PEB4233

Principles of
Well Design
Chapter 1
Drill string design
1
Content

01 Drill string components

02 BHA design
03 Drill string calculations

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Buckling Tendency
𝐹ℎ 𝐹ℎ − 𝐹𝑏

• When suspended, the drill string components must

support the combined weight of all segments below it
Neutral point • The tension load increases as the weight accumulates
from bottom to the surface
• If some part of drill string is not in tension, buckling
would occur
▪ Slack off without rotation – buckling force is
function of compression force
▪ Slack off with rotation - buckling force is function of
compression & torsional forces

Neutral point

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design 𝐹𝑏 January 2024 | UTP

 Neutral point
𝐹ℎ 𝐹ℎ − 𝐹𝑏
Neutral point - point on a string of tubulars at which
there are neither tension nor
Neutral point compression forces present

• Below the neutral point, there will be compression

forces that build toward the bottom of the wellbore
• Above the neutral point, tensile forces build to a
maximum applied at the hanger or as hook load

Neutral point

𝐿𝑑𝑐

𝐹𝑏 Safe range 𝐹𝑏 Too large

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP
 Neutral point
𝐹ℎ 𝐹ℎ − 𝐹𝑏

• Neutral point is used to estimate the length of drill

Neutral point
collars required to drill a certain depth
• Two common approaches
▪ Analytical method
- Neutral point
- Critical buckling load
▪ Graphical method

Neutral point

𝐿𝑑𝑐

𝐹𝑏 Safe range 𝐹𝑏 Too large

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP
Analytical Method
1. Neutral Point
Force on the bit
𝐹𝑏𝑖𝑡 = 𝐹𝑐 + 𝐹𝑤 . cos 𝜃 (Eq. 1)

𝐹𝑏𝑖𝑡 = force on bit (lb)

𝐹𝑐 = compression force (lb)
𝐹𝑤 = weight force of drill collar (lb)
𝐹𝑐 = compression force (lb)
𝜃 = angle of inclination relative to vertical(lb)

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Analytical Method
Weight force of drill collar
𝜌𝑚𝑢𝑑
𝐹𝑤 = 𝑊𝐷𝐶 . 𝐿𝐷𝐶 1− (Eq. 2)
𝜌𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙

𝐿𝐷𝐶 = length of drill collar (ft)

𝑊𝐷𝐶 = weight per unit length of drill collar in air (lb/ft)

At neutral point, tensile force and compressive force cancel out each other, thus

𝐹𝑐 = 0 (Eq. 3)

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Analytical Method
Length of drill collar
Combining Eq. 1 and Eq. 2 into Eq. 1 yields
𝜌𝑚𝑢𝑑
𝐹𝑏𝑖𝑡 = 0 + 𝑊𝐷𝐶 . 𝐿𝐷𝐶 1 − . cos 𝜃 (Eq. 4)
𝜌𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙

Solving the expression for 𝐿𝐷𝐶 gives

𝐹𝑏𝑖𝑡
𝐿𝐷𝐶 = (Eq. 5)
𝜌𝑚𝑢𝑑
𝑊𝐷𝐶 . 1 − . cos 𝜃
𝜌𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Analytical Method
Class discussion

What are the limitation of this

equation?
𝑭𝒃𝒊𝒕
What is the missing load? 𝑳𝑫𝑪 =
𝝆𝒎𝒖𝒅
𝑾𝑫𝑪 . 𝟏 − . 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝜽
𝝆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒍

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Analytical Method
2. Critical Buckling Load
• In inclined well, a portion of drill string lies on the lower side of the hole
• Drag force due to friction resulted from contact between drill string and borehole wall tends to
reduce the total compressional load of drill string
• This normalize the drill string and allows the DP to carry axial compressive load without buckling
• For inclined hole, critical compression load at which pipe buckling occurs is given by
𝐸. 𝐼. 𝜌. 𝐴. 𝑔. 𝐵𝐹. sin 𝜃
𝐹𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡 = 2. (Eq.7)
𝑟
𝐼 = moment of inertia 𝐴 = cross sectional area of pipe (in2)
𝐸 = Young modulus elasticity 𝑔 = gravitational force constant (lbf)
𝑟 = radial clearance between pipe and hole (in) 𝐵𝐹 = Buoyancy factor
𝜌 = Weight per cubic inch (lb/in3)

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Analytical Method
Replacing 𝐹𝑐 with the 𝐹𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡 Eq. 4 yields

𝐸.𝐼.𝜌.𝐴.𝑔.𝐵𝐹.sin 𝜃 𝜌𝑚𝑢𝑑
𝐹𝑏𝑖𝑡 = 2. + 𝑊𝐷𝐶 . 𝐿𝐷𝐶 1 − . cos 𝜃 (Eq.8)
𝑟 𝜌𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙

Solving the expression for 𝐿𝐷𝐶 gives

𝐸. 𝐼. 𝜌. 𝐴. 𝑔. 𝐵𝐹. sin 𝜃
𝐹𝑏𝑖𝑡 − 2.
𝐿𝐷𝐶 = 𝑟
𝜌𝑚𝑢𝑑 (Eq.9)
𝑊𝐷𝐶 . 1 − . cos 𝜃
𝜌𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Analytical Method
𝐸. 𝐼. 𝜌. 𝐴. 𝑔. 𝐵𝐹. sin 𝜃
𝐹𝑏𝑖𝑡 − 2.
𝐿𝐷𝐶 = 𝑆𝐹. 𝑟 (Eq.10)
𝜌𝑚𝑢𝑑
𝑊𝐷𝐶 . 1 − . cos 𝜃
𝜌𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙

