previous definitions in the literature and shown to be a more general model. Through-out this paper, numerical simulations are used to demonstrate the type of dynamic responses anticipated using the proposed time- invariant mem-models. Corresponding experimental measurements are processed to demonstrate and validate the new mem-modeling concepts. The results show that it is possible to have a unified model constructed using both the damper and inerter from the mem-model family. This model captures many of the more subtle features of the underlying physics, not captured by other forms of existing model.



Author(s):  
Nediljka Gaurina-Medjimurec ◽  
Borivoje Pasic

Exploration and production as one of the most important parts of the petroleum industry encounters different problems, usually resulting in nonproductive time and additional expenses. The most common and most expensive of them are related to wellbore instability and associated problems. Wellbore instability problems are usually related to drilling operation, but they can also appear during completion, workover, or the production stage of a certain well. The traditional solution for wellbore instability problems is composed from the early recognition of specific wellbore instability problems, the main cause identification and swift response. For more effective solution it is necessary to incorporate wellbore stability and risk assessment in the early phase of well design. This chapter gives one general overview of wellbore instability problems and their causes as well as an overview of actual approaches and methods in wellbore stability and risk assessment.



2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Po-Wen Wang ◽  
Chi-Fang Lee ◽  
Yann Quéméner ◽  
Chien-Hua Huang

The objective of this study was to clarify the theoretical basis of sloshing loads and required plate thickness formulations in the harmonized common structural rules. This study used computational fluid dynamic (CFD) to calculate sloshing loads and used finite element analyses (FEA) to evaluate structural response. The sensitivity of the CFD predictions to the time step and grid size was also investigated. Cargo oil tanks were then selected in a handy size oil tanker and a very large crude carrier to evaluate the longitudinal and transverse sloshing loads on the tank boundaries. The results showed that the sloshing pressures computed at four filling levels were mostly consistent with CSR-H. Afterward, the sloshing pressure produced by CFD was applied to the finite element model by using a fluid-structure interaction technique to obtain the dynamic response of the structure. The dynamic responses were investigated to validate the quasistatic approach for sloshing assessment.



Author(s):  
Guowei Sun ◽  
Peihua Han ◽  
Yuxin Xu ◽  
Yong Bai ◽  
Hamad Hameed

Metallic strips flexible pipe (MSFP) is widely regarded as an alternative for submarine pipelines. This paper presents a methodology for calculating the fatigue life of MSFP. Firstly, given a specific working condition of MSFP, the dynamic responses of MSFP are calculated through OrcaFlex. The obtained results from the global analysis are then implemented into a finite element model in ABAQUS to determine the stress-history curves of each steel strips layer. The estimated fatigue life is calculated by rainflow counting algorithms, S-N curve and Miner’s rule which are coded in MATLAB. Additional study about average stress correction is carried out, which might be useful for its marine engineering applications.



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