lADC/SPE Paper 39352
m w .
An Analysis of Failures in Coiled Tubing
Roderic K Stanley, Quality Tubing, Inc.
copyright 1S98, IADCISPE Drilling Conference
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 1698 lADC/SPE Drilling Conference held in
Dallas, Texas 3-8 March IW8,
This paper was selected for presentation by an lADCfSPE Program Committee follw’ng
rewew of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s), Contents of the
paper, as presented, have not been rtiewed by the International Association of Drilling
Contractors or the %Iety of Petroleum Engineers and are subjd to correction by the
author(s) The material, as presented, does not necessarily refld any position of the IADC or
SPE, their officers, or membrs. Papers presented at the lADc/SPE meetings are subject to
publication r~ew by Editorial Committees of the IADC and SPE, Electronic reproduction,
distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for commercial purpo=s without the written
consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineem is prohibited Permission to reproduce in print
is restilcted to an abstract of not more than 300 words, illustrations may not be copiti, The
abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was
presented, Write Librarian, SPE, PO Eax 833836, Richardson, ~ 7~3-383E, USA., fax
01 -972-9s2.9435
Abstract
This paper outlines and discusses failures in carbon steel
coiled tubing (CSCT), along with their causes, and proposes
methods for de-rating used coiled tubing that might be
applicable to an industry recommended practice.
Introduction
Quali& levels of carbon steel coiled tubing (CSCT) have
progressed to where the material will last considerably longer
than it did 10 years ago. This is partially due to increased
quality assurance of the product emergent from CT mills, and
partially due to user awareness regarding proper use and
operating limitsl. Although roughly 3200 strings of carbon
steel coiled tubing are produced per annum, and the growth
rate of the industry appears to be roughly 10°/0per annum,
acceptance of CSCT may have been limited by the fact that
the product has experienced failures in critical situations.
After sending CSCT ftilures out to commercial metal-
lurgical laboratories, the decision was made at Quality
Tubing Inc. to perform as many failure analyses in-house as
possible, in order to both develop a database of failures with
CSCT by working closer with the users, and to determine the
commonalities within such failures. We are also fortunate to
have access to the failure analyses performed by Halliburton
Energy Services which are also included within our database.
The results of this work are that used coiled tubing (UCT)
degrades by a variety of mechanisms, and eventually fails as
discussed below,
This paper presents the results of 3.0 years of analysis of
515
. . .
Society of Petroleum Engineers
130 in-service failures and customer evaluations, covering a
manufacturing period from 1992 to the present, and has
provided us with the impetus to develop procedures for care,
maintenance and inspection of in-service CSCT.
Prior to discussing case histories, an overview of the
quality levels associated with manufacturing is provided in
order to determine the general quality level of as-received
CSCT.
Quality Level of Manufactured Coiled Tubing.
New coiled tubing @CT) should meet the quality levels of
tensile strength, yield strength, hardness, wall fickness,
ovality, pressure containment, and freedom from imper-
fections as defined in API RP 5C72. and detected by proper
NDE procedures. Under this RP, wall thickness tolerances
are as shown in Table 1, and the finished tube is hydrostatic
tested to 80% of its specified minimum yield strength for at
least 15 minutes.
Table 1
Wall Thickness t Minus t Plus
<0.110” 0.005” 0.010”
>().1]0” 0.008” 0.012”
Out-of-roundness in new tubing is limited to* 0.010” on the
OD at regions away from flaw removal areas. Areas from
which flaws have been removed are also accounted fo~ 5C7
permits flaw removal to the tolerance of the wall thickness
(t~ti), and to various fractions of the specified wall thickness
upon customer agreement. (It has been found better to remove
small surface imperfections with a transverse component than
to leave them in the pipe surface where they can degrade
fatigue performance.) Other details regarding grades and
mechanical properties are given in Appendix A. Some
customers will permit flaws to be removed to levels such as
0.90t4, 0,875t, permitting strings to pass into service which
would othemise require a tube-to tube weld.
In order to understand the present situation with CSCT, we
must briefly trace the recent- history of the product. High
quality 45 deg. “bias” welds in flat strip prior to high-
frequency induction @I) weld milling into pipe have
2 STANLEY lADC/SPE

