SPE 94304
Casing Burst Strength After Casing Wear
J. Wu, ChevronTexaco, and M.G. Zhang, LGMZ Inc.
Copyright 2005, Society of Petroleum Engineers
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2005 SPE Production and Operations
Symposium held in Oklahoma City, OK, U.S.A., 17 19 April 2005.
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Abstract
Casing wear by drillstring results in a thinner portion of casing
wall and a reduction on casing burst strength (the ability to
hold internal pressure). How to estimate the reduced casing
burst strength on such a crescent-worn casing has been an
important issue in oil and gas industry, as it is directly related
to how to safely design casing strings. A common approach is
to estimate the reduction of casing burst strength of such worn
casing from API burst strength equation with a linear
reduction by the remaining wall thickness or the wear
percentage, equivalent to a uniform-worn casing model,
despite a question on whether such a linear reduction of casing
burst strength is over-conservative and may result in a higher
casing cost.
This paper presents a further study on hoop stress and
deformation of such a crescent-worn casing and discusses
the reduction of casing burst strength. The hoop stress in the
thinner portion of such a crescent-worn casing is found
close to that from a uniform-worn casing, when local
bending in the thinner portion of crescent-worn casing is
ignored. The reduction of burst strength of casing worn by
drillstring may still be estimated from casing yield or rupture
burst strength with a linear reduction by wear percentage for
sweet service well conditions, while more and non-linear
reduction of burst strength of casing worn by drillstring may
be needed for sour service well conditions, to prevent an
earlier casing burst on sulfide stress cracking.
Introduction
Casing wear by drillstring is an increasing problem for drilling
deep wells and/or extended-reach wells. Such casing wear
develops from a long time exposure of the casing to a rotating
drillstring in the drilling process, with large contact forces
between drillstring and casing when casing is bent (Fig. 1),
which results from setting casing in a dogleg well section or
due to casing buckling under large axial compressive load.
The casing burst strength (the ability to hold internal pressure)
will be reduced due to the wear of casing. The more wear on
casing the more reduction on casing burst strength. A hole
could even be worn out on a casing string resulting in a total
casing failure.
Figure 2 shows the measured and predicted casing wear on the
top 2500 m of 13 3/8 casing installed at 2508 meters MD at
an inclination of 68 degrees in Gullfaks Well A-42 at North
Sea.2 Casing wear was measured by an ultrasonic imager log
and the maximum wear was indicated about 35% of the casing
nominal wall thickness at 480 meters MD. The casing wear
was due to drilling and back-reaming the next open hole to
5334 MD, with high drillstring tension load and casing dogleg
severity of 2.9 degree per 30 m.
The reduction of casing burst strength on such worn casing
needs to be correctly estimated in order to do a safe casing
design, as well as to decide whether an additional casing needs
to be set to cover a worn casing before further drilling
operations. Although there have been some studies on
modeling worn casing burst strength,3, 4 a common approach is
still to use API burst strength with a linear reduction by the
remaining wall thickness or the wear percentage, despite a
question on whether the linear reduction on worn casing burst
strength is over-conservative and may result in a higher casing
cost. This paper is to present a further study on this issue and
discuss the reduced casing burst strength on such worn casing.
Casing Burst Strength
1. Casing without Wear
For a casing without wear and subjected to an internal
pressure (Pi) and external pressure (Po), as shown in Fig. 3a,
the induced casing hoop stress () can be expressed by the
Lame equation:5
pi ri 2 po ro2 ( pi po )ri 2 ro2 1
= + r = {ri , ro } (1)
ro2 ri 2 ro2 ri 2 r2
The casing hoop stress is a tensile stress on casing burst case
(high internal pressure), and it is higher at the casing inner
diameter fiber and lower at the casing outer diameter fiber, as
shown in a half-ring cut-off illustration (Fig. 3b). The higher
the internal pressure (Pi), the higher the tensile hoop stress ()
till the casing material yields. The casing hoop stress is also
always balancing with the casing internal and external
2 SPE 94304

