Drill String Design

By
Prof. Abdel-Alim Hashem

1
 Contents
• Kelly
• Drill pipe
• Drill collars
• Accessories; heavy wall drill pipe, jars,
stabilizers, reamers, shock sub and bit
sub
• Drill string loads
• Drill string design

2
 Drill string
Components

3
 Kelly
• Used to transmit rotation and weight to bit via
drill pipe and drill collars
• Rotation and weight on bit are essential for
breaking rock and making hole
• Manufactured from high grades of chrome
molybdenum steel and heat treated
• Has either square or hexagonal shape
• Hexagonal is stronger than square
• Lengths are 40 ft (12.2 m) or 54 ft (16.5m)
• Manufactured in various sizes

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Hexagonal Kelly

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 Kelly Sizes
Square Hexagonal
2-½ 3
3 3-½
3-½ 4-¼
4-¼ 5-¼
5-¼ 6
6
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 Kelly
• Kelly is connected to Kelly drive bushing
• Kelly drive bushing engages in master bushing
• Rotation of rotary table transmits to master
bushing to the Kelly bushing to the Kelly
• Kelly accessories
– Kelly saver sub; small sub connected to the Kelly at
the bottom to protect its threads from excessive wear
– Kelly cock; a small sub installed on the top of the
Kelly, or below the saver sub protect equipment
above Kelly from high pressure, can be used to shut
in drill pipe in case of kick
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Kelly Accessories

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Drill Pipe

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 Drill Pipe
• Function to transmit rotation and drill mud under
pressure to bit
• Subjected to different types of loading:
– Axial due to weight carried and its own
– Radial due to well bore pressure
– Cyclic stress reversals, due to bend in dog legs
• Must withstand all these loads
• Manufactured as seamless pipe with external
(EU), internal (IU) or external internal upset
(EIU)
• Upset means increasing metal size
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Drill Pipe Upset

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 Drill Pipe
• Manufactured in three ranges
– Range 1: 18-22 ft
– Range 2: 27-30 ft
– Range 3 38-45 ft
• Five grades are available, D, E, X95, G105, S135
• The grades are manufactured in different sizes; 2 3/8, 2 7/8, 3 ½,
4, 4 ½, 5, 5 ½, 6 5/8 in
• Each grade specified by nominal weight, internal diameter,
collapse resistance, internal yield pressure and pipe body yield
strength
• These specifications changes with time because of wear
• According to degree of wear pipe are
– Class one: new pipe
– Premium: uniform wear and min. wall thickness 80%
– Class 2: min. wall thickness 65%
– Class 3: min. wall thickness 55%
– Tables show these specifications for each grade
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New Drill Pipe Tensional and Tensile Data
API

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 Tool Joints
• Short cylindrical piece attached to each end of
drill pipe via a flash weld or inertia weld process
• Threaded either internally or externally
• Externally called pin while internally called box
• Joined by stabbing the pin to the box
• Thread should have min yield strength of
120,000 psi and min tensile of 140,000 psi
• Dimensions are required for calculating the
approximate weight of the drill pipe and tool joint
assembly
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Tool Joints

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 Thread Forms
• Distinguished by width of thread
crest, radius of thread root, angle
between flanks of adjacent threads
and number of threads per inch
• Adapted format V-numerical number
• Number refers to either the width of
the crest flat or the radius of the root
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Thread Forms

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Tool Joint Dimensions
Identifications

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 Rotary Shoulder Connections
• Refers to the threads of the pin and box
• The bin of one joint engages the box of the other
during make-up torque
• The actual seal is metal-to-metal contact
• AP suggests the use of the term number
connection (NC) to refer to pitch diameter
• For pitch diameter 1.063 in, the first two figure
are used and NC10 will describe the rotary
connection

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Drill Collars

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 Drill Collars
• Thick walled pipe used to provide weight on
bit (WOB) to keep drill pipe in tension
• Drill pipe has relatively low stiffness, make it
susceptible to buckling when under
compression
• Buckling may lead to failure
• Failure eliminated by keeping neutral point
(point of zero tension and zero compression)
below drill pipe

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 Drill Collars
• 80 to 85% of buoyant weight of drill collar put
under compression for safety factor of 1.15
• Manufactured in an average length of 31 ft
• Pin and box are cut from the body of the pipe
• Connection has tapered threads jack screw
• Threads are normally strengthened by cold-
working the thread roots

