Finite-Element Studies of Near-Wellbore
Region During Cementing Operations:
Part I
K.E. Gray, SPE, E. Podnos, and E. Becker, University of Texas at Austin
Summary
A wellbore cement sheath is expected to provide zonal isolation
and borehole integrity during well construction and well life.
Mechanical interactions of the cement sheath to existing and
operationally induced stresses, along with other elements in pro-
ximity to the wellbore, have increasingly large technical, econo-
mic, and environmental ramifications.
Staged-finite-element procedures during well construction
consider sequentially the stress states and displacements at and
near the wellbore. The model replicates complicated stress states
arising from simultaneous action of far-field stresses, overburden
pressure, cement hardening and shrinkage, debonding at the inter-
faces, and plastic flow of cement sheath and rock formation. At
present, temperature, flow, and poroelasticity effects are not
included. The technique tracks the time-dependent behavior of
cement slurry, curing (with or without shrinkage), and hardened
cement during the critical period after slurry placement.
Material models for casing, cement, and rock formation and
failure criteria for cement, formation, and interface bonds were
calibrated using published information and experimental data.
Calculations were conducted for various loading and unloading
scenarios, geometric configurations, properties of rock forma-
tions, and cement-slurry formulations. Results are discussed in
terms of field implication;, for example: (1) Interface microchan-
nels may or may not develop, depending upon shrinkage magni-
tudes; and (2) simplifying modeling assumptions that are often
used, such as 2D stresses and/or deformations, may obscure criti-
cal casing, cement, and formation behavior in the wellbore region
and in the producing horizon.
This paper, part of a series quantifying the interacting physical
components and processes at and near the wellbore region, initiates
useful comparisons of analytical results and field realities. The ser-
ies illustrates and compares results and practical implications from
simple to increasingly complex, but more realistic, assumptions,
such as isotropic/directional-stress states and isotropic/anisotropic
casing, cement, and formation-material parameters.
Introduction
During well construction and subsequent wellbore, near-wellbore,
and reservoir operations, several physical elements at and in the
vicinity of the wellbore interact in response to downhole pro-
cesses and events. The life of any well—both its longevity and
its productivity—reflects an integration of the various processes
and events that have occurred during drilling, completion, and
production operations.
Fig. 1 illustrates important interacting components that have
physically and operationally coupled behaviors. From the inner-
most surface outward, the components are casing, cement (per-
haps with some mud or gas channels), mudcake on all or part of the
formation face, a “plastic zone” (which may be unconsolidated
sand or rock under such elevated stresses that it behaves inelasti-
cally), and finally, a main rock formation, which is assumed
to exhibit elastic behavior (linear or nonlinear). The casing may
Copyright ã 2009 Society of Petroleum Engineers
This paper (SPE 106998) was accepted for presentation at the Production and Operations
Symposium, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 31 March–3 April 2007, and revised for publication.
Original manuscript received for review 2 February 2007. Revised manuscript received for
review 2 April 2008. Paper peer approved 28 April 2008.
March 2009 SPE Drilling & Completion
or may not be centered in the wellbore, such as, for example,
casing lying on the low side of the hole in an inclined well.
At the inside boundary, conditions are well known. Pressures
inside the casing are readily measured, and the mechanical beha-
vior of the casing is well documented. From the casing/cement
interface outward through the cement, mudcake, plastic zone, and
formation, the stresses, displacements, fluid transport, and other
behavioral features often are not known. Very little information
is available for quantifying interactions between and among
the several components. Outer interface stresses, displacements,
fluid-transport parameters, and coupling conditions change con-
tinuously as the formation pore pressure changes with fluid pro-
duction or injection. These 3D and time-dependent changes are
manifested through all of the system components, interfaces, and
component couplings or interactions.
The cement sheath is the heart of any oil or gas well. It is
expected to provide mechanical support to the casing string in
general; but in particular, the cement sheath should provide both
mechanical and hydraulic isolation for all production horizons
during well construction and for the operational life of the well
(life-of-well). Cement sheaths interact mechanically with other
physical elements in the wellbore region in response to pre-
existing stresses from geological processes and to stressed from
operational activities. Quantifying these interacting physical
components and processes has technical, economic, and environ-
mental implications of great and growing significance.
