Why Not Use Aluminum in Drilling?

Abstract

Abstract Using light weight drill and casing strings in drilling may cut down drilling costs by allowing the selection of smaller and/or cheaper equipment. Drilling components are designed to meet or exceed certain load conditions and operational constraints (e.g. stress, strain, overall stretching limits, fatigue, corrosion, etc.). An important parameter that greatly impacts on the overall design is the material density of drilling tubulars, here limited to casing and drill string. Tubular density affects both stress (axial, bending and von Mises) and strength of the tubular itself and impacts on derrick compression and rotary torque that are determining factors for rig selection. This study investigates the stress and strength behavior of aluminum based drill and casing strings and compares with steel based conventional ones. P. 311