Design and process plan of hydroforming casing patch using virtual manufacturing method

Abstract

Virtual manufacturing is a new technology implementing the virtual reality of simulation of a manufacturing process. This virtual technology of manufacturing can minimize the risk of manufacture failures because the parameters of a process can be determined precisely before the real manufacturing process. This technology is suitable to be implemented in the process planning of high-risk patching such as hydroforming tubular metal patch processing in an oil and gas well. In this paper, the Hydroforming of Casing Patch (HCP) is used for replacing a conventional method of casing patch repair using a cementing base technique (cement squish). The HCP process is a method for forming or fixing a tube by providing a pressurized fluid into a tubular tube so that it has the same form as the outer casing. The analysis process starts with calculating the dimension of HCP and then generating the 3D model of HCP as an input for simulation. Furthermore, the 3D model of HCP is verified by using the virtual manufacturing method. The virtual manufacturing simulates the 3D model casing patch forming process in real time with a set of parameters. After the casing patch model is verified, a prototype is built to validate it. According to the virtual manufacturing result, the Inside Diameter (ID) of HCP is 0.37 % lower than the calculation result and the thickness of HCP from the virtual manufacturing result is 4.29 % higher than the calculation result. The results prove that the HCP design was verified. In addition, the experiment proves that the prototype can resist the pressure of transient loads from 20.01 liters of water from 0 to 23.79 MPa for 18 minutes without damage. Therefore, the design of HCP dimensions and its process planning are valid.