This paper is part of a series to quantify behaviorally coupled
physical components and processes at, and in close proximity
to, the well bore. Comparisons are made of analytical results
and field implications from simple to increasingly more realistic
and complex assumptions (i.e., isotropic/directional-stress states;
isotropic/anisotropic casing, cement, and formation material
parameters; stress and temperature cycling; time-dependent para-
meters; rock-mechanics/cement-testing standards; static and
dynamic poroelasticity; and quantitative results and methods
using analytical and numerical simulators).
Literature Review
The literature concerned with long-term mechanical durability of
the wellbore cement sheath can be classified into two groups:
(1) studies that use experimental techniques in the laboratory to
understand the behavior of the cement in the wellbore and
(2) those that use modeling methods to gain this understanding.
Of course, there is no clear separation between these two
approaches—the demanding loading and temperature conditions
created in the laboratory are based on analytical and computa-
tional predictions of the wellbore stress state. The models need
realistic, experimentally measured material properties of the for-
mation, slurry, cement, and casing.
Some modeling approaches are based on simplifying
assumptions that allow for an analytical solution. For example,
assumptions of linear elasticity and axisymmetric geometry and
loading allow one to employ Lamé’s solution for a cylinder
under pressure, or assumptions of linear elasticity and plane
stress condition allow one to use Kirsch’s solution for an infi-
nite plane with a circular hole (Obert and Duvall 1967). How-
ever, increasingly, the modeling approach involves extensive
use of computational techniques such as finite-element meth-
ods. This allows one to incorporate the mathematical theories
127

Fig. 1—Physically interacting components during well con-
struction (from Life-of-Well Rock, Fluid, and Stress Systems,
University of Texas at Austin, April 21, 2006).
of solid mechanics such as elasticity, plasticity, poroelasticity,
viscoelasticity, and sophisticated constitutive models and fail-
ure theories of wellbore components, which are calibrated on
the basis of experimental data. In contrast to an analytical
approach where the accuracy of the solution is by and large
limited by validity and applicability of the underlying assump-
tions, the accuracy of a carefully developed computational
model is limited by accessibility of experimental data and
availability of computational resources. Because most compo-
nents in a wellbore exhibit strong nonlinearity and history
dependence, the stress- and thermal-loading history during all
stages of a wellbore life should be taken into account.
Most of the experimental research is concerned with the mea-
surement and improvement of cement mechanical properties such
as elastic moduli, coefficient of thermal expansion, fracture
strength, and bulk shrinkage and expansion properties. James and
Boukhelifa (2008) emphasize the importance of consistent mate-
rial properties to be used in computational models concerned with
long-term mechanical durability of the cement sheath.
For the aims of the present study, which is concerned with
cement-sheath integrity during life-of-well—and in particular,
with the modeling of the cement-sheath behavior during slurry
setting and hardening—cement shrinkage and tensile-strength
properties are of extreme importance.
The work of API TR 10TR2 (1997), Baumgarte et al. (1999),
Parcevaux and Sault (1984), Chenevert and Shrestha (1991),
Backe et al. (1997), Chenevert and Jin (1989), and Sabins and
Sutton (1991) report bulk shrinkage of slurry as a function of
cement brand, chemical composition, neatness of slurry, and
environmental conditions such as temperature and availability of
free water. The authors discuss various mechanisms responsible
for cement shrinkage such as chemical shrinkage, which contri-
butes to both bulk and inner shrinkages, and filtration, and they
propose ways to reduce or even eliminate shrinkage.
128
Researchers (Sabins and Sutton 1986; Le Roy-Delage et al.
2000; di Lullo and Rae 2000; Thiercelin et al. 1998) provide
various estimates for the tensile strength of cement as functions
of chemical composition, neatness of slurry, setting time, and
environmental conditions, among other things. The reported
values are usually correlated to compressive strength, flexural
modulus, or flexural modulus of rupture.