pressures acting on the casing inner and outer diameter A slotted ring model is used to calculate the casing hoop
surfaces: stress increase in the remaining wall section of worn casing
ro
(Fig. 7), where W represents the casing wear depth. The loss
2(Pi ri Po ro ) = 2 dr (2)
of hoop stress plus the exposure of internal pressure on the
ri
worn-out wall portion of a worn casing, comparing with a
API (American Petroleum Institute) has adopted the Balow casing without wear, would be equivalent to a hoop force F:
equation to represent casing burst strength,6 with an
approximation of casing yield under internal pressure, and ri + w
called it as internal yield pressure (the maximum pressure (7)
differential of internal pressure minus external pressure to start
F= ( P + )dr
ri
i

at casing material yield): p i ri 2 p o ro2 ( p i p o )ri 2 ro2 w

2 y t F = pi w + w + * (8)
PAPI = 0.875 (3) ro2 ri 2 ro2 ri 2 ri (ri + w)
D
The factor of 0.875 in the above equation is to account for the
API pipe wall thickness tolerance of 12.5% less than the The casing hoop stress increase () in the remaining wall of
nominal wall thickness. It is seen that the thicker the casing worm casing is then calculated as:
wall (t) the higher the API casing burst strength. Fig. 4 shows
a casing burst sample from a previous casing burst test. 7 =
F (9)
(t w)
Other casing burst strength equations include initial yield burst
equation, the full-yield burst equation, and the casing rupture In fact, in addition to the hoop stress increase in the remaining
burst equation, from casing triaxial stresses analysis.7, 8 The wall of worn casing, there would also be an induced bending
initial yield burst equation is based on more accurate moment in the remaining wall to maintain a force-moment
derivation of casing initial yield at the casing inner diameter balance, as shown in Fig. 8. With ignoring casing deformation,
fiber. The full-yield burst equation is based on the casing yield this bending moment would be:
across the entire wall thickness. The casing rupture burst
equation is based on casing ductile tensile failure. Under the tw w Ft
M = (t w)(ro ) F (ri + ) = (10)
casing capped-ends condition (internal pressure will exert on
2 2 2
the closed casing ends and produce a tension load), they are This bending moment would produce a bending hoop stress in
written as (0.875 factor is included to account for the API pipe the remaining wall of worn casing, which is a tensile hoop
wall thickness tolerance of 12.5% less than the nominal wall stress at inner diameter location and compressive hoop stress
thickness): at outer diameter location:
2 y 2t t (4)
PIY = 0.875 1
3 D D ri + w+ ro
M(r )
2 3Ft(2r ro ri w)
2 y 2t t ,m = =
PFY = 0.875 (5) I (t w)3
1 +
3 D D r = {ri + w, ro } (11)
2 ult t (6)
PDR = 0.875
Dt By comparing with FEA modeling results of worn casing
stress, the worn casing hoop stress in the remaining wall
Figure 5 shows the calculated casing burst strengths for a 9 section can be finalized by including the two hoop stress
5/8 P-110 casing (casing material yield strength 110,000 psi, increases due to casing wear. A correlation factor of 0.65(1-
casing tensile strength 140,000 psi) of different wall thickness W/t) is also added to the bending hoop stress to account for
(equivalent to different casing weight) under casing capped- the effect of actual wear shape and worn casing deformation:
ends condition. They all demonstrate a linear or near-linear
reduction as the casing wall thickness (equivalent to different piri2 poro2 ( pi po )ri2ro2 1 F 1.95F(2r ro ri w)
casing weight) reduces. The API burst strength gives the ,w = + + +
lowest value among them. ro ri
2 2
ro ri
2 2
r t w
2
(t w)2
(12)
2. Casing with Wear r = {ri + w, ro }
For casing with wear by drillstring and subjected to internal
pressure (Fig. 5, only internal pressure is shown to represent
Figure 9 shows the calculated casing hoop stress (maximum,
the pressure differential of internal pressure minus external
average, and minimum) in the remaining wall section for a 9
pressure from now on), the casing hoop stress () on the 5/8 53.5# T-95 casing, from the above derived worn casing
remaining wall section of casing will increase, comparing with hoop stress equation (Eq. 12), under 1000 psi internal pressure
