Torque Drag Analysis Using Finite Element Method
Torque Drag Analysis Using Finite Element Method
6; December 2011
Geir Hareland
Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary
2500 University Drive NW, Calgary T2N 1N4, Canada
Tel: 1-403-210-6264 E-mail: [email protected]
Mohammad Fazaelizadeh
Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary
2500 University Drive NW, Calgary T2N 1N4, Canada
Tel: 1-403-210-7843 E-mail: [email protected]
Received: Semptember 15, 2011 Accepted: October 9, 2011 Published: December 1, 2011
doi:10.5539/mas.v5n6p13 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/mas.v5n6p13
Abstract
The calculation and analysis of torque and drag play an important role in drilling and well design. Different
models (soft, stiffness, mixed and finite element) have been used to calculate the torque and drag. This paper
introduces a practical FEA (Finite Element Analysis) model of the drill string which can reflect working behavior,
including interaction between the drillstring and borehole wall, computational model of torque and drag, and
verification with examples. The sensitivity analysis to some key input and output parameters has been conducted.
The calculated hook load shows a good match to the rig recorded values. The drillstring displacements calculated
by the FEA model matches those from an analytical method. The program developed and discussed in this paper
can be used for torque and drag analysis, dynamic behavior analysis, and friction coefficient back-calculation.
The FEA program of the drillstring presented herein will benefit in preplanning and real-time simulation of oil
and gas well drilling operations.
Keywords: Torque and drag, Modeling, Finite element analysis, Drilling, Drillstring, Wellbore, Matrix
1. Introduction
Drag and torque due to friction are phenomena particularly associated with deviated wells (directional and
horizontal wells) (Sheppard et al., 1987). Torque and Drag analysis remains an important evaluation process for
assessing drilling feasibility of directional wells, minimizing the occurrence of catastrophic drill string failures
and avoiding premature termination of the drilling operation before reaching planned target depth (Adewuya et
al., 1998). The need to drill deeper and more complex well profiles as well as the need to drill extended reach
wells is increasing. Surface torque is becoming an important factor in the decision-making process to determine
if certain wells can be drilled or not (Maehs et al., 2010). In directional and deep wells, the torque and drag
generated by contact between the drill string and the borehole play major roles in the following areas: well
planning, drilling operation (trouble diagnosis and prevention), and casing running/setting operations. They also
affect the completion/cementing operation. Their accurate predictions are therefore very important if the well is
to be successfully and economically drilled and completed (Ho et al., 1988).
There are two common models for torque and drag. The Soft String Model (SSM) (Johancsik et al., 1983) was
developed as a drill string torque and drag model for directional wells that ignored drill string stiffness and
considered the drillstring as “soft” string components with weight. The model assumes that sliding friction forces
result from contact of the drill string with the wellbore. The contact force between drill string and the wellbore
wall is decided by the drill string’s weight and tension. Determination of the friction coefficient is critical to
practical applications of this model. Field data was utilized to back calculate the sliding friction coefficient in
their work. Based on the above models, others have done practical application analysis and simulation (Aadnoy
et al., 2010).
The soft string model does not reflect the stiffness of the drill string and does not take into account the clearance
between the drill string and wellbore. Static models that ignore the effects of drill string bending and stiffness on
wall-contact forces might incorrectly predict friction force. They are unable to perform some of the more
sophisticated calculations required to identify potential failure modes that may be encountered in more
challenging wellbores. There have been many stiff string models developed, but there is no industry standard
formulation (Mitchell et al., 2009). In 1988, Ho developed an improved stiff string model for torque and drag
based on the theory of large drill string deformation. The author additionally considers the effects of drill string
stiffness and hole clearance. Actually, the assumption is that the drill string is in continuous contact with the
wellbore, and the model is hard to solve.
FEA (or FEM) is a numerical method, which take into account the stiffness and the borehole drillstring clearance
effectively when calculating torque and drag.