While some researchers develop computational techniques
based on simplifications such as assumptions of linear elasticity,
axisymmetric geometry, or lack of cement shrinkage (Mueller
et al. 2004; Boukhelifa et al. 2005), most of the proposed compu-
tational methods recognize the necessity to encompass interaction
of all components of the well and to include the entire loading
history to obtain valid information about the state of stress in the
cement sheath at a given time and given location. Some investi-
gators choose to develop or employ analysis techniques that lack
the detailed analysis of the stress state of casing, cement, and
formation, but concentrate more on the loading history, such
as the stress-analysis model (SAM) described and applied in
Thiercelin et al. (1998), di Lullo and Rae (2000), Dean and Torres
(2002), and Stiles and Hollies (2002) or the system-response-
curve (SRC) technique as proposed in Fourmaintraux et al.
(2005). While such a method is less demanding computationally,
the simplifying assumptions such as linear elasticity and axisym-
metric geometry of SAMs, or a one-parameter description of the
stress state of each wellbore component as required by the SRC
model, are too limiting for accurate analysis of complicated stress
states arising from action of nonaxisymmetric far-field stresses,
overburden pressure, cement hardening and shrinkage, debonding
at the interfaces, and history-dependent plastic flow of cement
sheath and rock formation.
Other researchers prefer to concentrate on the stress state at a
particular stage of life-of-well, such as pressure or temperature
loading of the set cement, and apply finite-element-analysis tech-
niques to model this stage (Shahri et al. 2005; Rodriguez et al.
2003; Fleckenstein et al. 2000). However, without consideration
of the previous loading and history of deformation, it is not possi-
ble to specify the initial state of stress, amount of plasticity and
damage, interface conditions, and other parameters necessary to
accurately set up the problem to be solved.
During the last decade, significant progress was made in the
development of robust nonlinear finite-element-method techni-
ques, particularly suitable to applications in geomechanics, soil
mechanics, and rock mechanics. This development is reflected in
the publication of papers that successfully use a staged approach to
finite-element analysis of wells and examine short- and long-term
behavior of the cement sheath of the wellbore. The staged
approach imitates construction of the well, following all or some
of the development stages such as drilling, casing, cementing,
completion, hydraulic fracturing, and production. By use of the
finite-element method, the stress state at each stage is modeled,
and state variables such as the amount of damage and plasticity,
along with loading and boundary conditions, are transmitted to the
model for the next stage. This technique eliminates the need to
guess the initial state of stress, amount of plasticity, and damage.
In particular, the approach developed by Bosma et al. (1999), Ravi
et al. (2002a), and Ravi et al. (2002b), which is implemented in the
DIANA software package (TNO DIANA User Manuals), is not
only used to improve the understanding of sealant behavior, but is
also used successfully to evaluate the integrity of the
cement sheath in offshore wells (Ravi et al. 2003) and to redesign
the casing and cement sheath to match extreme loading conditions
in previously failed wellbores (Heathman and Beck 2006). Pattillo
and Kristiansen (2002) implemented a staged-finite-element
model using the Abaqus software package (SIMULIA) and
applied it successfully to the analysis of horizontal-casing integ-
rity. The approach described in the present paper is yet another
implementation of the staged-finite-element approach to cement-
sheath modeling. While the overall approach is similar to the
aforementioned papers in that the rigorous analysis of each stage
of life-of-well is performed using the finite-element method and in
that analysis for each stage is based on that of the previous one, the
March 2009 SPE Drilling & Completion
assumptions, interpretations, and techniques used are different.
The specifics of the proposed method are explained in the follow-
ing subsections.
Stress State In and Near Borehole During Life-Of-Well.
Unperturbed State. In its unperturbed state, the formation is, in
the most general case, under a 3D state of stress—overburden
stress caused by the total weight of formation lying above the area
of interest and horizontal stresses because of formation being
constrained from unlimited expansion in horizontal dimensions
and because of the presence of various geological conditions.
The state of the wellbore at some particular depth is of con-
cern. A horizontal section of an arbitrary, but small, thickness is
considered so that within the domain, there is no significant varia-
tion of any of the quantities of interest in the vertical direction.