• The Eq. 10 does not consider effects of torque and drag

• Margin of safety factor must be applied based on company guideline or past experience

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Analytical Method
Expressing Eq. 7 in field unit,
0.5
𝐼. 𝐴𝑠 . 𝐵𝐹. sin 𝜃
𝐹𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡 = 8239.5 (Eq.11)
𝑟

Replacing 𝐹𝑐 in Eq. 4 with the 𝐹𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡 Eq. 11 yields

𝐼.𝐴𝑠 .𝐵𝐹.sin 𝜃 0.5 𝜌𝑚𝑢𝑑

𝐹𝑏𝑖𝑡 = 8239.5 𝑊𝐷𝐶 . 𝐿𝐷𝐶 1 − . cos 𝜃 (Eq.12)
𝑟 𝜌𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Analytical Method
Solving Eq. 12 for 𝐿𝐷𝐶 gives

0.5
𝐼. 𝐴𝑠 . 𝐵𝐹. sin 𝜃
𝐹𝑏𝑖𝑡 − 8239.5 𝑟
𝐿𝐷𝐶 = (Eq.13)
𝜌𝑚𝑢𝑑
𝑊𝐷𝐶 . 1 − . cos 𝜃
𝜌𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙

• This equation assumes a uniform geometry for the whole drill string (use drill pipe
ID and OD)
• Force acting on outside and inside cancel each other.

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Analytical Method
Length of drill collar
1.3. 𝐹𝑏𝑖𝑡
𝐿𝐷𝐶 = (Eq.6)
𝜌
𝑊𝐷𝐶 . 1 − 𝑚𝑢𝑑 . cos 𝜃
𝜌𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙

• The Eq. 5 underestimates the required DC as it does not consider the effect of torque
• Industry rule of thumb consider a safety factor of 1.3 for this reason
• As the inclination increases, the required length of DC increases
• At 900, there is no value because in horizontal well, DC will rest on low side of the hole and
weight force does not contribute to force on bit

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Graphical Method
𝐹ℎ 𝑂
Compression (−) (+) Tension

Axial
stress

Neutral point
Neutral point

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Graphical Method
Causes of tubular buckling a. On air (no fluid)
𝑂
Compression (−) (+) Tension • Tensile stress is the only load because
of its own weight
• The weight of drill string tends to keep
the pipe straight
• If the string is deflected, under its own
Axial weight, it will return to the straight
stress position
• String under tension is in a state of
stable equilibrium

𝑃
Neutral point

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Graphical Method
Causes of tubular buckling b. On air and bottom supported
𝑂
Compression (−) (+) Tension • A force is applied at the string show by
slacking off below the weight of the
string (compressive force)
• The neutral point shifted to certain part
along the pipe body
Axial • String below this point is under
stress compressive stress equivalent to the
slack off weight at that point

Neutral point 𝑂′

𝑄 𝑃′

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Graphical Method
Causes of tubular buckling c. Hang in fluid
𝑂
Compression (−) (+) Tension • The string experiences a buoyancy
force when it is freely suspended in
fluid

Hydrostatic
• Horizontal component of this force is
pressure evenly distributed over the entire
Zero Axial length of pipe and vertical section is
stress concentrated at the lower part
• Unlike (b), this pipe is under
Stress due to compression because of hydrostatic
buoyant pressure applied vertically upward
weight
wt/ft

𝑄′ 𝑃′
Neutral point

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Graphical Method
Causes of tubular buckling d. Hang in fluid (bottom supported)
𝑂
Compression (−) (+) Tension • Radial and tangential stresses of the
string in (c) are no longer equal to zero,
but follow the hydrostatic pressure of
the fluid (line 𝑂 − 𝑄′ )
Hydrostati Zero Axial
c pressure stress
• At point 𝑄′, the axial stress
(compressive) is equal to the
hydrostatic pressure of fluid
• Both buoyancy and slack off weight
have moved the neutral point and axial
stress to higher position

𝑄′ 𝑃′

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Graphical Method
Effect of buoyancy on buckling
𝑂
Compression (−) (+) Tension • Introduce stability force, 𝐹𝑠 due to fluid pressure
inside pipe, 𝑃𝑖 and pressure outside pipe, 𝑃𝑜
𝐹𝑠 = 𝐴𝑖 𝑃𝑖 − 𝐴𝑜 𝑃𝑜
𝐴𝑖 = cross sectional area of inside DP
Hydrostati Zero Axial
c pressure stress
𝐴𝑜 = cross sectional area of outside DP
• Neutral point can be determined from the
intersection of axial compression force in
tension/compression graph

𝑄′ 𝑃′

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP

Graphical Method
Effect of buoyancy on buckling
• Stability force, 𝐹𝑠 at bottom of DP
𝜋 2 𝜋 2 ×𝐿
𝐹𝑠 = × 𝑑𝑖𝑝 × 𝐿𝐷𝑃 − × 𝑑𝑜𝑝 𝐷𝑃
4 4
𝑑𝑖 = inside diameter of DP
𝑑𝑜 = outside diameter of DP
• Stability force, 𝐹𝑠 at bottom of DC
𝜋 2 𝜋 2 ×𝐿
𝐹𝑠 = × 𝑑𝑖𝑐 × 𝐿𝐷𝑃 − × 𝑑𝑜𝑐 𝐷𝑃
4 4
𝑑𝑖 = inside diameter of DC
𝑑𝑜 = outside diameter of DC

PEB4233 Principles of Well Design January 2024 | UTP