1. Introduction
Casing wear is the process of a casing's wall gradually losing thickness because of the drill string's and casing's relative motion [
1]. Conditions like the downhole forces, the total period the drill string has been in contact with the casing, the drill string speed, and the materials employed all affect how much casing wear occurs. This process is intricate and incorporates unpredictable abrasive, adhesive, and corrosive wear processes [
2]. The main drilling characteristics that significantly impact casing wear at a given casing grade include rotary speed, rate of penetration (ROP), mud density, mud type, and bottom hole assembly [
3].
Different grades of steel have been used for casing and the selection of the material is influenced by the operating conditions and drilling environment. From well testing through completion, high-pressure high-temperature wells present several obstacles to material design.
The amount of casing wear of several steel grades has been investigated in several studies, but its accurate estimate has proven to be quite difficult. This is because casing wear is a complicated process that depends on several parameters, including mud type, percentage of abrasives in the mud, tool joint hard-facing, tool joint diameter, drill string speed, contact pressure, and more [
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8].
Several experimental and numerical studies were performed to develop relationships between drilling parameters and casing wear factors and wear mechanisms. Zhang et al. [
7] performed an experimental investigation of several casing steel grades to understand the effect of different drilling parameters on their wear behavior. They showed that the amount of wear increased with both side load and RPM. Moreover, they found that casing weight loss is inversely proportional to the casing steel grade. Huimei and Yishan [
3] conducted a study to determine the effects of drilling factors on the casing wear and concluded that drill pipe spinning speed and drill pipe penetration rate are the most important factors in ultra-deep wells. Doering et al. [
9] demonstrated that the new small-scale casing wear tester can produce wear mechanisms equivalent to both historical data produced by the DEA-42 test and from commercial down-hole service. Yu et al. [
10] developed an equation that relates the maximum wear depth to the residual casing strength after accumulative wear. Chen et al. [
11] have examined the impact of drill string length, speed of rotation, direction of travel, and density of the drilling fluid on friction and they established a mathematical model. Yu et al. [
12] offered a theoretical and technological framework for the evaluation of casing integrity and casing configuration in directional wells subjected to in situ stress. Osman, et al. [
13] in their research focused on the design, manufacture, control, and measurement of critical factors that contribute to casing wear, as well as the evaluation of wear volume. Osman et al. [
14] carried out an experimental casing wear test with real drill pipe joints (DP-TJ) and P110 steel casing under various operating conditions and test environments in order to comprehend and evaluate casing wear during drilling. They found that the amount of wear increases with the increase of the side loading and DP-TJ spinning speed and both wear volume and wear factor obtained under WBM are about double those obtained under OBM. Similar results were reported by Osman et al. [
15] for L-80 casing wear factors under similar drilling parameters. The results on P110 and L-80 revealed that the casing wear factor was lowered as rotating speeds increased for OBM. They attributed this reduction to the possible transition of the lubrication regime from thin to thick film lubrication with the increase in speed [
14,
15].
Materials with high strength are always needed for the fabrication of tubes, tubing, hangers, and tubular joints in case the well depths are more than 1 Km [
16]. These types of oil wells can generate fluids with elevated chloride amount and high partial pressures of CO
2, and H
2S besides the elevated temperatures and pressures. Some reservoirs also contain harmful species like mercury and elemental Sulphur. Low-alloy steels that have high strength are not suitable for these applications, except for casing materials. Owing to its low overall corrosion rates in elevated CO
2 and H
2S environments, high temperatures, and other environmental stresses, corrosion-resistant alloys (CRAs) are employed in these applications. Nevertheless, depending on the metallurgical and environmental circumstances, they may experience various types of environmentally assisted cracking [
17,
18]
The SM2535-110 casing material, which was introduced in the middle of the 1980s as an innovative development, has grown to become the standard for tubing and liner applications in harsh environments. Alloy SM2535-110 is a cold-hardened nickel-based alloy designed for corrosion resistance in situations with moderate chloride concentration and severely sour (H
2S) conditions that need high strength up to 177°C (350°F). When used as downhole tube components, packers, and other subsurface equipment in sour wells with high-pressure and temperature (HPHT) conditions and Acid Gas Injection (AGI) wells, SM2535-110 exhibits greater resistance to the effects of H
2S compared to stainless steels [
19]. However, SM2535-110, being austenitic stainless steel (SS) is expected to have insufficient tribological properties, mainly because of its low carbon content. Moore [
20] has found that the square root of the carbon content in steel is a linear relation of wear resistance.