provided the basis for modem CSCT. The intervals between Current Testing (ET) or Magnetic Flux Leakage (MFL). Bias
bias welds can be as long as 3000 ft. By performing non- welds will now fatiwe-cvcle to 90% of that of the parent tube,
destmctive tests ~T) on the 45 deg. weld, and eliminating while butt-welds myght ~atigue-cycle to 25°A-40%‘i permitted
all imperfections to the sensitivity of the NDT equipment, the in the CSCT by the customer.
fatigue capability of the strip welds as determined by standard
fatigue machines has risen to a high fraction of that of the Tahla
. . . .. -7
virgin tube. Location Typical Flaws
To ~er assist with raising the fatigue life, continuously
tapered tubing is available. Figure 1 shows continuously Incom- Visual inspection at Laminations, pits, gouges,
tapered strip in which the change in wall thickness occurs ing strip rolling, after banding within the steel, low
over intervals as long as -2500 ft, and can be found from the strip. pickling, before oil- and high wall thickness,over
relations ing. UT and MFL/ ET width, under width.
codd be used.
t = tmm+ (AffAx)(x- x0!) or = tmw - (A~Ax)(x - X02) Eq. 1 Bias RT, MT. (PT and Inclusions, undertill, voids,
weld shear wave UT can cracks,sandingmarks.

1t
:: also be used).
:,. ::
::
HFI Saturated field ET. Folly or partially open seams,
: :
: :
!.

!,:.
Weld Shear wave UT could black spots, weld underfill,
be used on thicker spume, hook cracks.
~xnz
i x T ;%1;
walls afier trimming
Figure 1: True tapered strip Tube ET, MPL. MFL after Pits, gouges, low wall, high
body hydrotest is possible wall, out of round-ness,
where: overlaps, rolled in s~le.
x = length along the strip from the point where the Butt RT, PT. Shear wave Inclusions, undetilll, voids,
tapering starts, welds UT could be used cracks, excessive reinforce-
tmln = minimum strip thickness, ‘if any) ment.
(ma = maximum strip thickness,
(At/’&)= thickness gradient, which maybe in the region While the intent is to provide imperfection-free material,
of 0.001 in,/50 fi. general manufacturing processes for strip and pipe are still
Xol,XOJ = strip lengths prior to taper commencement. liable to leave small imperfections which are below the level
of sensitivi~ of the NDT equipment. Analyses of eddy current
In addition to mechanical and NDE compliance, shipping resdts over the past 2 years indicates that roughly 0.77
coiled tubing requires that it be protected from the elements indications occur per string inspected using a l/32nd and a
for long periods. This is accomplished by performing the 1/16 in. through drilled hole (TDH) standardization. This
following operations: indicates the high quality of the strip, and the cleadiness of
(a) Maintaining hydrostatic test fluid pH between 8 and 9, the HFI welding process.
and inhibiting the fluid against corrosion; then removing
the fluid with wiper balls. Imperfections in New Coiled Tubing
(b) Drying the ID of the tubing, and then back-filling with
dry nitrogen and maintaining it at a small positive Impetiections are somewhat ill-defined, and no listing cur-
pressure. This will eliminate as much oxygen as possible rently exists. However, phenomena that are outside published
from the ID during storage and transportation. manufacturing data, the requirements of API RP 5C7 and
(c) Coating the outside surface of the tubing with a purchasing specifications are considered as imperfections.
corrosion-resistant substance such as Cortec V-386TM. These include high and low wall, ovality, high hardness in
This is applied to a thickness of about 0.003 in. certain materials, surface imperfections, high flash, low yield
(d) Coating the inside of the tubing with a corrosion resistant and tensile strengths, and low elongation.
material. To the sensitivity of the inspection equipment, imper-
fections are removed from tie OD surface. Using a 1/32”
Overview of Manufacturing Inspections and Tests TDH reference standard, flaws as shallow as 0.003” are
detected, exceed the reference threshold for the ET or MFL
Table 1 provides a summa~ of typical manufacturing equipment used, and are removed.
inspections, all of which are standard techniques. These
include bias and tube-to-tube weld inspections by Radio- Bias Weld Flaws: ET units respond to changes in steel
graphic Testing (RT), Magnetic Particle Testing (MT) and permeabiliv (wvo) at the acute angled corners where the bias
Liquid Penetrant Testing (PT), and tube inspection by Eddy weld intersects the HFI weld; how this affects tube quality is