For the scope of this study, it is assumed that there are no shear
stresses in any vertical plane. These stresses might arise because
of general anisotropy of formation material or because of nonver-
ticality of the well itself. The treatment of these conditions will be
provided in subsequent papers.
Drilling. During the drilling stage, a cylindrical volume of the
formation is removed. This volume was under the state of stress
described above, and therefore was exerting traction on the sur-
rounding formation material equal and opposite to that exerted by
the formation. The removal of the material leads, of course, to
removal of the force exerted by this material on the surrounding
formation. Drilling fluid, which replaces the removed volume,
exerts hydrostatic pressure on the surrounding-formation walls.
Except for the special case of formation subjected originally to
equal far-field horizontal stresses, the pressure of drilling fluid
cannot be sufficient to maintain the original equilibrium. The for-
mation surrounding the removed volume of the well must deform.
This deformation leads to creation of additional formation stresses,
which together with hydrostatic pressure of the drilling fluid, are
able to achieve equilibrium with the stresses induced by far-field
horizontal loading and overburden vertical loading. In this aspect,
the “wellbore-stability” requirement defines the allowed range for
the hydrostatic pressure exerted by the drilling fluid, such that
deformation of the wellbore wall is within specified limits.
Casing and Cementing. During the casing and cementing
stage, the steel casing is inserted in the wellbore. An effort is made
to align the casing in the center of the wall. However, because of
deformation of the wellbore during the drilling stage described
above, and the general difficulty of placing a pipe many thousands
of feet long within fractions of an inch precision, the final casing
location is not necessarily in the center of the removed cylinder of
formation. At any given depth, the formation is still subjected to
far-field and overburden loading away from the well and to the
hydrostatic pressure of the mud at the well. The casing is subjected
to the hydrostatic pressure of the mud from inside and of slury
from the annulus—the gap between the casing and the formation.
These pressures are not always equal because there could be a
pressure gradient—for example, caused by mud friction. After the
slurry has replaced the mud, it continues to apply hydrostatic
pressure on the casing and the formation. The value of this pres-
sure is different from that of the mud pressure; it is defined by the
slurry density, by the height of the cement top, and by the pressure
maintained at the surface. The pressure inside the casing might be
the same or different, depending on cementing specifications.
Again, a change of the stress state in formation and casing will
lead to deformations of near-well formation material and casing.
Hardening and Shrinkage. There is a time period during
which the cement slurry hardens and shrinks. Calculation of the
stress state at the end of both processes is an objective of this
work. For computational convenience, these two actions are sepa-
rated during modeling (i.e., hardening and shrinkage are modeled
as two separate sequential steps).
Hardening. During the hardening stage, the fluid slurry
becomes solid cement. Because slurry as a fluid can be under only
a hydrostatic state of stress, there will be no shear in the state of
stress of solid cement. There is no deformation in the solid cement
by the end of this stage.
March 2009 SPE Drilling & Completion
Shrinkage. During the shrinkage stage, the cement reduces its
volume, which leads to deformation of the cement. While bonds
between cement and casing and cement and formation hold, the
deformation of the cement leads to the deformation of the casing
and formation, which might lead to plasticity and ultimately to
damage and failure. Plasticity and failure might also occur within
the cement. The amount of cement shrinkage depends on tempera-
ture and chemical composition of the cement. The amount of
deformation experienced by the cement, formation, and casing
depends on the far-field and overburden loading; hydrostatic state
of stress of the cement; material properties of the cement, forma-
tion, and casing; and history of plastic deformations experienced
by all of these components.
If one or both of the bonds fail, the stress and deformation
distribution will be different, depending upon when failure occurs.
Pressure Changes Caused by Completion Fluid, Hydraulic
Fracturing, and Hydrocarbon Production. Effects caused by
completion fluid, hydraulic fracturing, and hydrocarbon produc-
tion are quite similar from a mechanics point of view. During
these stages, the fluid inside the casing applies hydrostatic pres-
sure on the casing walls. This pressure is transmitted to the
cement and by the cement to the formation.
