131

DIE-MARKED DRILL PIPE FATIGUE LIFE ESTIMATION

BASED ON THE LOCAL STRESS - STRAIN CONCEPT
V. Ulmanu*, G. Lzrescu*, I. Popa*
ABSTRACT
This paper presents a methodology of estimating the fatigue life of the drill pipes subjected to variable
tensile and bending loads when drilling through dogleg regions.
The critical zones of the drill pipe are considered to be those with die-marks caused by the pipe slip-
gripping during the handling jobs afferent to the drilling process.
The fatigue life prediction is based on local stress and strain analysis at the notch root, the low cycle
fatigue properties of the drill pipe material and application of the local stress and strain approach.
INTRODUCTION
The drill string tubulars (drill pipes) must get through heavy-duty service condition
determined by the type of the mechanical loads to be supported and the phenomena of wear,
erosion and corrosion occurring while drilling.
Such circumstances make the quality of the drill pipe material be one of the determining
factors afferent to the development of the drilling process under favourable economical and
technical conditions.
During its service, the drill string is subjected to periodical handling jobs consisting in
suspending it through slips for pipe stand pulling-out and running-in purposes. The said jobs
lead to the occurrence of die-marks on a certain length of the pipe, namely on that length
being engaged in suspending the pipe by means of the slips. The shape and dimensions of the
die-marks vary depending on the geometry of the slips having been utilized, the intensity of
the axial force affecting the slip-gripped drill string and the grade of the pipe. The drill pipes
are utilized while a great number of drilling jobs are performed and this is the reason while
the die-marking process caused by the slip gripping affects nearly all the pipes. The existence
of the die-marks as shown on the drill pipe surface causes fracture phenomena whose
economical and technical consequences are major: cessation or abandonment of the drilling
jobs, costly fishing jobs of the drill string lost in the bore hole.
DRILL STRING STRESS ANALYSIS
During the drilling process, the drill pipes are subjected to a complex variety of static
and dynamic loads. The load amplitude depends on the service condition afferent to the drill
string. The drill pipes undergo tensile stress during the drilling process or handling jobs,
torsional stress when the rotary torque necessary to the rotary drilling is transmitted, bending
THE ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM
OF THE INSTITUTE OF SOLID MECHANICS
SISOM 2002
BUCHAREST
May 16-17
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
132
stress in case of a deviated well or stability loss, pressure load when the respective outer or
inner pressure is caused by drilling fluid. All these loads are amplified within the critical
zones, namely those zones where the teeth of the dies gripping the pipes determine the
occurrence of the die-marks after the periodical handling jobs.
In order to determine the drill pipes fatigue life, the drill string weight below the
analysed section as well as the bending moments within the dogleg regions are considered.
The tensile stress caused by the drill string weight below the section taken into
consideration is determined in accordance with [2] by:
A
G
pf
t
(1)
where
t
is the axial tensile stress, [N/mm
2
]
;
G
pf
- total hanging weight of drill string below a section considering buoyancy
effect, [N];
A the cross-section area of the drill pipe [mm
2
].

,
_

f
pf
l A G 1 (2)
where is the specific weight of the drill pipe, [N/mm
3
];

f
- specific weight of the drilling fluid, [N/mm
3
];
l the length of the drill string below dogleg, [mm].
The bending stress at the dogleg as a function of dogleg severity and the tensile stress is
calculated in accordance with [2] by:
1
1
2
i
pf
Gpf
E D C l
E I
G
th l
E I

1
1

1
]
(3)
where
i
is the bending stress, [N/mm
2
]
;

E- Youngs modulus of the drill pipe material, [N/mm
2
];
D - the outer diameter of the drill pipe, [mm];
C- dogleg severity, defined as the intensity of the well hole deviation within a
30m length, [rad/mm];
l
1
- half-length of drill pipe between tool joints, [mm];
I moment of inertia of the pipe section, [mm
4
].
SLIP-GRIPPING LOADS
In the slip-gripping zone of the drill pipe are developed axial tensile stresses due to the
drill string weight as well as tangential and radial stresses generated by the outer pressure of
the slips.
Due to the tapered design of the slips the axial tensile load develops radial forces on the
drill pipe. The value of the contact pressure between the dies and pipe body depends on the
133
cutter design and the pipe diameter range and configuration. The normal resulting force can
be determined in accordance with [1] by:
( )
G
N
tg

