Fatigue investigation of tubing string in high-yield curved wells

Abstract

In view of the fatigue failure of tubing string caused by fluid-induced vibration (FIV) in high-yield curved well, a nonlinear vibration model of tubing string is established using energy method and Hamilton principle, which considers the longitudinal/lateral coupling effect of tubing string and the nonlinear contact collision effect of tubing-casing and verified by a similar experiment of tubing vibration. The cumulative damage theory (Miner's Law) is used to establish the fatigue life prediction method of the tubing string in high-yield curved well combined with the stress response which was determined by the proposed vibration model and the S–N curve of the tubing material (13Cr-L80) which was measured by fatigue experiment. Based on that, the fatigue life of the tubing in two typical horizontal well and directional well was analyzed under different production rate (0.4–1.6 million square/day) and different tubing diameter (3.5-in and 4.5-in). The result shows that the most dangerous position of the tubing string appears between 3/4 position of the tubing string and the packer. The critical production rate of 4.5-in tubing string in horizontal well is 1.08 million square/day to satisfy the life requirements of gas reservoir tubing (20 years), and which is 0.45 million square/day in directional well. The fatigue life of 4.5-in tubing string is higher than that of 3.5-in tubing string in both horizontal and directional wells. The research results provide a theoretically sound guidance for designing and practically sound approach for effectively improving the service life of tubing string in high-yield curved wells.