Dynamics of the System Drilling Riser–BOP–Well Casing—Wellhead Casing Fatigue Analysis

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents a fully coupled solution in the time-domain, using the finite-differences method to the system of equations that model the dynamic behavior of the riser, blow-out preventer (BOP), and casing strings, when connected for well drilling/completion—the model is suitable to evaluate wellhead fatigue, even when the amplitude of oscillation and accelerations of the BOP are high. Sensibility analysis is used to show the effect of changing the Riser Top Tension to the resulting maximum values of wellhead bending moment and casing stress ranges. For the case where the rig is oscillating around a fixed position and there is no current, using a regular wave, the results show that there are some wave periods for which an increase in the Riser Top Tension reduces the maximum wellhead bending moment and the max casing stress range, therefore increasing fatigue life of the casing and wellhead. The effects of varying the weight of the BOP and soil parameters and the effect of the phase difference between the wave and first-order vessel motion are analyzed. The proposed solution can also be used to perform riser and casing analysis during drift-off/drive-off.