Numerical Investigation of the Influence of the Drill String Vibration Cyclic Loads on the Development of the Wellbore Natural Fracture

Arnaud Regis Kamgue Lenwoue, Jingen Deng, Yongcun Feng, Haitao Li, Adefarati Oloruntoba, Naomie Beolle Songwe Selabi, Micheal Marembo and Yuanxiu Sun
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Arnaud Regis Kamgue Lenwoue: College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Jingen Deng: College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Yongcun Feng: College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Haitao Li: College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Adefarati Oloruntoba: State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Naomie Beolle Songwe Selabi: School of Materials and Metallurgy, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China
Micheal Marembo: School of Engineering Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
Yuanxiu Sun: College of Petroleum Engineering, Liaoning Petrochemical University, Fushun 113001, China

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-30

Abstract: Wellbore instability is one of the most serious issues faced in the drilling process. During drilling operations, the cyclic loads applied on the fractured formation progressively modify the initial parameters (i.e., length and width) of the fractured formation, thus resulting into undesirable wellbore instability. In this paper, using a nonlinear finite element software (ABAQUS) as the numerical simulator, a poro-elasto-plastic model has been established which aimed at analyzing the influence of drill string vibration cyclic loads on the development of the wellbore natural fracture. The numerical results showed that the fracture width as a function of time profiles followed a sinusoidal behavior similar to the drill string vibration cyclic load profiles. For different cyclic load magnitudes with constant number of cyclic loads, the highest percentage increase of the fracture width after integration of cyclic loads was 64.77%. Interestingly, the fracture width increased with the fracture length in the near wellbore region while it globally decreased in the region far away from the wellbore. But for constant cyclic load magnitude with different number of cyclic loads, the biggest percentage increase of the fracture width after integration of cyclic loads was slightly lower representing 63.12% while the oscillating period of the fracture width increased with the number of cyclic loads. The parametric study revealed that the drill string vibration cyclic loads were relatively independent of the fracture length and the bottom hole pressure. However, the fracture width and the loss circulation rates were considerably impacted by the drill string vibration and the highest percentage increase of the loss circulation rate after integration of cyclic loads was 14.3%. This study provides an insight into the coupling of the fracture rock development and the continuous cyclic loads generated by drill string vibrations which is an aspect that has been rarely discussed in the literature.

Keywords: numerical investigation; drill string vibration; cyclic loads; wellbore natural fracture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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