Preliminary Study of Tubular Expansion Using Finite Element Methods

Recent developments in the oil industry show that downhole tubular expansion is highly attractive due to the fact that the technology contributes to economical savings and exploration efficiency. As the technology is new, however, there still remain many unsolved problems to achieve the optimal design and implementation of the technology. Primarily, there is a need to establish a thorough understanding of the process, both the material mechanics and the complex force interaction during the expansion process as well as after expansion. Among others, the friction between the expansion tool and the tubing, and the response of the material to the force in downhole contribute to the current need for an intensive research. This conference paper attempts to highlight the accompanied challenges with this new technology and presents a preliminary analysis scheme based on Finite Element Methods.