MWE

The Bottomhole
Assembly (BHA)

1
The Bottomhole Assembly
(BHA)

g The Tubular Column

g The Slick BHA
g Single-Stabilizer BHA
g Two-Stabilizer BHA

2
 Fig. 8.120: Regular Drill
Pipe
Bottomhole Drillpipe
assemblies. Heavy Weight
Drillpipe

Bit weight - axial

Smaller Drill
force - affects ROP. Collars

Side force affects

inclination change Collars Collars

Bit
Roller Reamer

Slick BHA Bit

Multi-Component BHA
3
Fig. 8.120: Multi-
Component BHA
4
 Negative Side Fig. 8.121:
Force causes Example of
dropping bit tilt for a
tendency. pendulum
Bit Tilt causes BHA.
building tendency.
More WOB
increases bit tilt Negative Side Force
and reduces Angle between borehole
negative side centerline and centerline of
force. bit and BHA is called the bit
tilt angle
5 BHA
The curvature of the BHA is transmitted to the bit, causing some tilt and movement in the direction of the CL of the
 Bit Side Force

g All BHAs cause a side force at the bit

g This side force will make the bit
* build angle,
* hold angle,
* drop angle,
* turn to the right or
* turn to the left

6
 Fig. 8.122:
Typical slick
BHA drilling Outside Diameter
ahead at an of Drill Collar
inclination Inside Diameter
alpha (). of Drill Collar

The type and quantity of metal in the collars dictate the weight
of the collars and their elastic behavior (stiffness - EI)
7
 Fig. 8.123: Moment of inertia representation.

From the size and shape of the drill collars we can

determine Iyy, the axial moment of inertia, and Jz, the
polar moment of inertia.
Most components used in a BHA can be represented as
* a thick-walled cylinder or as
* a square column with a cylindrical hole in the center.
8
Fig. 8.123: Moment of inertia for Round Drill Collar

I yy =
2
y dA =

64
[d e
4
di
4
]
A

Jz = dA = 2 rdr
2 2
r r
A A
r2
r
4
= 2 r dr = 2
3
di
A 4 r1

Jz =

32
[d e
4
di
4
]
de
9
 Moment of Inertia

g The axial moment of inertia for a thick-

walled cylinder is expressed as follows

I=

64
[ 4
d e di
4
] (8.91)
(bending)

g The polar moment of inertia for the

cylinder,

[ ]
(8.92)
4 4
J= de di (twisting)
32
10
 Example 8.23

g Calculate the axial and polar moments

of inertia for a
* 6-in. round drill collar with a
2 3/16-in. ID
(I6 and J6 respectively) and
* for an 11-in. collar with a 3-in. ID
(I11 and J11 respectively).

11
 Solution to Example
8.23
I6 =
4
64
(
6 2.1875 = 62.5 in
4 4
)
J6 = 2(62.5 ) = 125.0 in 4

I11 =

64
(
11.0 3.0 = 715 in
4 4 4
)
J11 = 2(715 ) = 1,430 in 4
Note that increasing the OD from 6 to 11 in increased I by a factor of 11!
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Table 8.17: Typical Properties of Some
Common Alloys and Metals

Wide variation in density, strength, hardness and Youngs Modulus (E)

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A. 5.0 OD Mud Motor Tungsten
B. 6.5 OD Mud Motor
(E=51.49x106psi)
C. 7.75 OD Mud Motor
ID=2.5
15
Coefficient of Stiffness
Steel (E=29x106 psi)
ID=2.5
EI, 10 lbf-in2

10
9

5 Aluminum
(E=10x106 psi)
ID=2.5
0

Outside Diameter, in

Fig. 8.124: Drill-collar stiffness.

14
 Youngs Modulus, E
stress F/A FL
E= = =
strain L/L L A

E A L E A
F= = L = k x
L L
F=kx Hookes Law, with
k = spring constant and
x = extension
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Tangencies for slick and pendulum BHAs

Use of Stabilizer
increases the
tangency length

LT LT = Tangency Length
Wb = Axial Load, WOB
FP
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 Example 8.25
Buoyed Weight of DC
gDetermine the net weight of 45 steel drill
collars, each 10 * 3 1/16 * 31 .
Density of mud = 16 lb/gal
3
Density of steel = 490 lb/ft W B

= WAIR 1 MUD


STEEL
2 2
Wair = /4(10 - 3.0626 )(31/144) * 45 * 490
= 337,852 lbs
Wnet = 337,852 (1 - 16*7.48/490) = 255,300 lbs
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 Example 8.26
g Determine the negative side
force in a 9-lbm/gal mud, for a
slick BHA whose air weight is I
98.6 lbm/ft. Bit weight = 0.

g The wellbore is at an
inclination of 4 degrees and
length to the point of the LT

tangency (LT) is 25 ft.