516
 –—.—

[ADC/SPE AN ANALYSIS OF FAILURES IN COILED TUBING 3

not yet known or understood. Failures have occurred on the
edge of the seam ann4ed/bias welded junction (Fig. 2).
One indirect method of evaluating the HFnbias weld inter-
sections is the signal they produce on ET inspection, although
no quantitative evaluation can at this point be given.
used coiled tubing, and often many types of imperfections
may occur in the same tube horn a variety of causes. These
are listed in table 3. The distinction between impetiections
and defective conditions in UCT has yet to be defined.
Imperfections include those which have been left in the
tube at manufacture, which are becoming less as internal
manufacturing quality increases, and service-induced imper-
fections. However, lest we suppose that imperfections in new
CT are responsible for many of the failures in used CT, it is
now found that the vast majority of failures in UCT are due to
the results of corrosion, erosion, tensile problems and service-
induced mechanid damage.
*. L,.
1 aule
*
o

Figure 2: Location of bias weld/seam anneal areas lmper- 1 Cause Detection Method
fection
Polishing of the bias weld is critical in order to remove Ovality Cycling, initial Ovality Eddy Currents
shallow sanding marks in a bias weld (Figure 3). Such Ballooning Pressure & cycling Eddy Currents
imperfections do not have to be perpendicdar to the tube ID Cor- HC1, KCI, COZ Magnetic Flux leakage
axis; slip planes atso occur at 45° to the axis. rosion pits ] Chromates I
OD Cor- ] HCI, KC1, C02 I Ma~etic Flux leakage
Tube: Out-of-roundness in excess of k 0.010” on the OD at rosion pits I Chromates
regions away from flaw removal areas. Splits I Lack of flash, pound- I Pressure loss, Eddy
ing the tube. - I Currents
Open Seams I Incomplete weld-line I Eddy Currents
1 tision I
Loss of YS I Crystal transformation I Eddv Currents
I in steel. /conductivity nunt.
Injector I Rotating pipe in I Flux Leakage
Rings injector
Gripper Too much pressure, Flux Leakage
marks damaged chains.
Erosion Rubbing tubing against Ma~etic Wall
(OD) tubing, casing, for- measurement
mation. Acid.
Erosion (ID) Cement, acid
Necking Force too large Eddy Cuxrents, msg.

Service induced flaws include the followinx:

Figure 3: Cracks resulting from course grain sandpaper when
finishing strip-bias welds.
The most serious problem, however, is that of leaving flaws
with a transverse component in new material. Such flaws
become not ordy areas of high fatigue, but also areas for onset
of corrosion. For these reasons, flaws should be removed and
fair contouring performed over at least 6“. API RP 5C7
requires the location of flaw removal areas to be reported to
the purchaser in order to assist in determining localized de-
rating.
Imperfections in Used Coiled Tubing (UCT)
The database indicates that a variety of problems occur with
(a) Ovality defined as 100% x pm- - Dfi]/Dnotial
above a fixed amount.
(b) Ballooning, which is caused by high pressure in
overworked tubing.
(c) Necking, caused by excessive tensile force during
use; this is often made worse by any prior lowering
of the tensile strength.
(d) Corrosion on either surface, which is caused by
acid, sea-water.
(e) Erosion on either surface, which can be caused by
fluid flow, including acid.
(Q Splits, which result from high pressure, corrosion
and pounding, in various combinations.
(g) Injection damage, in which transverse marks, or
longitudinal gouges are placed in the OD of the tube.