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Drill Collars Weight, lb/ft

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Drill Collars Connection

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 Drill Collar Features
• Fishing necks; allow DC to be fitted with small
connections and fishing jobs
• Stepped-bore drill collars; to increase pipe
strength to internal pressure
• Slip and elevator recess; allows DC to be
handled as DP with slips and elevators
• Spiral grooving; to reduce possibility of sticking
due to differential pressure
• Square drill collars; special drilling purpose such
as reducing deviation in crooked hole formation
• K-monel drill collars; non-magnetic steel for
survey instrument
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Drill Collar Features

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 Drill String Accessories
• Heavy-wall drill pipe
• Drilling jar
• Stabilizers
• Reamers
• Shock subs

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 Heavy-wall drill pipe
• Has the same OD of drill pipe and reduced ID
• Used between DP and DCs
• Manufactured in four sizes: 3 ½, 4, 4 ½, 5 in.
and in length 0f 30.5 ft
• Can be safely run in compression
• Used to provide WOB in directional and
horizontal wells
• Number of joints used varies from 30 to 70 joints

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Heavy-wall drill pipe

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 Drilling jar
• Defined as a mandrel slides within a sleeve
• The free end of the mandrel is shaped in the
form of a hammer to provide a sticking
action against the force of an anvil
• Jarring is used to free stuck pipe
• Can provide up word or down word forces
• Recommended to be run in tension
• Placed above the neutral point
• Three types: mechanical, hydraulic and
mixed or hydromechanical 30
Drilling
jar

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 Stabilizers
• Placed above the bit to control hole
deviation, minimize dog-leg and prevent
differential sticking
• Allow the bit to rotate perpendicular to the
hole
• Two types: rotating or non-rotating
• Rotating includes: integral blades, sleeve,
and welded blades
• Non-rotating comprises a rubber sleeve
and mandrel 32
Stabilizers

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 Reamers
• Rotary reamers are provided with
tungsten carbide rollers set vertically
in the body of the reamer
• Can be three or six reaming cutters
• Run behind the bit to provide gauge
hole

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Reamers

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 Shock Subs
• Also named a vibrating dampener
• Placed between the bit and drill collars
• Absorb vibrations and impact loads
caused by drill string movement
• Steel rubber spring design to absorb
torsional and vertical vibration
• Placed normally above the bit
• Stabilization requirement dictate
placement 30 to 50 above the bit 36
 Drill String Design
• Design means determination of length,
weight, grades of drill pipe to be used
during drilling, coring or any other
operation
• Depends on: hole depth, hole size, mud
weight, safety factor and/or margin of
pull, length and weight of DCs, drill
pipe size and inspection calls
• Criteria used are: tension, collapse,
shock loading and torsion
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 Tension Load
• Submerged weight should be
considered
• Magnitude depends on mud density
and steel density
• Steel density = 489.5 lb/cu ft or 7850
kg/cu m
• Tabulated API properties should be
considered for design
P = (L xW +L xW )xBF ...........................(1)
dp dp dc dc
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 Tension Load
⎛ρ m ⎞⎟ ⎛⎜ γ m ⎞⎟
BF = 1− ρ ⎟ = ⎜1− γ ⎟.........................................(2)
⎜
⎜
⎝ s⎠ ⎝ s⎠

Pa = Pt x0.9...........................................................(3)

MOP = Pa − P.......................................................(4)

Pa P x 0.9
SF = = t ................(5)
P (L xW +L xW )xBF
dp dp dc dc
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 Tension Load
Pt x0.9 W
L = − dc L .............................(6)
dp SFxW xBF W dc
dp dp

Pt x0.9 − MOP Wdc

L = − L .............................(7)
dp W xBF W dc
dp dp

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 Collapse Load
• Defined as external pressure required to cause
yielding of drill pipe or casing
• In normal operation the mud column inside and
outside drill pipe are both equal in height and in
density
• Therefore zero differential pressure across pipe
body and in turn zero collapse
• In some cases (DST) pipe is run partially full to
encourage fluid flow for test
• The maximum differential pressure across drill
pipe for DST calculated as follows
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 Collapse Load
ΔP = 0.052 xρ xL − 0.052 xρ x(L − Y )........................(8)
1 2

• For completely empty drill pipe Y = 0

• Collapse safety factor determined as
follows
SF = Collapse Risistance ..................................(9)
Collapse Pressure (ΔP)