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 Example 8.26
Side Force, (Eq. 8.94)
FP = - 0.5 WAIR LT (1-m/s) sin I

( 98.6 ) (25ft )
I
FP = 0 . 5 lbf/ft
9 lb/gal * 7.48gal/cu .ft
* 1 sin 4 o
489 lb/cu.ft

FP = 74.1 lbf LT
W
{ sin 4o = 0.0698 }
19 FP
 Axial
Load
Tangency
with No
Weight on
Bit

New Reduced
Tangency Length
No
Bending Bending
Force Force Reduced
Bit Direction Pendulum Force
Maximum New Bit
Pendulum Direction
Force

Fig. 8.126: Slick BHA without and with axial load.

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 Axial Load
Fig. 8.126:
Slick BHA
with axial load.
New Reduced
Tangency Length

l = (dH - dDC)/2 FP

With Bit Weight, the Side Force,

FP = - 0.5 WAIR LT (1-m/s) sin I
+ (PB - 0.5 WAIR LT (1-m/s) cos I) l / LT
Where PB = axial load on bit Eq. 8.95
From Timoshenkos method of Three Moment Equations 21
Find LT 24EI l
0.25

LT = (1)
W c B c (sin I ) x
3 (tanu u )
where x = (2)
u3
0.5
LT PC
and u = (3)
2 EI
Also, P C = P B 0.5 W C B C L T cos I (4)

Where PC = compressive load on collars

PB = axial load on bit

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 Steps to Determine LT
g 1. Guess value of LT
g 2. Calculate PC from Equation 4
g 3. Calculate u from Equation 3
g 4. Calculate x from Equation 2
g 5. Calculate LT from Equation 1 and
compare it with the assumed value
of LT

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 Table 8.18: Resulting Side Forces and
Tangency Length for Various WOB

FP FP

NOTE: Negative side force dropping tendency

Positive side force building tendency
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 Resultant Bit Side Force
Side force at the Bit (lb) with 525 lbs formation force
600

400

200 Bending Force - building force due to bit weight

0
Resultant Force
-200 with zero
Negative Side Force - due to 0.5WL sin I formation force

-400 0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Weight On Bit, 1000 lbs

Results of BHA calculation for slick BHA.
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Fig. 8.128: Tangency
Typical
single-
stabilizer
BHA.
What happens
Use of when the bit-
stabilizer to-stabilizer
increases LT distance is
changed?

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 50 40 30
0

-200
L1
60k
Side Force,lb.

-400
40k
-600 20k

-800
60 70 80 90 100
Distance From Bit To Stabilizer, ft

Fig. 8.129: Side Force vs. pendulum collar length;

12 I/4-in. hole, 8-in. collars, 10 1/2-lbm/gal mud;
10 degrees inclination.
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 40 30 BUILD
200

0 60K

40K
-200
Side Force, lb

20K DROP
-400

-600 L1

-800
50 60 70 80 90 100
Distance From Bit to Stabilizer, ft
Fig. 8.130: Side force vs. pendulum collar length; 12
I/4-in. hole, 6 1/2-in. collars, 10 1/2-lbm/gal mud, 10
degrees inclination.
With flimsier drill collars, bit weight can be high enough to overcome the pendulum28effect
 Fig. Tangency
8.131:
Typical L3 is
two- unknown.
stabilizer Must estimate
BHA. initially

Fig. 131 - Typical two-stabilizer BHA

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 -400

60
Side Force, lb

-500
60+30

-600 Effect of adding a stabilizer,

12 I/4-in. hole, 8-in. collars,
9-lbm/gal mud, 10 degrees
inclination.
-700
10 20 30 40 50 60
Weight on Bit, 1000 lb
Effect of adding second stabilizer is to increase the negative side force. WHY?
30
 90

70
50

30

Fig. 8.133A: Tangency between bit and

stabilizer resulting from pendulum length and
inclination; 9 7/8-in. hole, 6 3/4-in. collars, 8
degrees inclination, 30,000-lbf WOB.

Note that if the stabilizer is too far above the bit, the point of tangency can occur in 31
between
 Collar Size: 9 1/2 8 7 6

Side force
Side force = 814 lbf
= 3,343 lbf

Bit Size: 14 3/4 12 1/4 9 7/8 8 1/2

Tangency between bit and stabilizer; 90-ft. building
assembly, 10 degrees inclination, 30,000-lbf WOB.
With building assemblies, heavier drill collars provide a a higher positive side force.
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 Side Force: 855 962 1,002 lbf

70 ft

Bit Weight: 20,000 30,000 40,000 lbf

Fig. 8.133c: Tangency resulting from increasing

WOB; 8 1/2-in. hole, 6-in. collars, 10 degrees
inclination, 70 ft. tangency length.
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 Side force: -1.108 lbf -751 lbf

Rate of Build:
1 degree/100 ft

Fig. 8.134: Curvature and its effect on bit side

force; 12 1/4-in. hole, 9-in. collars, 30,000-lbf
WOB, 14 degrees constant inclination.
The curvature of the wellbore may also contribute to a bit-tilt effect . 34
 Directional Control
with Rotary Systems
FACTORS AFFECTING DIRECTIONAL DRILLING BEHAVIOR
Gage and placement of stabilizers
Stiffness and length of DCs
WOB, RPM, Flow and ROP
Bit type
Hole inclination and Geometry
Formation anisotropy and dip angle
Formation Hardness 35
THE END

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