Change of the stress field leads to deformation. Depending on the
amount of this deformation, plasticity, damage, and failure of well
components may occur. If hydraulic fracturing is performed, the
pressure transmitted by the fracturing fluid is higher than that experi-
enced during previous stages of a life-of-well. The production
“fluid” is either hydrocarbon-based fluid, which has a low density
compared to that of slurry or mud, or pressurized natural gas. In any
case, the pressure at the casing walls at this stage is usually lower
than that experienced during previous stages of life-of-well.
Both high pressure because of hydraulic fracturing and low
pressure because of well completion and hydrocarbon production
might lead to plastic deformation, damage, and debonding,
depending on the near-field and far-field state of stress and the
history of deformations.
Important Aspects. Nonlinear Effects and Loading History.
Each deformation of the formation, casing, or cement might lead
to plastic, and hence unrecoverable, deformation if yield criteria
are met. Plastic deformation in the formation might start as early
as the drilling stage, and in the cement, during the curing of slurry.
Accumulation of the plastic deformation might lead to damage,
which would result in cracking and/or creation of microchannels.
Consequently, taking the loading history into consideration is very
important. Modeling the wellbore state of stress by starting at
some particular time during life-of-well, and without taking into
account the loading history, could lead to erroneous conclusions.
For example, suppose that during the drilling stage, the combina-
tion of hydrostatic pressure applied by mud and far-field state of
stress led to plastic deformation and initiation of damage in the
formation near the well. The cracks located in this area might start
to grow and lead to the creation of undesirable microchannels
during later stages of life-of-well, such as cementing, completion,
or production. However, if modeling the problem were to begin at
one of these later stages, without accounting for history of pre-
vious damage, there would be no cracks to grow, and conclusions
produced from such analysis would be erroneous, even dangerous.
Mechanical Interpretation of Slurry to Hardened-Cement
Phase Transformation. It is assumed that slurry does not “remem-
ber” deformations that occurred while it was in a fluid phase. How-
ever, slurry in the wellbore is in a state of hydrostatic stress, which
must be inherited by hardened cement. Both the formation and the
casing were subjected to hydrostatic pressure exerted by slurry, and
according to Newton’s third law, they exert equal and opposite
pressure on the slurry, and later, on the hardened cement. Therefore,
it is assumed that the phase transformation from fluid to solid, which
happens in slurry, does not change the stress state of the surrounding
bodies (i.e., the formation and casing). In other words, if the cement
were to harden to be a stress-free material, it would need to deform
immediately to be able to sustain the pressure exerted by the sur-
rounding formation and casing, which is not the case.
129
 Summarizing this discussion, it is assumed that at the end of
the hardening stage, the cement is strain free, has no shear stress,
but is in a state of hydrostatic stress equal to that of the slurry.
Plasticity and Vertical Stress. Because overburden stress is
usually quite uniform at a given depth, the 3D description of the
problem is commonly replaced by a 2D description, such as plane-
strain or plane-stress formulation. However, even though the
vertical stress component is eliminated from equilibrium and
compatibility equations describing stress and strain state in the
vicinity of the wellbore, it cannot be omitted from the constitutive
equations. For example, the majority of plasticity models have a
nontrivial dependence on all three principal stresses. Inaccurate
treatment of the plasticity will lead to an erroneous solution. Still,
2D models can be used effectively if they account for the vertical
component of stress. One way of doing this is to define an initial
condition for the vertical compression in a plane-strain model.
This would lead to a uniform value of the overburden stress across
the entire domain. Another, more-versatile, approach is to use a
generalized plane-strain formulation that assumes that the model
lies between two rigid planes that can move with respect to each
other. This approach allows a linear distribution of the overburden
strain. In cases where a large deformation of the borehole might
lead to a significant nonlinear variation of the overburden-stress
field in the vicinity of the well, a full 3D approach is necessary.