517
 .—— .——. ———

4 STANLEY IADCISPE

(h) Wear against the well or casing, which includes
wear caused from buckling.
(i) Strain softening problems which manifest them-
selves through loss of yield strength, and which are
currently impossible to measure without cutting the
tube. This tiects collapse resistance.
The most serious problems induced in UCT are however,
(like tiose in NCT), created by relatively sharp bottomed
transversely oriented imperfections from which fatigue cracks
may initiate during tensile or bend cycling,
Used Coiled Tubing Assessment Today
As examples, figure 4 shows such data for 1.75 in. OD x
0.109 in, wall CT-70, CT-SO, and QT-1OOOtubing qcled to
failure and figure 5 shows fatigue data for 1.75 in. OD x
0.109 in. wall QT-1OOO. Each data point is the average of 5
cyclings. Such data are also nseti in permitting tubing to be
cycled to given fractions of the failure cycle number, so that
the effect on the diameter of the tubing can be obsemed. The
general shape of the pressure data can now be explained in
terms of an updated theory of elongation.
FATIGUE TESTING COILED TUBING 1.760” X
0.109” QT-1000 VS CT-80 VS CT-70 WITH
INCREASING PRESSURE

Until recently, CSCT has been used often without either the
belief that it can degrade relatively quickly in certain
circumstances, or with any method of monitoring its true
degradation. In some cases, degradation is calculated from
one of a variety of computer programmed that predict accum-
ulated fatigue, and estimate the number of cycles at which the
tubing will fail. Our experience is summarized in the question
“why did the pipe fail at only 28°/0 of its rated life?” In
reality, the answer is that the failure location was at 100°/0of
its life, but at a few inches away from the failure location, the ct70 GRADE
consumed life might well be ordy 28Y0. Well operators are
therefore currently requiring removal of UCT after X7. (X <
100) of calculated fatigue life has been useds. In others, Figure 4: Fatigue-cycles-to-failure at 3,4,5 kpsi for CT-70, CT-
tubing is withdrawn after specified numbers of running feet. 80 & QT-1000. (D = 1.750 in, t = 0.109 in. )
Such derating methods are ofien location-dependent.
With this predictive approach, it is difficult for such prog-
FATIGUE TESTING QT-1000 COILED TUBING
rammed to take into account the general wear-and-tear on CT 1.75” x 0.109” VARIATION WITH INTERNAL
during its lifetime, just as it is for the parallel problem in PRESSURE
assessing the life of used drill pipe. Being predictive and
based on specified new coiled tubing dimensions and physical
properties, such programmed, while being of some value in
deter-mining which grade and wall thickness to purchase for
specific applications, dl suffer from their inability to account
for localized imperfections, and therefore generally can not
deternune how long CSCT will last in real-life situations.
In other more recent casesG,NDE devices are being used to
assess UCT. Such devices represent an alternate approach
that can ultimately integrate the results of theoretical down-
grading or life predictions when the two methods are com-
bined. Table 3 gives the methods used for the particular
problems encountered. INTERNAL PRESSURE IN PSI

Figure 5: Fatigue cycling data for 1.75” x 0.109” QT-1000

Fatigue Cycling of New Coiled Tubing
CSCT with internal pressure from O-10,000 psi.

One result from a Joint Industry Project (JIP) was the
production of standard fatigue testing machines that could be
used in CT design. In these tnachines, CT is fatigue cycling
over a 48 or 72” radius at various internal pressures up to 10
kpsi. Information is now available for virgin tube, bias welds,
tube-tube welds, sections from which flaws have been
removed, and used tubing.
Some conclusions that can be drawn from cycle testing of new
CSCT under controlled conditions areas follows:
(a) In otherwise prime tube, failure generally starts from the
inner surface Ioeated against the bend radius. Working
tubing over a similar radius during well servicing
operations is a similar, but not identical process, and can
be expected to lead to similar results. A fatigue crack

