Failure Analysis and Service Life Prediction of 80SH Casing Steel under Thermal Cycle Service Environment

Abstract

The main exploitation process of heavy oil is cyclic steam huff and puff. Cyclic operation causes cumulative damage to thermal recovery casing and causes a large number of failures. Failure analysis shows that the main failure factor of thermal recovery casing is the low cycle fatigue process caused by thermal cycle, which results in the decrease of strength of casing material, thus causing casing fracture and failure. Based on the failure analysis results, the low cycle fatigue tests of 80SH thermal recovery casing steel under different temperature, strain, pre-strain and other conditions were carried out. The influencing factors, life prediction model and criterion of service safety of casing materials under thermal recovery service conditions were first proposed, which provides a strong theoretical basis for the service safety design theory of thermal recovery casing materials. The research shows that the strain limit and low cycle fatigue life are the two core issues of service life. Life predictions need to satisfy two criteria. The first is the strain criterion. The strain limit should be lower than the total strain during the long service life. And the second is the low cycle fatigue criterion, which satisfies the expectation of low cycle fatigue life under double conditions of strain amplitude and mean strain.