All the above-mentioned studies on casing wear considered mainly martensitic steels such as P110, L80, and N80. Investigations of austenitic stainless-steel casing such as SM2535-110 are non-existent in the open literature. In this paper, a testing facility, developed in an earlier study [
13] is modified and utilized to study the effects of three important drilling parameters (side loads, drill string RPM, and drilling fluid type) on casing wear depth, wear volume, and specific wear factors of SM2535-110 steel. The effects of these parameters on casing hardness, temperature and coefficient of friction were also investigated.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, N.M., and O. O.; methodology, N.M., O. O. and M.A.S.; formal analysis, O. O., N.M. and M.A.S.; investigation, O. O. and N.M.; resources, O. O., N.M., M.A.S., A.A. and M.A.; data curation, O. O. and N. M. writing—original draft preparation, O. O. and N.M.; writing—review and editing, O. O., N.M., M.A.S., A.A., and M.A.; supervision, N.M; project administration, N.M.; funding acquisition, N.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Figure 1.
The casing wear test setup where (a) is the 2D drawing of the setup and (b) is a Photo of the setup.
Figure 1.
The casing wear test setup where (a) is the 2D drawing of the setup and (b) is a Photo of the setup.
Figure 3.
The hardness values of SM2535-110 casing tested at 1 KN and three speeds under both WBM and OBM lubrication.
Figure 3.
The hardness values of SM2535-110 casing tested at 1 KN and three speeds under both WBM and OBM lubrication.
Figure 4.
The hardness of SM2535 casing after heating the specimens for 30 minutes each at various temperatures followed by rapid cooling in water.
Figure 4.
The hardness of SM2535 casing after heating the specimens for 30 minutes each at various temperatures followed by rapid cooling in water.
Figure 5.
The maximum wear depth of the SM2535-110 casing wear measured under WBM at (a) 115rpm and two loads (b) 1.4 KN and two speeds.
Figure 5.
The maximum wear depth of the SM2535-110 casing wear measured under WBM at (a) 115rpm and two loads (b) 1.4 KN and two speeds.
Figure 6.
The wear volume of SM2535-110 casing specimens tested at different contact loads and three RPM values under a) OBM and b) WBM.
Figure 6.
The wear volume of SM2535-110 casing specimens tested at different contact loads and three RPM values under a) OBM and b) WBM.
Figure 7.
COF of the DP-TJ/SM2535-110 casing specimens tested at 154 rpm and 1.4 KN under WBM and OBM.
Figure 7.
COF of the DP-TJ/SM2535-110 casing specimens tested at 154 rpm and 1.4 KN under WBM and OBM.
Figure 8.
COF of SM2535-110 casing specimens at three applied side loadings and spinning speeds under a) OBM and b) WBM.
Figure 8.
COF of SM2535-110 casing specimens at three applied side loadings and spinning speeds under a) OBM and b) WBM.
Figure 10.
Average temperature of SM2535-110 casing specimens tested under WBM at a) at 115 rpm constant speed; b) at 1 KN constant load.
Figure 10.
Average temperature of SM2535-110 casing specimens tested under WBM at a) at 115 rpm constant speed; b) at 1 KN constant load.
Figure 11.
Specific wear factor of SM2535-110 casing specimens examined at different loads and speeds under a) OBM and b) WBM.
Figure 11.
Specific wear factor of SM2535-110 casing specimens examined at different loads and speeds under a) OBM and b) WBM.
Figure 12.
Specific wear factor of SM2535-110 casing tested under WBM and OBM at: a) 115 rpm; b) 1.4 KN.
Figure 12.
Specific wear factor of SM2535-110 casing tested under WBM and OBM at: a) 115 rpm; b) 1.4 KN.
Figure 13.
SEM micrographs of SM2535-110 casing specimen tested at 207 rpm and 1.4 KN under OBM.
Figure 13.
SEM micrographs of SM2535-110 casing specimen tested at 207 rpm and 1.4 KN under OBM.