+
(4)
where G is the total hanging weight of drill string, [N];
- the angle of the slip;
- the friction angle afferent to the contact surface between the slip and rotary
bushings.
The obtained value of the normal force was used for experimentally modelling the slip-to-pipe
contact in the die-marking tests.
Fig. 1. Force system afferent to the
slip-gripping of the drill pipe
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH REGARDING THE DIE-MARK GEOMETRY
The geometry of the permanent die-marks developed on the drill pipe surface was
experimentally studied by pressing a drill pipe sample of 300mm long with a die, for different
compression loads. The testing device is shown in Figure 2. Then, the depth, angle and root
radius of the mark were measured by optical means. Figure 3 presents the die-mark depth
versus the normal force.

0
0,05
0,1
0,15
0,2
0,25
2
0
4
0
6
0
8
0
1
0
0
1
2
0
1
4
0
1
6
0
1
8
0
2
0
0
2
2
0
Normal force [kN]
D
i
e
-
m
a
r
k

d
e
p
t
h

[
m
m
]
Fig. 2 Testing device Fig. 3 Die-mark depth versus normal force
134
FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF THE STRESS CONCENTRATION EFFECT DUE
TO THE DIE-MARKS
The cases of one tooth as well as two and three teeth on the slip were studied. The von
Mises equivalent maps for a drill pipe of 127mm (5in) x 9.19mm loaded with an axial force of
1,000 kN were drawn by using the ANSYS programme and considering different mark-depth
values ranging between 0.2 mm and 1.6 mm.
The stress concentration factor due to die-mark is defined as the ratio of the stress
at the notch root to the applied stress, its values ranging between 1 and 3 being
presented in Figure 4 for a die-mark depth ranging between 0 and 1.6 mm.
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
2,5
3
3,5
0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1 1,2 1,4 1,6
Die-mark depth [mm]
S
t
r
e
s
s
-
c
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

f
a
c
t
o
r
Fig .4. Stress concentration factor
versus die-mark depth
DRILL PIPE FATIGUE LIFE ESTIMATION BASED ON THE LOCAL STRESS -
STRAIN CONCEPT
The damage of a pipe under variable loads is caused by the initiation of a crack at the
existing notch root (die-mark) and the stable propagation of that crack until it reaches a
critical dimension, determining the final fracture.
The drill pipe fatigue life consists of two components:
p a f
N N N + (5)
where N
a
is the crack initiation number of cycles,
N
p
the crack propagation number of cycles.
The crack initiation number of cycles is estimated on the basis of the local strain and
stress at the notch root. Therefore, the value of the strain
a
is graphically determined for a
value of the nominal stress in the die-marked zone corresponding to the intersection of the
Neubers hyperbola and the cyclic stress-strain curve of the drill pipe material (Fig. 5). Thus,
the number of cycles until the crack initiation is determined from Coffin-Mansons fatigue
curve corresponding to the above-determined value of the strain
a
(Fig. 6).
135
Fig. 5 Stress and strain variation diagram
Fig. 6 The Coffin-Manson diagram
136
The crack initiation number of cycles is analytically determined by solving the system
of equations consisting of the Neubers equation and the cyclic stress-strain curve of the drill
pipe material:
(6)
where
n
is the nominal stress in the drill pipe section;
i t n
+ (7)
- stress concentration factor afferent to the die-mark geometry;
- local stress variation at the notch root;
- local strain variation at the notch root.
The coefficients involved in the system of equation (6) can be estimated by using the
uniform material law:
( )
n
'
d
'
d
'
K

-cyclic strain hardening coefficient (8)

345
'
+
m d
R -fatigue strength coefficient (9)
where R
m
is the ultimate tensile strength of drill pipe [N/mm
2
]

,
_

100
1 ln
'
Z
d

-fatigue ductility coefficient (10)

,
_

+
100
1 ln 0724 , 0 05 , 0
Z
b -fatigue strength exponent (11)
where Z is the necking of the drill pipe material [ %].
( ) 1 894 , 4 10 62 , 1
3


m
R b c -fatigue ductility exponent (12)
c
b
n
'
-cyclic strain hardening exponent (13)
The fatigue-crack propagation life N
p
is calculated using Paris formula:
( )

af
l
ao
l mp
p
a
p
K C
dl
N (14)
where K is the stress-intensity range;
mp fatigue-crack-growth-rate exponent;
C
p
fatigue-crack-growth-rate coefficient;
l
ao
initial crack depth;
( )
( ) ( )

