Wellbore stresses induced by the nonlinear deformation of an inflatable packer

Atkinson, C; Desroches, J; Eftaxiopoulos, DA; Thiercelin, M

dc.contributor.author	Atkinson, C	en
dc.contributor.author	Desroches, J	en
dc.contributor.author	Eftaxiopoulos, DA	en
dc.contributor.author	Thiercelin, M	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-03-01T01:17:19Z
dc.date.available	2014-03-01T01:17:19Z
dc.date.issued	2001	en
dc.identifier.issn	0022-0833	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://dspace.lib.ntua.gr/xmlui/handle/123456789/14455
dc.subject	Inflatable packer	en
dc.subject	Nonlinear deformation	en
dc.subject	Wellbore stress	en
dc.subject.classification	Engineering, Multidisciplinary	en
dc.subject.classification	Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications	en
dc.subject.other	Deformation	en
dc.subject.other	Finite element method	en
dc.subject.other	Industry	en
dc.subject.other	Integral equations	en
dc.subject.other	Nonlinear equations	en
dc.subject.other	Rocks	en
dc.subject.other	Stress analysis	en
dc.subject.other	Wellbore stresses	en
dc.subject.other	Stresses	en
dc.subject.other	deformation	en
dc.subject.other	oil well	en
dc.subject.other	stress	en
dc.title	Wellbore stresses induced by the nonlinear deformation of an inflatable packer	en
heal.type	journalArticle	en
heal.identifier.primary	10.1023/A:1012297324968	en
heal.identifier.secondary	http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1012297324968	en
heal.language	English	en
heal.publicationDate	2001	en
heal.abstract	Packers, i.e. inflatable balloons made from elastomere, reinforced with cords, are used by the oil industry for sealing an interval along the wellbore, for open - hole stress tests to be performed. Thiercelin et al. have shown that the packer behaviour is critical to the success of such tests. In particular, the pressure exerted by the packer on the formation needs to be as close as possible to the pressure in the interval, to avoid fracture initiation or fracture growth along the packers. Moreover, axial tension in the rock needs to be kept to a minimum to avoid initiation of transverse fractures at the packer level that would be detrimental to the test. In this paper the theory of membranes, reinforced with inextensible cords, developed by Kydoniefs and its implementation for packers done by Atkinson and Peltier, is used to gain insight into the stresses which are generated in the rock, due to packer inflation. The shape of the packer is first computed for a given net pressure across the packer, via the solution of a nonlinear integral equation. Then the pressure acting on the formation, along the packer/rock contact zone, is found. Results show that the pressure applied by the packer on the rock during stress testing, is almost uniform and close to packer inflation pressure. The formation is afterwards considered loaded with the latter pressure and the stresses in the rock are found by either a finite-element or a semi-analytic method. Axial stresses develop at packer ends but are much smaller than the pressure applied to the formation. Tangential stresses develop at the wellbore wall and are higher at packer level than at interval level.	en
heal.publisher	KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBL	en
heal.journalName	Journal of Engineering Mathematics	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1023/A:1012297324968	en
dc.identifier.isi	ISI:000171536900001	en
dc.identifier.volume	41	en
dc.identifier.issue	4	en
dc.identifier.spage	305	en
dc.identifier.epage	327	en