casing without wear (Fig. 6), in order to balance with the and zero external pressure, by comparing with FEA modeling
casing internal pressure acting on the casing inner diameter results. The maximum hoop stress is at the inner diameter
surface, as a result of the loss of hoop stress on the worn-out fiber of the remaining wall section, the minimum hoop stress
wall portion.
SPE 94304
is at the outer diameter fiber of the remaining wall section, and
the average hoop stress is at the middle of the remaining wall
section. The average and maximum hoop stresses increases as
the casing wear increases, but the minimum hoop stress
decreases as the casing wear increases due to bending.
Figure 10 shows a comparison of the derived maximum hoop
stress of the worm casing by drillstring with the maximum
hoop stress by a uniform wear model (calculated from
Equation 1, with new casing inner diameter = ri + w after
wear), on a 9 5/8 53.5# T-95 casing. It is shown that without
including the local bending stress the maximum hoop stress at
the remaining wall of worm casing by drillstring is almost the
same as the maximum hoop stress calculated by uniform-
worn model. With considering the local bending, the
maximum hoop stress at the remaining wall of worm casing
by drillstring can become very high for large casing wear
cases.
The Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is conducted to model 9
5/8, 53.5#, T-95 casing with wear by drillpipe tool-joint
(6.5/8 OD). The casing wear depth and wear angle are
calculated based on the wear percentage, as listed in Fig. 11.
Figure 12 shows the FEA modeling result on a 30% wear case
for 1000 psi casing internal pressure and zero external
pressure. The maximum hoop stress occurs at the inner
diameter fiber of the worn section is about 21,000 psi, and the
minimum hoop stress about 2,800 psi at the outer diameter
fiber of the worn section.
The worn casing deformation is also studied by FEA modeling
on the 9 5/8, 53.5#, T-95 worn casing. For a 50% wear casing
and under 1000 psi internal pressure and zero external
pressure, the original round shape of casing at zero internal
pressure will be deformed into a slightly oval shape as
shown in Fig. 13, due to a weaker worn section under higher
tension and bending loads (the shown deformation is 50 times
larger than actual for easy observation).
Based on the above analysis and derivation, the worn casing
burst strength could be defined when the casing yields or
ruptures in the remaining wall section of worn casing. The
worn casing yield burst strength can be determined through
the von Mises yield criterion for casing triaxial stresses
condition:
2, w + r2 + a2 2, w r2 2, w a2 r2 a2 = y (13)
When considering only casing hoop stress and 100% wall
thickness casing, the worn casing burst strength could be
calculated as follows.
1. Worn casing initial yield burst strength, when the maximum
hoop stress at the inner diameter fiber of the remaining wall of
worn casing reaches the casing material yield strength:
, w (r = ri + w) = y
3
2. Worn casing full yield burst strength, when the average
hoop stress in the middle of the remaining wall of worn casing
reaches the casing material yield strength:
ri + w + ro
,w r = (15)
=y
2
3. Worn casing ductile tensile rupture burst strength, when the
average hoop stress in the middle of the remaining wall of
worn casing reaches the casing material tensile strength:
ri + w + ro (16)
,w r = = ult
2
Figure 14 shows the calculated worn casing burst strength
from the above equations 14 to 16, for a 9 7/8 casing (actual
wall thickness 0.619, yield strength 134,880 psi, tensile
strength 155,185 psi,), comparing with the previously
published worn casing burst test data on the same casing.6 The
full yield and rupture burst strengths reduce linearly as casing
wear increases, but the initial yield burst strength reduces
more and non-linearly due to the local bending at the worn
section. The rupture burst strength is seen very close to the
previously published worn casing burst test data.6
Figure 15 shows the initial yield burst strength of the
crescent-worn casing by drillstring (with and without