Figure 14.
SEM micrographs of SM2535-110 casing sample subjected to 1.4 KN at 207 rpm and under WBM.
Figure 14.
SEM micrographs of SM2535-110 casing sample subjected to 1.4 KN at 207 rpm and under WBM.
Figure 15.
EDS analysis of worn SM2535-110 casing specimen subjected to a side load of 1.4 KN at 207 rpm and under WBM lubrication.
Figure 15.
EDS analysis of worn SM2535-110 casing specimen subjected to a side load of 1.4 KN at 207 rpm and under WBM lubrication.
Figure 16.
DMI of SM2535-110 casing specimens tested at 154 rpm under OBM conditions at a)1.4 KN and b) 1 KN.
Figure 16.
DMI of SM2535-110 casing specimens tested at 154 rpm under OBM conditions at a)1.4 KN and b) 1 KN.
Figure 17.
DMI of SM2535-110 casing specimens tested at 154 rpm under WBM conditions at a)1.4 KN side load, and b) at 1 KN side load.
Figure 17.
DMI of SM2535-110 casing specimens tested at 154 rpm under WBM conditions at a)1.4 KN side load, and b) at 1 KN side load.
Figure 18.
DMI of SM2535-110 casing specimens tested at 1.4 KN and different speeds under a) OBM and b) WBM.
Figure 18.
DMI of SM2535-110 casing specimens tested at 1.4 KN and different speeds under a) OBM and b) WBM.
Table 1.
Elemental compositions of SM2535 casing, drill pipe and DP-TJ [
22].
Table 1.
Elemental compositions of SM2535 casing, drill pipe and DP-TJ [
22].
Elements |
SM2535-110 |
Drill Pipe |
Counterface (DP-TJ) |
Fe |
35.5% |
96.2% |
92.4% |
C |
0.02% |
0.4% |
0.9 % |
Cr |
25.7% |
1.4% |
3.8% |
Ni |
32% |
0% |
0% |
Mo |
4.1% |
0% |
0% |
Mn |
0.7% |
0% |
0% |
Table 2.
Mechanical properties of SM2535-110 steel casing.
Table 2.
Mechanical properties of SM2535-110 steel casing.
Casing property |
unit |
values |
Ultimate tensile Strength value |
(MPa) |
≥792 |
Yield Strength value |
(MPa) |
758-965 |
Casing hardness Value |
(HRC) |
≤33 |
Outer DP Diameter |
(mm) [in] |
(245) [9 – 5/8] |
Casing Thickness |
(mm) [in] |
(110) [0.44] |
Table 3.
Average hardness of the three materials and drill pipe.
Table 3.
Average hardness of the three materials and drill pipe.
|
SM2535-110 |
Drill Pipe |
Counterface (DP-TJ) |
Hardness |
31.73 ± 1.9 |
26.18 ± 1.5 |
± 0.8 |
Table 4.
Specific casing wear factor (K) of SM2535-110 specimens.
Table 4.
Specific casing wear factor (K) of SM2535-110 specimens.
Type of mud |
Sample number |
Speed (rpm) |
Side Load (N) |
K (10−6 mm3/Nm) |
|
OBM |
S1 |
115 |
1 K |
277.13 |
|
S2 |
115 |
1.2 K |
329.53 |
|
S3 |
115 |
1.4 K |
369.52 |
|
S4 |
154 |
1 K |
241.66 |
|
S5 |
154 |
1.2 K |
277.42 |
|
S6 |
154 |
1.4 K |
304.82 |
|
S7 |
207 |
1 K |
188.38 |
|
S8 |
207 |
1.2 K |
223.17 |
|
S9 |
207 |
1.4 K |
251.06 |
|
WBM |
S10 |
115 |
1 K |
54.88 |
|
S11 |
115 |
1.2 K |
78.48 |
|
S12 |
115 |
1.4 K |
106.27 |
|
S13 |
154 |
1 K |
77.33 |
|
S14 |
154 |
1.2 K |
98.12 |
|
S15 |
154 |
1.4 K |
115.81 |
|
S16 |
207 |
1 K |
124.05 |
|
S17 |
207 |
1.2 K |
134.85 |
|
S18 |
207 |
1.4 K |
144.4 |
|