Load Control and Displacement Control. It is not always
obvious what is the best way to apply an overburden load on a
3D model of a wellbore. Typically, the overburden load is stated
as a pressure distribution across the horizontal plane. Therefore, it
seems natural to use this pressure as a traction-boundary condition
applied to the top part of the model. However, this boundary
condition does not impose any restrictions on the vertical displa-
cement of the material. For example, a material that experiences
thermal expansion or chemical shrinkage and is free to deform
vertically might shrink or expand mostly in this direction, so that
the strain, and therefore the stress, in the horizontal plane would
be almost unperturbed. Clearly, this is not the case for an actual
well where there is hardly any deformation in the vertical direc-
tion, compared to that in the horizontal plane. Indeed, if one
considers a material point of cement, far from the top and bottom
ends, there is no reason to conclude that, during the shrinkage of
the cement, this point would move up instead of down, or down
instead of up. Therefore this material point must remain in the
same horizontal plane. To model this condition accurately, the
overburden load can be applied by means of a rigid plane that
allows a free horizontal displacement of the underlying material,
but only a uniform vertical displacement and therefore a uniform
vertical strain. This loading mechanism is similar to that of the
generalized plane-strain assumption. However, this approach has
its own drawbacks, such as the fact that the vertical deformation
of the entire model in this case will be defined by the vertical
deformation of the stiffest element of the assembly.
The first approach can be seen as a load-control method, while
the second approach is similar to a displacement-control method.
The choice of the loading method requires a judgment call for
each particular situation. For example, analysis of the formation
layer lying below a layer of loose sand fits better to the load-
control description, while analysis of a formation layer below a
basalt plate fits better to the displacement-control description.
130
Finite-Element Formulation
General Considerations. Modeling Goals. The first objective of
this paper is to introduce a general finite-element framework
that takes into account crucial aspects of the near-wellbore
stress state, such as the three dimensionality of the stress
state and nonlinearity of the material properties, hardening and
shrinkage of the cement, debonding of the cement, and failure
of the cement, formation, and casing. This framework
should allow for seamless inclusion of various additional con-
ditions such as eccentricity and noncircular geometry of the
well, general anisotropy of the formation material, sophisti-
cated plasticity and failure models, poroelasticity, well inclina-
tion, and others.
The second objective is to apply this modeling framework to
the problem of cement shrinkage and to study cement/casing-bond
failure and follow the development of plastic regions in the for-
mation and cement.
Example Problem. Using data from literature, an example
problem of a cementing job for a vertical well with a perfectly
centered casing was defined and studied. Simple geometry of the
model problem facilitates explanation of the analysis technique.
However, the proposed method can be applied easily to a nonver-
tical well with eccentric casing; these cases will be discussed in
subsequent papers.
The amount of plasticity and debonding observed during the
subsequent analysis of the example problem appeared to be very
sensitive to far-field and in-situ loading. The loadings used in this
example problem were selected to illustrate various nonlinear
effects that could occur in the near-wellbore region during
cementing operations:
• True vertical depth of the well is 15,000 ft.
• The top of the cement is 13,500 ft.
• The hole is drilled with an 8½-in. bit, with an estimated
drilled hole size of 9½ in.
• The casing outside diameter is 7.625 in. and inside diameter
is 6.625 in., which is based on casing supplied by Hunting Oilfield
Services (Schlumberger 2006).
• Overburden-pressure gradient is 1 psi/ft.
• Pore-pressure gradient is 0.62 psi/ft.
• Ratio of maximum far-field horizontal stress to overburden
stress is 0.78.
• Ratio of maximum far-field horizontal stress to minimum
far-field horizontal stress is 1.18.
• Density of drilling fluid is 13 lbm/gal.
• Density of slurry is 15.8 lbm/gal.
• Density of completion fluid is 7.4 lbm/gal.
• Hydraulic fracturing is achieved by 9,000 psi increase in
pressure beyond completion-fluid pressure.
• Hydrostatic pressure in the casing below the packer during
production of hydrocarbons is 4,000 psi.
All material properties were obtained from open source litera-
ture. Elastic material properties for cement were based on mea-
surements reported in James and Boukhelifa (2008) for Class-G
cement obtained from four different sources. The Mohr-Coulomb
plastic parameters; internal friction angle, f; and cohesiveness, c;
are based on properties measured in Bosma et al. (1999) for Class-
G cement. Cement-elastic and -plastic properties are reported in
Table 1.
March 2009 SPE Drilling & Completion
 The casing is assumed to be linearly elastic, with Young’s
modulus E = 3.0e7 psi and Poisson’s ratio v = 0.3.