considering the local bending at the worn casing section),
comparing with the initial yield burst strength from a
uniform-worn casing model (calculated from Equation 1,
with new casing inner diameter = ri + w after wear), and as
well as the API casing burst strength linearly-reduced by
casing wear (it is also a uniform wear model). It is seen that
the initial yield burst strength of crescent-worn casing
without considering the local bending is almost the same as
that from the uniform-worn casing model. The API burst
strength (87.5% min. wall) further reduced by linear reduction
(uniform-worn casing model) gives a safe prediction on
the initial yield burst strength of crescent-worn casing with
the local bending being considered on low casing wear
condition (about less than 20% wear).
Conclusions
1. Analytic and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) modeling is
conducted to develop a hoop stress equation for the
thinner portion of crescent-worn casing by drillstring,
which gives a hoop stress similar to that from a uniform-
worn model when local bending at the worn section is
ignored, but a higher max. hoop stress than that from a
uniform-worn model when local bending is considered.
2. Casing burst strength can be estimated by a linear
reduction starting from casing full-yield or rupture burst
strength by the wear percentage for casing worn by
drillstring under sweet service condition, which gives a
reduced casing burst strength higher than that from a
linear reduction starting from API burst strength.
3. For sour service condition, casing burst strength of worn
(14)
casing by drillstring may be reduced more by a non-linear
4 SPE 94304
reduction to prevent an earlier casing burst from sulfide
stress cracking.
4. The linear reduction starting from API burst strength
(87.5% min. wall) may be used to estimate the worn
casing burst strength under sour service condition, on low
wear conditions (about less than 20% wear).
5. Further study on the local bending at the worn section of
crescent-worn casing and the worn casing burst strength
under sour service condition may still be needed.
Nomenclature
D: casing outer diameter, in.
F: hoop force loss due to casing wear, lb
I: moment of inertia of worn section, in.4
M: bending moment at the worn section, lb-in.
r: casing radial coordinate, in.
ri: casing inner radius, in.
ro: casing outer radius, in.
PAPI: API burst strength, psi
PIY: casing initial burst strength, psi
PFY: casing full-yield burst strength, psi
PDR: casing rupture burst strength, psi
Pi: casing internal pressure, psi
Po: casing external pressure, psi
t: casing wall thickness, in.
w: casing wear depth, in.
a: casing axial stress, psi
r: casing radial stress, psi
: casing hoop stress, psi
,w: casing hoop stress at worn section, psi
y: casing material yield strength, psi
: casing hoop stress increase due to hoop force, psi
,m: casing hoop stress increase due to bending, psi
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank ChevronTexaco for permission to
publish this paper.
References
1. Maurer Engineering: Improved Casing and Riser Wear
Technology, DEA-42 Phase V Proposal, 1997.
2. M.H.steb, et al: Casing Wear in Horizontal Wells
Field Case Histories, IADC Well Control Conference,
1996
3. Song, J.S., et al: The Internal Oressure Capacity of
Crescent-Shaped Wear Casing, IADC/SPE 23902,
IADC/SPE Drilling Conference held in New Orleans,
Louisiana, February v1992
4. Klever, F.J. AND Stewart, G. : Analytical Burst Strength
Prediction of OCTG With and Without Defects, SPE
48329, SPE Applied Technology Workshop on Risk
Based Design of Well Casing and Tubing, May 1998.
5. Flugge, W.: Handbook of Engineering Mechanics,
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1962.
6. Bulletin on Formulas and Calculations for Casing,
Tubing, Drill Pipe, and Line Pipes Properties, API
Bulletin 5C3, Six Edition, American Petroleum Institute,
Washington, D.C., Oct. 1994.
7. Paslay, P.R., et al: Burst Pressure Prediction of Thin-
Walled, Ductile Tubulars Subjected to Axial Load, SPE
48327, SPE Applied Technology Workshop on Risk
Based Design of Well Casing and Tubing, May 1998.
8. Wu, Jiang: Casing Design Criteria, ChevronTexaco
Tech Memo 2002-#24, July 2002.
SPE 94304 5

