A study of tubular string buckling in vertical wells

Abstract

A new model depicting the full phase of tubular string buckling in vertical wellbores is proposed. The buckling modes of the tubular string are divided into: no buckling, 2D lateral buckling, 3D lateral buckling, continuous contact buckling and helical buckling. For the 2D lateral and 3D lateral buckling, the tubular string is respectively depicted by two and four suspended sections; for the continuous contact and helical buckling, the tubular string includes four suspended sections and one continuous contact section. With the suspended and continuous contact sections respectively depicted by beam-column model and buckling differential equation, the general buckling configurations of the entire tubular string are deduced. Substituting relevant continuity, boundary and stability conditions, the tubular string buckling problem is converted into a system of nonlinear equations. Solving these equations with iteration method, the critical buckling loads and the buckling configurations under different buckling modes for a weightless tubular string are obtained. Later, the weightless model is extended to the case for a tubular string with weight. On the basis of the new buckling model, the axial force and torque transfer along the tubular string under the coupling effect of friction force and buckling is discussed. The results show that the existence of tubular string weight increases the complexity of buckling mechanism and calculation. The continuous contact between the tubular string and wellbore reduces the axial force and torque transfer along the tubular string. To increase the axial force and torque transfer and inhibit buckling, the installation of stabilizers of low friction and buckling inhibition on the buckling-prone sections is wiser than unilaterally increasing the diameter and thickness of the tubular string. Compared with the previous results, the new model provides a more sophisticated description of tubular string buckling in vertical wellbores.