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 Collapse Load
• Safety factor of 1.125 is normally used
• Collapse resistance is reported in API
tables
• Collapse pressure is calculated from Eq. 8
• Normally, pipe is subjected to collapse and
tension together
• Corrected collapse resistance has to be
done as follows:
• Determine tensile stress at joint under
consideration by dividing the tensile load
by the pipe cross section 43
 Collapse Load
• Determine the ratio between the tensile
stress and the average yield strength
• Use biaxial yield stress curve,
determine the % reduction in collapse
resistance corresponding to the ratio
calculated
• Use this value for collapse safety factor
calculation 1.125

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 Shock Loading
• Arises between slips area set and moving
drillpipe
• Can contribute to parting of pipe in marginal
design
• Add additional tensile force, Fs to the pipe

Fs = 3200xW ...................................................(10)
dp

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 Torsion
• Drill pipe torsional yield strength
subjected to pure torsion is given by:
0.096167xJxYm
Q= .......................................(11)
D
• When pipe subjected to torsion and
tension

P 2
Q= 0.096167 xJ 2
Ym − ................................(12)
D A 2
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 Torsion
• Drill pipe torsional yield strength
subjected to pure torsion is given by:
0 . 096167 xJxY m
Q= .......... .......... .......... .........( 11 )
D
• When pipe subjected to torsion and
tension
2 P2
Q = 0 . 096167 xJ Ym − .......... .......... .......... ..(12 )
D A2
π
J = (OD 4 − ID 4 ) = 0.098175(OD 4 − ID 4 ).....(13)
32 47
 Stretch of drill pipe
• Drill pipe stretches under the action of DC’s
and its own weight
Due to weight of DC’s
• In [Link]. system
W xL xL
ΔL = dc dc dp ........................................(14)
1 735444 W
dp
• In metric system
⎛ W xL xL ⎞
⎜ ⎟
Δ L = 373 .8 x10 −10 ⎜
⎜
dc dc dp .......... ........( 15 )
⎟
⎟
1 ⎜⎜ W ⎟⎟ 48
⎝ dp ⎠
 Stretch of drill pipe
Due to own weight
• In [Link] system
L
ΔL = dp (65.44 −1.44ρm ).............................(16)
2 9.625x 107
• Mud density in ppg and length and stretch in ft
• In metric system

ΔL = 2.346x10− 8 L (65.44 −1.44ρ m )..........(17)

2 dp
• Mud density in kg/l, length and stretch in
meter
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 Critical Rotary Speed
• Components of drill string can vibrate in three
modes
• Axial or longitudinal; can be recognized at surface
• Torsional; cannot be seen due to rotary table control
of angular motion
• Transverse or lateral; possible only with drill pipe
• Vibration cause resonance and hence wear and
fatigue
• Pipe vibration should coincide with bit rotation
• Calculated based on drill string length and drill pipe
dimensions or drill collar length

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 Calculation Based on Total Length
and Drillpipe Dimensions

rpm = 258 000 (longitudinal vibration)...........(18)

L
⎛ ⎞
1/ 2
rpm = 4 760 000 OD 2 − ID 2
⎜
⎜⎜
⎟
⎟⎟ (transversel vibration).(19)
L(inch) ⎝ ⎠

Example: Determine the critical rotary speed

for a 10,000 ft drill string consisting of 5 in
OD/4.276 in ID drill pipe and 800 ft drill
collars
Solution:
• Longitudinal rpm (Eq. 18) = 25.8 rpm
• Transversal rpm (Eq. 19) = 242 rpm 51
 Drill Collar Frequecy
• Drill collars assumed to be fixed at the
drill bit and free at the drill collar/drill
pipe interface
• Drill bit displacement frequencies are
consistently three cycles for every bit
revolution for three-cone bits
• Frequency of vibration at the bit is
given by:
⎛ 1 ⎞
f = 3Nx⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ cycles / sec...................................(20)
⎝ 60 ⎠
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 Calculation Based on Drill Collar
Length
• N rotary speed of bit
• Critical rotary speed can be calculated
as:
N = 20xf rpm................................................(21)

• The natural frequency of longitudinal

vibration f1
4212
f = cycles / sec.......... .......... .......... .......(22)
1 L
dc 53
 Calculation Based on Drill Collar
Length
Solution
• f1 = 4212/800 = 5.265 c/s
• f2 = 2662/800 = 2.3275 c/s
• N1 = 20 x 5.265 = 105 rpm
• N2 = 20 x 2.3275 = 67 rpm
• Then drill pipe must be rotated below
67 rpm or greater than 105 rpm

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 Calculation Based on Drill Collar
Length
• The two method shows great variation
• String vibration can be reduced by
changing the natural frequencies:
using shock absorber or increasing the
drill collar length or using HWDP
• Increasing or applying mechanical
damping

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End

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