Yang presented a three-dimensional finite difference method for bottom hole assembly (BHA) analysis under
static loads (Yang, D. et al., 2008). Bueno modeled the drill string as non-deformed elastic beams. Bueno
assumed that the contact points only occur at the tool-joints. The upper boundary condition (rotary Table) was set
as a full restriction on the degrees of freedom. The wellbore was discretized with contact elements with a
specified spring-stiffness (Bueno et al., 1994). Ritto took into account the fluid structure interaction model and
the Timoshenko beam model is applied and the finite element method is used to discretize the system (Ritto et al,
2009). Kenneth R. Newman introduced a dynamic finite-element/ finite-difference model which is a part of a
software package. The model performs a 3D finite element analysis of drill string at each specific point in time.
This analysis is run repeatedly at short time steps through time using a finite-difference algorithm (Newman et
al., 2009).
This paper introduces a practical FEA model of the drillstring which reflects working behavior, including
interaction between the drillstring and borehole wall, computational model of torque and drag, and verification
examples.
2. FE modeling of drill string
2.1 Hamilton’s Principle
A 3D beam model is used with six degrees of freedom for each node (as shown in Figure 1): two transverse
displacements (U2 or U8, U3 or U9), two bending rotations (U5 or U11, U6 or U12), one torsional rotation and
one axial displacement (U1 or U7, U4 or U10).
In order to derive the equations of motion, Hamilton's principle has been employed in its extended version
including non-conservative forces, and can be expressed by Equation 1.
t2
t1
(T V W )dt 0 (1)
Where V is the potential strain energy, T is the kinetic energy and W is the work done by the non-conservative
forces.
The discrete system of equations of an element can be expressed as the following Equation 2.
.. .
[ M ] e { U } e [ C ] e {U } e [ K ] e {U } e { F } e (2)
e
Where the vector {U} , {U} e {U}
e and {F}e represent generalized displacement, velocity, acceleration and
e e e
force, respectively. The matrix {M } , {C} and {K} represents element mass, damping and stiffness
matrix, respectively. All element matrices are assembled to form global matrices.
2.2 Element mass matrix
The element matrix has two parts like Equation 3. The matrix [M1]e includes all three translational contributions
and the axial rotation contribution, while [M2]e contains contributions from the third and fourth rotation
components.
M e M 1 e M 2 e (3)
K KL KN
e e e
(4)
The element stiffness matrix also includes two parts shown in Equation 4.
[KL]e and [KN]e is linear and nonlinear stiffness matrix respectively.
K N K NA1 K NA2 K NT
e e e e
(5)
The matrices [KNA1]e and [KNA2]e represent coupling between axial force and flexure. The matrix [KNT]e
represents coupling between the torsion and flexure.
2.4 Element damping matrix
The element damping matrix also includes two parts: [CD]e and [CN]e.
C CD CN
e e e
(6)
CD M K L
e e e
(7)
[CD]e is called dissipative damping matrix which is obtained from a linear combination of the mass and stiffness
matrices, and [CN]e is called non-dissipative damping matrix which is from gyroscopic terms in the kinetic
energy. α and β are coefficients.
2.5 Global mass, damping and stiffness matrices
The global matrices are obtained by assembling all element matrices in the global coordinate system. The
assembly process can be shown in the following Equation 8 using the mass matrix as an example.
M 111 M 121
M 21
M 22 M 11
1 1 2 2
M 12
M 21
2
M 22
2
M i 1
22 11 M i
M i
12
M 21i
M 22
i
M 11i 1
M
M 11N 1 M 12N 1
M 21
N 1 N
M 22 M 11 M 12
N 1 N
M 2N1 M 22N
(8)
2.6 Coordinate transform matrix
As described in the previous sections, the wellbore geometry of a horizontal well is complicated and usually
includes vertical, curved and horizontal sections. Therefore, a coordinate transformation matrix (Equation 9) is
needed from the local element coordinate system xyz to the global coordinate system XYZ. O is the origin of the
global system, which represents the wellhead and the direction of Z is vertically downward (as shown in Figure
2).
U z cos sin 0 u z
U u x
x sin cos cos cos sin 0
U y sin sin cos sin cos u y
cos sin 0 z
z
x 0 sin cos cos cos sin x
y sin sin cos sin cos y
(9)
In Equation 9, α and β represent inclination and azimuth respectively. There are three translations and three
rotations respectively, which are Uz, Ux, Uy, Фz, Фx, and Фy in the local system, uz, ux, uy, φz, φx, and φy in the
global system.