'

,
_

c
a
'
d
b
a
'
d
n
'
n
N N
E
K
E
E
'

2
2
2 2
1
2 2
1
2
137
l
af
final crack depth.
1,64
6,6 0,0041 52,775
1,1215 1 1, 217
2 2
1,1215 0, 439 (15)
0, 4
1 4,595
2.54

a
a a
n n a
a
a
Rm
p
l
D l l D
K l
D D
l
l
C e

_


_
,
+

,
_
+

+
,
(16)
6, 6 0, 0041 (17)
m
mp R
The integration limits of the equation (14) are the initial depth of the die-mark and the
thickness of the drill pipe.
The fatigue damage of each range of the drill pipe accumulated due to drilling through a
dogleg region is calculated by:
[ ] %
N
n
D
f
i
i
100 (18)
where n
i
is the number of drill pipe revolutions in the dogleg interval calculated by:
v
l n
n
d
i

60

(19)
n is the rotary table speed,
[rot/min];
l
d
length of dogleg interval,
[m];
v - drilling rate, [m/h];
N
f
total number of cycles at a
nominal stress value
n
.
A Mathcad calculation
programme was elaborated to
determine the values of N
a
and N
p
for
the particular case of a drill pipe Grade
G 105 under the following conditions:
Rm=937N/mm
2
, Z=50%, E=2.06 10
5
N/mm
2
, drill pipe of (5)x9.19mm, l
1
=4,513.58mm,

=8.3 10
-5
N/mm
3
, l
ao
=0.2mm, =1.5,
l
d
=0.91m, n = 100rot/min, v = 0.6m/h.
The fatigue damage of the die-marked drill pipes for different lengths of drill string
below the dogleg and for different dogleg severity values C [
0
/30m] is presented in Figure 7.
Fig. 7 Drill pipe fatigue damage
138
CONCLUSIONS
A methodology was proposed in order to estimate the fatigue life of the drill pipes with
die-marks produced during handling by means of different gripping system.
The depth of the die-mark versus normal loads was experimentally determined.
The stress concentration factor versus die-mark geometry was analytically expressed by
applying the Finite Element Analysis, so that mark-depth values ranging between 0 and
1.6mm the stress concentration factor values resulted in a range between 1 and 3.
The die-marked drill pipe fatigue life was estimated based on the local stress-strain
concept and the low cycle fatigue material properties.
The methodology is finalised in graph charts for practical application to estimate the
fatigue damage of a die-marked drill pipe accumulated in a dogleg interval for different
drilling parameters.
This paper underlines that the stress concentration at marked areas on the pipe surface
using conventional gripping systems is significant and it should be taken into
consideration when the fatigue life is estimated and the drill pipes inspection intervals are
established.
Bibliografie
1. Costin I., Scule pentru foraj i extracie, Editura tehnic, Bucureti, 1990.
2. Hossain M. M., .a., Fatigue Life Evaluation: A Key to Avoid Drillpipe Failure Due to Die-marks,
IADC/SPE 47789 Asia Pacific Drilling Conference Indonesia, 1998.
3. Ulmanu V., Material tubular petrolier, Editura tehnic, Bucureti, 1992.
4. Ulmanu V., Lebensdauerabschtzung der Bohrstrangkomponenten Berechnungskonzepte und
Werkstoffcharakteristiken, Erdoel Erdgas Kohle, 112 Jahrgang, Heft 4, April 1996.
5. Raeev D., .a. Construcia i exploatarea garniturii de foraj, Editura tehnic, Bucureti, 1986.
6. Rusu O., s.a. Oboseala materialelor, vol I si vol II, Editura tehnica, Bucuresti, 1992.
7. Zecheru Gh., .a. Determinarea durabilitii la oboseal a prjinilor grele pentru foraj I, Studii i cercetri de
mecanic aplicat, Editura Academiei Romne, Bucureti, 1994.
8. Zecheru Gh., .a. Determinarea durabilitii la oboseal a prjinilor grele pentru foraj II, Studii i cercetri
de mecanic aplicat, Editura Academiei Romne, Bucureti, 1995.
9. While A. V., Why does drill pipe fail in the slip area, World oil, October, 1959.
10. Wilson, G. E., A new drill design virtually eliminates failures that result from slip damage.
IADC/SPE Drilling Conference, New Orleans, 12-15 March 1996.