518
lADC/SPE AN ANALYSIS OF FAILURES IN COILED TUBING
initiates at the ilmer surface and propagates through the
wall.
(b) If transverse flaws exist in otherwise prime tube, the
ability to cycle is restricted by the flaw, depending upon
its size and tip radius. With transverse flaws on the OD,
a crack may propagate from the OD to the ID. This
suggests removing flaws on the OD detected by NDE
during the xnanufacture of ncw CSCT.
(c) Resistance to fatigue decreases with increasing outer
diameter, and increases with increasing tensile properties
and wall thickness, as can be seen from Figure 4.
Such information is useful in determining which grades
and wall thicknesses to use for specific jobs, However, field
experience has determined that other failure triodes, such as
corrosion often dominate the life of UCT.
Overview of Coiled Tubing Failures for the Past 3.0
Years
The following information is taken from failure analyses
conducted over the past 3.0 years, from mid- 19948 to mid
1997. The data cover failures reported in USA, the Middle
East, the North Sea, Canada and Alaska. No attempt has
been made to separate failures by region. The number of un-
reported CT failures is not known. In many cases, the pipe
was manufactured WCIIbefore the stated period in which the
analyses were performed.
Figure 6 shows a frequeney bar-chart of the failure data-
base, indicating that 51 can be attributed to corrosion, 43 to
damage caused by the operator at the rig, 18 to problems in
mamdacturing, 6 to working the pipe in the well, 3 to poor
field welds, and one to brittleness induced by very low
temperatures.
It must be noted however, that it is often difficult to
definitively class any particular failure into distinct categ-
ories, since they often represent an accumulation of damage
that has been incurred on prior jobs which might not initially
have any apparent bearing on the job on which the failure
actually takes place, Unlike, for example used drill pipe or
used oil-field tubingq, where NDE methods have been used
for many years to dcrate these products based upon remaining
wall and the prcscncc of fatigue crackingl”, this type of de-
rating is not currently performed for UCT since UCT
inspection is in its infancy’ l’ls.
In general, in the cases attributed to corrosion, some of the
failures could also have been attributed to fatigue, i.e. the tube
either split or pulled apart after corrosion had reduced the
wall thickness to a value where a tensile force that was
thought to be below the tensile strength was used while it was
actually above it. Until the advent of UCT NDE the operator
of the tubing had no way of determining this wall loss.
Many cases of corrosion occurred for wall loss due to surface
pitting caused from using HC1 through the tubing, or CO1 in
production. or to ID attack from the sea water/o.Wgen com-
519
5
bination found in UCT stored on offshore rigs or at onshore
locations such as Aberdeen, Scotland. These forms of cor-
rosion could have been detected during a planned NDE
programme.
COILED TUBING FAILURES MID 94-MID 97
ROSION DAMAGE PROBLEM WELD
Figure 6: Chart of CT Failure causes.
In cases attributed to field/rig damage, some form of
damage occurred on the pipe surface, caused by the operation
of the coiled tubing rig. This damage could also have been
detected during planned NDE.
In the cases attributed to wear and erosion, material was
worn from the tube surface due to working the pipe in
deviated wells and eroding sections from the pipe surface.
Again, this could have been detected during planned NDE so
long as all the wear/erosion did not all occur in the last well.
The small number of field weld failures indicates that they
are probably not reported because the indust~ has historically
expected that uncontrolled field welds are prone to failure.
One failure has been attributed brittleness associated with
low temperature storage.
Case Histories of Field Failures
Case 1: Aberdeen: The bias weld of an older string
developed a crack at 45 deg. to the tube axis during cycling
over the guide-arch. Microscopic examination revealed that
the roots of belt sanding marks (Figure 3) had acted as stress
risers.
Case 2: Prudhoe Bay: Pits (Figure 7a) of depth - l/16th
in. were found only on the OD surface 600 ft. from the bottom
end on one side of 2.00 in. CT-80. The owner reported
150,000 running feet (RF) and a bottom-hole temperature
(BHT) of 210°F. KC1 had been pumped. Figure 7b (SEM
record) shows sharp-edged OD pits at 18x. Analysis of cor-
rosion deposits (shown in table 4) indicates high chloride
content from formation water, saltwater or Flo-Pro. In this
case, NDE might have resulted in the removal of the corroded
end of the pipe.
6 STANLEY lADC/SPE