FF1i
FF i 61
i
FF i T
1 61
Fz1 Fx1 Fy1 Tz1 Tx1 Ty1 (14)
FF i T
2 61 F z
2
Fx2 Fy2 Tz2 Tx2 Ty2 (15)
So the global load vector {FF} is Equation 16.
FF
T
FF ,FF FF ,FF FF ,,FF FF
1
1 T
2
1 T
1
2 T
2
2 T
1
3 T
2
N T
1 ,FF
N 1 T
2
N 1 T
(16)
2.8 Boundary conditions
The main boundaries at rotary Table, drill bit and stabilizers are shown in the Figure 4. The suspension system,
including the rig, wire line and hook, is simplified as a spring, the stiffness coefficient of which is KH, so the
hook load can be calculated using the following Equation 17.
Fhookload KH U 1z (17)
Where
Fhookload - hook load
U 1z -the axial translation of the first node
At the rotary Table: radial displacement is constrained, axial displacement and rotation around drill string axis is
released. There are different boundaries applied for different drilling modes:
(1) rotary drilling (including common rotary drilling and top drive system)
U 1x 0
U 1y 0
1 2 RPM or T 1 Tor
z z surface
Where
RPM- rotary speed of the Table
u x2 u y2 d
(18)
Where ∆d= (Dw−Dc)/2 is the clearance between BHA components and wellbore wall, Dw is the diameter of the
wellbore and Dc is the outer diameter of BHA. If the above equation is not satisfied, the BHA will contact the
wellbore wall, which will be as a precondition to calculate the drag and torque.
2.9 Dynamic equation (Equation 19) after assembling all element matrixes
.. .
[ M ]{ U } [ C ]{ U } [ K ]{ U } { F } (19)
2.10 Numerical solution method (Wilson-θ)
Wilson-θ method is used to get the response of Equation 19
~ ..
[ M ]{ u ( t t )} [ FF ( t t )] (20)
Where
θ-constant, θ=1.4
Δt-time step
~ t ( t ) 2
[M ] [M ] [C ] ([ K L ])
2 23 (21)
. t .. . (t ) 2 ..
[ FF (t t )] [ F (t t )] [C ]({u (t )} {u (t )}) ([ K L ])({u (t )} t{u (t )} {u (t )})
2 3 (22)
1
Fn ( Ft sin ) 2 ( Ft W sin ) 2 2
(24)
F f a Fn
(25)
T f t Fn r
(26)
Where
Ft-tension
w-unit weight
If the movement of the drill string is upward (as opposed to tripping in and drilling), the direction of the friction
force is opposite.
3.3 Back-calculation of friction coefficient
If we know the hook load measured on the surface, and the friction coefficient or factor can be back-calculated.
This involves using an optimal method to get an appropriate coefficient when the calculated hook load is close to
the known hook load (for example, the field recorded hook load).
4. Dynamic program
A FEA program was developed for analyzing working behavior and calculating torque and drag based on above
models using FORTRAN.
4.1 Program structure and flowchart;
The flow chart is shown in Figure 8.
4.2 Input
Input File 1(drill string structure)
Length of drill pipe, Outside Diameter, Inside Diameter, Density, Young's Module, Poisson ratio, Number of
Elements
An example for the values in the file:
2793.46, 0.14519, 0.12136, 7850, 2.06E11, 0.3, 56
Input File 2(wellbore geometry)
Length of String
110%
Friction Coefficient
Element Length
90%
Outside Diameter
Inclination Angle
70%
Change Rate of Output
50%
30%
10%
U1
U2
U3
U4
Figure 10. FEA of a rod with one end fixed
Bit
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
1 251 501 751 1001 1251 1501 1751
-0.05
8
Angular Velocity (rad/s)
700m
4
1400m
2 Bit
0
1 251 501 751 1001 1251 1501 1751
-2
0 1 2 Torque (klb.ft) 3 4 5
0
Field Data ( reaming & back reaming )
Analytical Model (reaming)
Analytical Model (back reaming)
Average Field Data
4000
Measured Depth (ft)
6000
8000
10000
12000