The formation is assumed to be composed of sandstone and/or
shale. Elastic and plastic properties of the rock are compiled from
data provided in Thiercelin et al. (1998), Bosma et al. (1999), and
Obert and Duval (1967). Rock properties are labeled “R1c1”
through “R3c3,” as reported in Table 2.
Dimensionality. The current study is concerned with non-
linear effects occurring near the wellbore during life-of-well.
As mentioned earlier, an accurate analysis of nonlinear effects,
such as plasticity, depends critically on the ability to model a
3D state of stress. Therefore, the analysis was restricted to the
3D models.
Modeling Software. The Abaqus finite-element package
(SIMULIA) was selected for this study. Abaqus is a general-
purpose finite-element-analysis code specifically developed to
solve nonlinear stress-analysis problems. It has full 3D capabi-
lity, a variety of nonlinear solvers, an extended library of materi-
als, and an ability to include user-defined materials.
Implementation. Geometry. The formation is modeled as a
parallelepiped-shaped domain. Because of the symmetry of the
problem, only one-eighth of this domain needs to be modeled if
symmetry boundary conditions are applied at the three planes
of symmetry. The overburden boundary conditions are applied
to the top face of the domain. The far-field boundary condi-
tions are applied to the two remaining faces.
The size of the horizontal rectangle is selected such that it is
large enough to accurately represent the effect of the far field on
the near-wellbore region. A short study was conducted to estimate
the required dimensions.
Fig. 2 shows that in the vicinity of the borehole, the difference
in maximum stress values between a domain with a size of 6
borehole diameters and one with a size of 5 borehole diameters is
less than 1%. The selected horizontal dimension of the modeling
domain is 50  50 in., which is 5.26 times larger than the dia-
meter of the borehole.
The vertical dimension of the formation domain is 5 in., which
is 5% larger than the radius of the borehole. This height is suffi-
cient to eliminate the artifacts in stress distribution that result
from end effects.
Interface Bonds. For the purpose of this study, debonding is
allowed only at the casing/cement interface. Formation of a
microannulus at the casing/cement interface is commonly given
as the cause of failure in zonal isolation (Nelson 1990). Interac-
tion at this interface is modeled using a contact condition, which
does not allow penetration of two materials into each other but
allows for their separation. The model can be modified such that
there is no tension transmitted across the interface (no bonding
strength), or some amount of tension can be transmitted before the

Fig. 2—Convergence studies. Left: Dependence of stress in the vicinity of the borehole on the size of the modeling domain.
Distribution of radial stress along direction of maximum horizontal stress for rectanglular domains 4, 5, and 6 diameters of the
borehole in size. Right: Distribution of radial stress along direction of maximum horizontal stress for regular and fine mesh.

March 2009 SPE Drilling & Completion 131

surfaces are separated. On the basis of the data from the literature
(Sabins and Sutton 1991; Le Roy-Delage et al. 2000; di Lullo and
Rae 2000; Thiercelin et al. 1998), a bond strength of 1,000 psi is
assumed for the second case.
The contact condition is a source of nonlinearity in the model,
in addition to that resulting from nonlinear-elastic material prop-
erties of the constituents.
Loading Steps. The analysis starts with the formation at the
initial state of stress in equilibrium with far-field horizontal stres-
ses and overburden. The far-field and overburden loading remains
without any changes through the sequential steps.
There is a total of seven loading steps in the model.
1. Drilling. At the beginning of the step, the cylindrical volume
of the formation at the drill-hole location is removed. This step
uses the “model change” feature of Abaqus (Stiles and Hollies
2002). Using this feature, the elements corresponding to the
drilled-out volume are deactivated. The slurry pressure is applied
at the surface of the wellbore. Because the remaining formation
material is under the initial state of 3D stress, the formation near
the wellbore is not in equilibrium at the beginning of the step. By
the end of the step, the equilibrium has been reached, but the
original circular cross section of the well is deformed.