Table 4: SEM analysis of material at surface of pit. According to API Bd 5C313, the collapse pressure for
round CT-80 tubing is 8010 psi and that for 3,6Y0oval CT-70
\ Mg 1 Al [ Si s
[ 1 cl 1 K grade (lowered YS is 69 kpsi in Table 5) is 3,460 psi at zero
1.12% 1.08V0 12.25% 0.45V0 1.73% 2.18% yield load. With an estimated load factor close to the top of
Cal Til Cr\Mn [Fe I the tubing of L/LY= 0.50 on the tubing, and an estimated 30-
11.03% ().gs~o 1.52% ().sg~o 67. 10VO 40% utilization for the CT (i.e. it was considered to be this far
along its useful life), the above values must be mtitiplied by a
(a) Collapse Pressure Safety Factor (K) of 0.34. Thus the pipe
could be expected to collapse at half the yield strength
loading with a pressure differential between the ID and OD of
the coiled tubing of ody 1180 psi. The pressure at collapse
was not known, but this example does illustrate the combined
effect of both yield strength lowering and ovality on collapse
resistance. This is a good r~son to m~sure ovality and
remove ovalled sections, especially since the section below
the collapsed region was well within new pipe physical
spectilcations.
Case 4: Louisianm Two transverse cracks were found in
the HFI weld at -3000 ft. from the end, after 300,000 RF
(Figure 8). Wet fluorescent MT revealed ~er transverse
cracks in the ID flash. Here the flash met the manufacturing
(’b) spec~lcation but exhibited unevenness in its crown. The
. ..- —--- cracks_..were found to be in the low spots or at transition points
—.——
in the flash, which act as stress risers in bendng. This
cracking is accentuated when the flash crown is harder than
the tube wall. .

. —..-—.

Figure 7: (a) OD acid pitting and (b) SEM of contents of pit.

Case 3: Oklahoma: 3000 ft. of 1.75 x 0.109 in. CT-80

collapsed in a section close to the top of the well. Relevant

Table 5: Physical Data for collapsed CT-80 tube Figure 8: Transverse cracks in ID flash

Sample OD (in) YS (psi) TS (psi) Case 5: Red Dee~ A 2.00” CT-80 string failed in a
Uphole 1.703-1.766 69,000 92.000 O.118“ -0.134” tapered section by transverse fatigue cracking
Downhole 1.743 82.500 92,100 at about 6800 ft. The crack was 45 deg from the ~1 seam.
The string had 283,000 RF and exhibited OD variation from
data taken from samples immediately above and below the 2.04 in. to 1.99 in. i.e. 2.7% ovality. Tensiles in the vicinity
collapse are shown in Table 5, The material from above the of the crack are given in table 6. The YS has lowered due to
collapsed section exhibited low yield strength (69,000 psi)
and had necked and gone oval by 3.6% although no wall had Table 6: Physical data for case 5.
been lost. Here. the Bauschinger strain-softening effect has
lowered the YS, probably due to cycling over the goose-neck. Property Nw Specified Measured
The TS has not fallen, and the material immediately below Yield Strength 88.5 > 80.() 75.5
the collapse still retains new-pipe properties, and is, in fact, Tensile Strength 94.0 > 90.() 93.5
within new pipe specifications. Elongation 32.0 > 26°/0 20.0