Fig. 1 Casing wear by drillstring rotation.1

Fig. 2 Casing wear measurement and prediction example.2

Po Po

Pi
Pi
ro ri
ro ri

2 t = Pi Di
2 t = Pi Di

(a) (b)
Fig. 3 Casing hoop stress and internal pressure balance on casing without wear.
6 SPE 94304

Fig. 6 Casing burst sample.7

9 5/8" P-110 Casing Burst Strength

25000
API Burst
Casing burst strength, psi

20000 Initial-yield Burst

Full-yield Burst
Ductile Burst
15000

10000

5000

0
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
Casing wall thickness, in.

Fig. 4 Casing burst strengths for casing without wear.

(a) (b)

Fig. 5 Casing hoop stress balances with internal pressure on worn casing.
SPE 94304 9

(a) (b)
Fig. 6 Casing hoop stress balances with internal pressure on casing without wear.

w w F F

ri ro ri ro

Pi
= Pi
t t

Fig. 7 Casing wear slotted ring model on hoop stress pressure balance.

M M

w F F w F F

ri ro ro

ri
Pi Pi
t t

Fig. 8 Casing wear slotted ring model on force and moment balance.
8 SPE 94304

9 5/8 53.5# T-95 Casing Hoop Stress

40000
Max. analytic Max. FEA
35000 Mean analytic Mean FEA
Min. analytic Min. FEA
Casing Hoop Stress. psi 30000

25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
-5000
Casing Wear, %
Figure 9 Worn casing hoop stress in the remaining wall section.

9 5/8 53.5# T-95 Casing Hoop Stress

35000
Max. hoop stress w ith bending
Max. hoop stress w ithout bending
Casing Hoop Stress. psi

30000 Max. hopp stress, uniform w ear model

25000

20000

15000

10000

5000
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Casing Wear, %

Figure 10 Comparison of max. hoop stress.

9 5/8" 53.50#/ft, T-95 Casing Wear Modeling

Ro = 4.8125 (in.) Casing OD radius
Ri = 4.2675 (in.) Casing ID radius
t= 0.545 (in.) Casing wall thickness
Rt = 3.3125 (in.) Drillpipe tool-joint OD radius
Po (external pressure) =0

Casing A B C
Casing Wear Wear Depth Eccentricity Wear angle
(%) (in.) (in.) (deg.)
Pi (internal pressure) 0 0 0.955 0
Drillpipe tool-joint Ro 5 0.0273 0.982 23.77
10 0.0545 1.010 33.15
20 0.1090 1.064 45.62
30 0.1635 1.119 54.42
Ri B
C 40 0.2180 1.173 61.26
50 0.2725 1.228 66.82
60 0.3270 1.282 71.46
Rt
70 0.3815 1.337 75.41
80 0.4360 1.391 78.80
A 90 0.4905 1.446 81.76
100 0.5450 1.500 84.34

Figure 11 Worn casing geometry for FEA modeling.

SPE 94304 9

1 NODAL SOLUTION
APR 4 2004
STEP=1
13:36:50
SUB =10
TIME=1
S1 (AVG)
DMX =.004864
SMN =2809
SMX =21066

MX

MN

2809 6866 10923 14980 19037

4837 8895 12952 17009 21066

Figure 12 Worn casing stress from FEA modeling.

Fig. 13 Worn casing deformation under internal pressure.

9 7/8" Casing Burst Strength (0.619" wall, 134,880 psi yield

strength, 155,185 psi tensile strength)
23,000
Initial yield (100% wall)
Full yield (100% wall)
20,000 Rupture (100% wall)
Casing burst strength, psi

Shell burst test data (100% wall)

17,000

14,000

11,000

8,000

5,000
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Casing w ear, %

Fig. 14 Worn casing burst strength prediction and comparison.

10 SPE 94304

9 7/8" Casing Burst Strength (0.619" wall, 134,880 psi yield

strength, 155,185 psi tensile strength)
20,000
Initial yield (100% wall)
Initial yield (100%wall) without bending
17,000 Initial yield (100% wall) with uniform wear
Casing burst strength, psi
API burst, 87.5% min. wall
API burst, 100% wall
14,000

11,000

8,000

5,000
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Casing wear, %

Fig. 15 Worn casing initial yield burst strength comparison.