Arctic Environmental Research 18(1): 21–27

UDC 622.24.053
DOI 10.17238/issn2541-8416.2018.18.1.21

Research Article

Investigation of tribotechnical and corrosion

behaviour of material for light-alloy drill pipes
AI Shakirova1, RA Ismakov1, AKh Agliullin1, NK Tsenev1
1 Ufa State Petroleum Technological University (Ufa, Russian Federation)

Corresponding author: Alina Shakirova ([email protected])

Academic editor: Marsel Gubaidullin  ♦  Received 29 November 2017  ♦  Accepted 16 February 2018  ♦  Published 30 March 2018

Citation: Shakirova AI, Ismakov RA, Agliullin AKh, Tsenev NK (2018) Investigation of tribotechnical and corrosion behaviour of
material for light-alloy drill pipes. Arctic Environmental Research 18(1): 21–27. https://doi.org10.17238/issn2541-8416.2018.18.1.21

Abstract
Special aluminum alloys appear to be promising materials for manufacture of high-strength light-alloy drill
pipes (HSLADP) that can be used in areas with a severe climate and challenging geology. The effect of using
light-alloy drill pipes (LADP) depends directly on the properties of the aluminum alloys from which such
pipes are made. As the wells become deeper and horizontal wellbores get longer, use of LADPs becomes
more relevant. Since light-alloy pipes are 2.8 times softer than steel pipes, LADPs offer the same performance
as steel drill pipes of the lowest strength grade even in the case of rotary drilling. The materials from which
such pipes are made have a number of unique advantages: extra light weight in the drill mud, allowing the
coefficient of sliding friction between the pipe surface and the borehole wall to be reduced; high corrosion
resistance in aggressive media with A high concentration of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide; and high
magnetic inductive capacity that allows LADPs to be used as a housing for MWD (measurement while dril-
ling) and LWD (logging while drilling) telemetry systems during well-drilling operations. This study suggests
methods for industrial production of submicrocrystalline (SMC) structure in aluminum alloys with the help
of severe plastic deformation. Through the example of model aluminum-lithium alloys 1420 (Al-Mg-Li-Zr)
and 1460 (Al-Сu-Li-Zr), the researchers demonstrate that SMC structure helps significantly increase resistan-
ce to wear and reduce the rate of corrosion depending on the pH value. The research team also states that
severe plastic deformation methods may be used to develop highly promising technologies for manufacture
of high-strength LADPs with advanced strain-stress properties for use during operations in the Arctic.

Keywords
light-alloy drill pipes, tribotechnical tests, corrosion of aluminum alloys, Arctic shelf, horizontal drilling

Copyright Shakirova AI et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
22 Shakirova AI et al.: Investigation of tribotechnical and corrosion behaviour of material ...

Current evolution of drilling technologies and ag- Implementation and improvement of the tech-
gravation of geological and climatic conditions for niques used for production of fine-grain materials
drilling operations caused by the development of hy- of such alloys, as well as assessment of the state of
drocarbon deposits in the Arctic shelf leads to an in- light-alloy drill pipes by simulating their perfor-
crease in operating and maintenance costs associated mance in the well, is essential for higher credibility
with well-site construction. Reliable performance of and better forecasting of their performance under re-
drilling equipment and tools, specifically drill pipes, al-life conditions and for meaningful estimation and
is an essential aspect that well drilling and operat- planning of construction of long horizontal wells.
ing performance indicators depend on. Drill pipes Real-life experience shows that such wells cannot
play a key role in the stress behaviour of rock cutting be drilled without using high-strength light-alloy
tools. The current trend of increasing the length of drill pipes (HSLADP) manufactured from special
wells also leads to a higher probability of complica- aluminum alloys (Fain 1990, Basovich et al. 2003,
tions and accidents, which increases the overall cost Basovich et al. 2015, Shammazov et al. 2000). Pipe
of construction. Reliable performance of drill pipes strips are manufactured by extrusion from the Al-
depends on their proper use during drilling and Cu-Mg D16T alloy, with subsequent hardening and
transportation, which is achieved by timely quality natural ageing (Т). Where increased strength and
control and withdrawal of deficient pipes from ser- corrosion resistance requirements apply, the pipes
vice. One effective way of improving performance of are manufactured from the Al-Zn-Mg 1953Т1 alloy
drill pipes, including light-alloy drill pipes (LADPs), subject to hardening and artificial ageing (Т1). Based
involves development of advanced technologies for on specific requirements, pipe strips are manufac-
production of improved structure of aluminum al- tured from the АК4-1Т1 alloy.
loys used to manufacture LADPs, as well as modi- Relying on the existing classification, all pipe ma-
fication of drill fluids with special doping agents for terials can be formally divided into three classes: ul-
the entire drilling cycle. tra-fine grain (UFG) with grain size of 1 to10 um,
submicrocrystalline (SMC) with grain size of 0.1 to
1 um, and nanocrystalline (NC) with grain size be-
low 100 nm. This classification is justified because
the strain-stress behaviour of the UFG, SMC and NC
alloys varies markedly. For instance, alloys with UFG
structure demonstrate structural superplasticity in
certain sections of the temperature-strain rate curve,
while reduction of the grain size to nanocrystalline
values in composite and mechanical alloys leads to
the effect of high-strain rate superplasticity (Valiev et
al. 1988, Valiev and Tsenev 1990, Tsenev 1996, Va-
liev et al. 1997). It has been proven that SMC and NC
structures can be used to manufacture high-strength
materials (Furukawa et al. 1996, Furukawa et al.
1997). Even such structurally insensitive parameters
as Curie and Debye temperatures, modulus of elas-
ticity, saturation magnetic moment, etc. are prone
to change in these materials. These findings indicate
that scientists can develop new advanced technolo-
Fig. 1. Diagram of equal channel angular pressing: 1) pis- gies for production of aluminum alloys used in the
ton, 2) pipe strip manufacture of HSLADPs with improved mechanical
Arctic Environmental Research 18(1): 21–27 23