520
 lADC/SPE AN ANALYSIS OF FAILURES IN COILED TUBING
strain softening, while the TS has remained at its original
value. The elongation has fallen, as commonly occurs. Micro-
scopic evaluation indicated that local sections had been
transversely damaged to a depth of roughly 0.005 in. by
slipping gripper blocks. The crack initiated from one such
mark. The hardness around the damage is in the vicinity of
HRC 39, while in undamaged material it remained as HRC
22. High hardness in the vicinity of OD damage from metal-
to-metal contact is quite common on UCT.
Case 6: Red Deer: Deep internal corrosion pitting (Figure 9)
occurred in CT-80 after only 4 jobs, with 56,000 RF.
Figure 9: Internal corrosion pitting in CT-80 possibly due to
water inside the string between jobs. The photograph is of the
IS surface.
This possibly occurred because of water lying in the bottom of
the tubing wraps creating isolated corrosion cells which then
become increasingly more acidic. This illustrates that
nitrogen may not always be effective in removing internal
fluids, and flushing with an alkaline solution and drying is
recommended soon after performing acidizing jobs.
Case 7: Aberdeen: 1 1.75 in. x 0.124” CT-70 string was
reported to have failed at 20°/0of rated life, Two transverse
fatigue cracks were found. ODS in the area of the cracks
ranged from 1.740 in. to 1.752 in. while wall thicknesses
ranged from 0.123 in. to 0.139 in. YS was 64-66 kpsi, while
TS remained at 80 kpsi. Hardness ranged from 91-96 HRB.
&alysis shows that one crack originated at an uneven area in
the ID flash crown, which was harder than the rest of the
flash column and the tube wall. The second crack (Figure 10)
521
7
Figure 10: Photograph taken under ultraviolet light of a
transverse crack penetrating to the ID of CT-70 tubing. The
large while area is reflection from wet magnetic particle fluid.
originated in mechanical damage on the tube OD.
Generalities Apparent from Failures
1. The use of predictive fatigue programmed is often not
effective in determining when coiled tubing will fail, probably
due to the effects of corrosion, wear, and damage on the
tubing, and remaining manufacturing imperfections.
2. Corrosion shodd not be permitted to start, or be arrested
as soon as possible after it starts, and measures should be
taken to protect the pipe from corrosion between jobs. Since
both external and internal surface corrosion can readily be
detected by NDE, the tube shodd be inspected at regular
intervals, and the effects of corrosion monitored.
3. Mechanical damage, including ovalling, reduces the life of
tubing, NDE again is essential for detecting such damage,
and removing those imperfections which are capable of
initiating premature failure, represents one method for
prolonging UCT life.
4. There is little room for loss of wall thickness, as there is
with other API tubulars, although it has been found that small
areas of flaw removal can be beneficial to the cycling
properties of the tube. For example, studies of the removal of
real and simulated imperfections indicates that there is much
to be gained by taking them out in a controlled manner. and
fair-contouring the flaw removal area. The loss of cross-
sectional area when performing this operation should be vew
small.
5. Sections of coiled tubing yield strength should be derated ,
by a fraction yet to be determined, perhaps as high as 10% of
the YS, after the first few cycles over the gooseneck. The
justification for this is that the Bauschinger effect is thought
to lower the YS to an asymptotic value in the first few cycles.
6. Controlled derating of coiled tubing in relation to ovality
and surface flaws is essential.
 —

8 STANLEY lADC/SPE

Suggestions for Derating Coiled Tubing API Designations for Coiled Tubing Work Strings

1. Mte all coiled tubing for 2% ovality after the first job CT-55 CT-70 CT-SO CT-90
and avoid cycling areas where the ovality exceeds 2°/0.
Min. YSfkpsi 55 70 80 90
(One CT technical catalogue’s suggests end users derate
all CT to 2% ovality immediately upon receipt). Min. TSlkpsi 65 80 90 100
2. Monitor the \vall thickness and ovality of coiled tubing Max. HRC 22 22 22 22
with an appropriate NDE device, and use in less stringent Source:API RP 5C7
service when 10VOof the wall has been removed by
erosion or light pitting. Company Designations for Coiled Tubing Work Strings
3. Monitor the outer surface for mechanical damage and
remove this with files or sandpaper to a level such that Grade Min YS Min TS Max HRC Elongation
90°Aof the specified wall remains,
QT-1OOO 100 110 28 8oooooA0”2m9
Nomenclature Source: http:\\www.qualitytubing.com

API American Petroleum Institute References

BHT Bottom hole temperature
CSCT Carbon steel coiled tubing 1. Proc. Coiled Tubing Development Plan, Bergen, Norway,
CT Coiled Tubing November 1996.
ET Eddy current testing 2. API Recommended Practice for Coiled Tubing Operations W
HFI High frequency induction 5C7, First Ed, Jan 1997, pub,, American Petroleum Institute,
Washington DC.
ID Inner diameter
3. “Nondestructive Evaluation of New Coiled Tubing and Pipe,”
NCT New coiled tubing Stanley R. K. Proceedings Energy Week 1996.
NDE Nondestructive Evaluation 4. Specl~cation for Coiled Tubing TPT-I 7-SF-01 Rev 3, Trans-
~L Magnetic Flux Leakage ocean Petroleum Technology, Aberdeen, UK.
MT Magnetic Particle Testing 5. “Calculate Coiled Tubing Failure in Real Time Us@g Com-
OD Outer diameter puter Software,”” Brown, ‘P., Proc. 3’d htl. Conf. On Coiled
RF Running feet Tubing Operations. Mar. 13-16, 1995, Houston, Tx, Gulf
RT Radiographic testing Publishing.
SEM Scanning Electron Microscope 6. “An Overview ‘of the Nondestructive Inspection Techniques
TDH Evaluation for Coiled Tubing and Pipe,” Stanley R. K.,
Through-drilled hole
Materials Evaluation 54 (11), November 1996, pp. 1245-1250,
TS Tensile Strength
“Au Overview of the Nondestructive Inspection Techniques for
UCT Used coiled tubing Coiled Tubing,” Proc. International Coiled Tubing Association
WFM-PI Wet Fluorescent Magnetic Particle Inspection Mtg., Aberdeen, UK Sept. 1996.
WL Weld line 7. “Low Cycle Fatigue Testing of Coiled Tubing, “ Tipton, S. M.,
Ys Yield Strength Proceedings 5ti Intl. Cod. On Coiled Tubing & Well
Intervention, Houston, Feb 4-6, 1997, pub. Gulf Publishing.
K Collapse Pressure Safety Factor 8. “Failures in Coiled Tubing/ Stanley R, K., Proc. 5ti Intl.
L Load on coiled tubing Confl On Coiled Tubing& Well Intervention, Houston, Feb 4-
LY Yield Load on coiled tubing 6, 1997, pub. Gulf Publishing.
D Speciticd outer diameter of coiled tubing 9, “Advanced Electromagnetic Tubular Inspection During Well
Dlnax Maximum measured diameter of UCT Servicing,” Stanley, R. K., Proc. 13* World Conference on
Nondestructive Testing, Sao Paolo, Brazil, Oct. 1992.
Dmm Mimmum measured diameter of UCT
10. API Recommended Practice RP7G, “Drill Stem Operating
DnorrlmalSpecified diameter of CT
Limits”, pub. API, Washington DC.
11. “The Inspection of Used Coiled Tubing,” Papadimitriou, S &
Appendix A: Standardization of Coiled Tubing R. K. Stanley, Proc. 2“d Intl. Coti. On Coiled Tubing
Operations, Houston, Mar 1994, pub, Gulf Publ.
Standardization of CSCT occurred with the introduction of 12. “Progress in On- and Offshore Coiled Tubing Inspection and
API Recommended Practice RP 5C7Z. In this document, Monitoring,” Rosen, P, 5ti Intl. Cod. On Coiled Tubing &
physical parameters are listed for grades from CT-55 through Well Intervention, Houston, Feb 4-6, 1997, pub, Gulf
CT-70. CT-SO to CT-90. Other specialty grades such as QT- Publishing.
13, Coiled Tubing Technical Catalogue, pub. Quality Tubing Inc.,
100013have evol~’ed in order to ‘provide ‘for longer reaches
Houston, Tx, USA May 1997. Section 6, p3, calculated horn
into deeper >vells.
API Bul 5C3. (See http/www. qualitytubing.tom) on intemet.

522