properties that will demonstrate better performance is made up of coarse grains elongated along the di-
in longer horizontal leads from the vertical borehole. rection of pressing, with clusters of fine recrystallised
This study uses an example of model commercial grains around them (secondary phase). The mean
aluminum-lithium alloys to demonstrate the tech- size of the fine grains is approximately 5 um. The size
niques of producing pipe strips with SMC structure. of coarse elongated grains is 168 um lengthwise and
Experimental results obtained during the research 19 um crosswise (Fig. 2a).
are used to suggest that HSLADP manufacturers The ECAP process at 325°С to the true defor-
jointly develop advanced technologies for the pro- mation degree (~8) creates an almost recrystallised
duction of such drill pipes with improved mechan- structure, meaning that the secondary phase dis-
ical properties and corrosion resistance for use in solves in the grain, and we no longer see the clus-
different geological settings, including in the Arctic. ters of recrystallised grains at the boundaries of the
coarse grains (Fig. 2b). In most grains, the boundar-
ies have a distinct outline, which means that we have
Materials and methods obtained an equilibrium recrystallised structure. The
mean density of dislocations in the grain body is
The material used for the research was represented small (approximately 6×1014).
by model commercial aluminum-lithium alloys 1420
(Al-5.5% Mg-2.2% Li -0.12% Zr) and 1460 (Al-2.5% Wear testing of aluminum alloy
Сu-2.2% Li -0.12% Zr). Originally, after casting and
prior to severe plastic deformation (SPD), the alloy Tests on the friction machine showed interesting re-
had a coarse-grain structure. Mean grain size in the sults with regard to the influence of SMC structure
alloy was 5 mm (Fig. 4a) on wear processes (Valiev et al. 1986, Shakinova et al.
Submicrocrystalline structure was obtained by 2017). Laboratory tests were carried out at room tem-
equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) method perature (T=293K). The base material (used for refer-
(Wang et al. 2003, Kaibyshev et al. 1984). The dia- ence) was represented by a coarse-grain alloy with an
gram of the pressing process based on this method is original grain size of D0=5mm. The reference piece was
provided in Figure 1. The method relies on shear de- made from steel 40Х. The alloys were subject to tests
formation, with severe plastic deformation along the on a specialised test bench allowing a rocking motion
surface of channels intersection. To obtain the SMC of the samples to make sure the process of wear on cas-
structures, the ECAP process must be repeated eight ings and drill pipes in laboratory conditions resembles
times on one sample. the real-life wear process during RIH/POH operations.
Transmission electron microscope (TEM) JEМ- Lubrication and cooling was achieved by immersing
2000 EX was used for optical microscopic evaluation the friction zone in a bath with a drill fluid made from
of samples produced with the help of this technique. a polymer mud solution with different concentrations
of lubricating additives: Lubriol, Eco Lube, FK200,
AKS303. The results of tribotechnical tests of the alloy
with different structures are provided in Fig. 3.
Experiment results Fig. 3 shows that the wear rate for alloy 1420 large-
Shaping of alloy structure during severe plastic de- ly depends on the grain size and condition of the
formation grain boundaries. The wear on the reference piece
was not taken into account. You may see that reduc-
Fig. 2 presents the findings of investigation into the tion of grain size to 0.5 um makes the alloy over two
structure of alloy 1420. You may see that the orig- times more (on average) wear-resistant in all the test-
inal microstructure of a strained bar of aluminum ed media compared to the original coarse-grain alloy
alloy 1420 shows severe inhomogeneity. Its structure (D0=5mm).
24 Shakirova AI et al.: Investigation of tribotechnical and corrosion behaviour of material ...

Fig. 2. Structure of alloy 1420: a) macrostructure of original sample; b) alloy’s microstructure after ECAP severe plastic
deformation

Fig. 3. Wear rate for alloy 1420 samples with coarse grain and SMC structure at T=293 K in drill fluid with different lubri-
cating additives (confidence intervals established at 80% probability). (These results were obtained on friction machine
UMT-2168)

Corrosion test of the samples was exposed varied from 7 to 11. The
The gravimetric (visual) method was used to assess test medium was represented by a biopolymer drill
the alloy’s corrosion in the laboratory using the fol- mud (BDM) with the following formula: Water +
lowing test sample: aluminum alloy 1460 (Al-Cu- Na2CO3 0.1% + NaOH 0.1% + Bactericide 1.5% +
Zr) before and after treatment, and pure aluminum. PAC LD 0.4% + Xanthan gum 0.8% + Lubricating
The pH rate of the test medium to which the surface additive 5%.
Arctic Environmental Research 18(1): 21–27 25

1) ph=7 – BDM; aries. Detailed studies of the structural changes that

2) ph =8 BDM + NaOH 0.1 ml; occur during the severe plastic deformation process
3) ph =9 BDM + NaOH 0.2 ml; showed that fragmentation of the alloy’s structure
4) ph =10 BDM + NaOH 0.5 ml takes place as a result of formation of an equilibrium
5) ph =11 BDM + NaOH 1 ml. recrystallised structure.
The following curves of weight loss versus time of Preliminary tribotechnical and corrosion tests
exposure to aggressive media were obtained for the proved a substantial increase in wear and corrosion
corresponding samples (Fig. 4). resistance of the material with the finer structure.
You may see that aluminum alloy 1460 after treat- It is important to note that resistance to wear and
ment by severe plastic deformation shows a higher corrosion also depends markedly on the state of the
resistance to corrosion in alkaline medium. grain boundaries. Fig. 3 shows that the alloy’s wear
immediately after severe plastic deformation is at its
minimum. A metallographic examination of the al-
Discussion loy’s structure indicates that this is caused by high
inner stresses, non-equilibrium of the grain bound-
The study demonstrated that the severe plastic defor- aries, and the size of the grains. Fig. 4 demonstrates
mation technique (ECAP method) can be used not that the alloy becomes more resistant to corrosion
only to make the structure of alloys significantly (by if appropriate material treatment methods are used
several orders of magnitude) more compact, but also to make the material suitable for service in aggres-
to obtain grains with different states of grain bound- sive media with a high pH value. Numerous studies

Fig. 4. Weight loss vs. time of exposure to aggressive media curves

26 Shakirova AI et al.: Investigation of tribotechnical and corrosion behaviour of material ...

Table 1. Mechanical properties of existing aluminum alloys D16Т, 1953Т1 and АК4-1Т1 in as-delivered condition

Alloy grade
Properties Unit
D16Т 1953Т1 АК1-4Т1
Tensile stress, minimum MPa 460 530 410
Yield stress, minimum MPa 325 480 340
Brinnel hardness (500 kg, 10mm) НВ 120 120-130 120-130
Design density kg/m3 2800
Percentage elongation, minimum % 12 7 8
- Young modulus 0.72 0,71 0,72
MPa*105
- Shear modulus 0.26 0,275 0,26
Working temperature, maximum °С 160 120 220
Linear expansion coefficient °С-1 22.6×10

have proved that hardness, breaking strength, hot Today, aluminum alloys D16T, 1953Т1 and АК4-
strength, microstructure and corrosion resistance 1Т1 are widely used in the production of light-alloy
are the key criteria for the material’s wear resis- pipes. The mechanical properties of these materials
tance (Makarov and Korshunov 2004, Luzhnov et are described in Table 1. We believe that different
al. 2016). combinations of SPD and heat treatment techniques
Thus, the study used model alloys 1420 and 1460 can help increase corrosion resistance of aluminum
to demonstrate the prospects for controlling the alloys by a factor of five and wear resistance by 30%.
structure of materials with the help of one of the To summarise the above, the relevance of the mat-
methods of severe plastic deformation. Combin- ter described in this study is growing. The authors
ing SPD methods with subsequent heat treatment, made an assumption concerning the prospects for
we can formulate technologies for production of development of new domestic substitutes of tech-
light-alloy drill string elements that can be success- nologies for production of high reliability light-alloy
fully employed in a variety of challenging climatic drill pipes that can be used in different geological set-
and geological conditions. tings, including in the Arctic.

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