The proposed approach is different from that chosen in Pattillo
and Kristiansen (2002), where the hole is defined in a stress-free
reference configuration and therefore, to obtain the proper shape
of the deformed borehole, modifications of the hole shape are
required. Because in the proposed approach the undisturbed con-
figuration in equilibrium in the initial triaxial state of stress is
assumed as the reference configuration, the removal of borehole
material disturbs the equilibrium and automatically leads to a
change of shape of the borehole, which is similar to what happens
in the field during the drilling of the formation. Therefore, after
completion of this step, no additional iterations are required to
obtain the actual shape of the borehole.
2. Cementing. At this stage, the pressure load corresponding to
the hydrostatic pressure of the slurry is applied to the wall of the
borehole. Even though the applied pressure is uniform, the state
of stress near the wellbore is not. Therefore, deformation because
of the action of the slurry pressure may lead to the development of
plastic regions in the formation.
3. Hardening. Using the model-change feature of Abaqus
(SIMULIA), the elements representing the cement and casing are
introduced. These elements are activated with no initial deforma-
tion, but under an initial state of stress, equal to the slurry hydro-
static pressure. At the same time, the condition of contact is
defined between the inner surface of the cement and the outer
surface of the casing. This paper does not discuss debonding at
the formation/cement interface; therefore the outer cement surface
is “tied” to the surface of the hole (i.e., no separation is allowed).
The pressure loading because of the slurry, which was applied to
the walls of the borehole, is removed because the cement applies
equivalent pressure. To maintain the equilibrium, a pressure equal
to the slurry pressure is applied to the inner surface of the casing.
In this step, the initial state of hydrostatic compression caused
by slurry pressure is imposed on the cement. Because the forma-
tion was already in equilibrium with the slurry at the end of the
previous step, no additional deformation of the cement or forma-
tion is required. As a result, by the end of this step, cement
elements are not deformed. The time-dependent behavior of
cement is not included in this paper.
The proposed technique allows for introduction of cement in
its reference state, without any history of previous deformations,
and under the state of hydrostatic compression inside of the well,
which is in the state of 3D stress.
The casing elements are activated simultaneously with the
cement elements. This is done for modeling convenience only.
The model accounts for small changes in the inner and outer
diameters of the casing, which are caused by hydrostatic compres-
sion. Replacement of the reference configuration from stress free
to that of hydrostatically compressed does not affect the load
response of the steel casing and, therefore, does not affect the
outcome of the solution.
132
4. Shrinkage. On the basis of the data from the literature (API
TR 10TR2 1997; Baumgarte et al. 1999; Parcevaux and Sault 1984;
Chenevert and Shrestha 1991; Backe et al. 1997), conventional
oilwell cement shrinks anywhere from 0.5 to 7% in volume. A 5%
cement-volume shrinkage was assumed for the purpose of this
study. Throughout the duration of this step, the cement elements
are prescribed with a volume shrinkage that is scaled linearly from
0% at the beginning of the step to 5% at the end of the step. While
linear evolution of shrinkage is chosen for simplicity only, the
method does not impose any restrictions on shrinkage history.
It is assumed that the top of cement is far away, and, therefore,
no vertical displacement is allowed. The shrinkage of the cement
inflicts high stresses on the formation and casing and might lead
to the development of a plastic zone in the cement and formation
and to debonding at the cement/casing interface.
5. Completion. During this step, the hydrostatic pressure of the
completion fluid acts on the inner surface of the casing. Because
this pressure is lower than the previous pressure of the slurry, the
casing stretched under the previous loading will contract, impos-
ing additional deformation on cement and formation.
6. Hydraulic Fracturing. During this step, the hydrostatic
pressure acting on the inner surface of the casing is increased by
9,000 psi beyond completion-fluid pressure. Under this load
the casing expands, forcing further compression of the cement
and formation.
7. Production. The hydrostatic pressure acting on the casing
below the packer is reduced during the production stage of life-of-
well. Similar to the result of the Completion-Step loading, the
casing contracts, thus reducing the compressive stress in the
cement and formation.
The sequence of Completion, Fracturing, and Production Steps
might appear to be redundant—pressure loading inside the casing
is decreased, increased, and decreased again. However, because of
the nonlinearity of the problem—contact interaction between the
casing and cement, and accumulation of plastic deformation in
the cement and formation—the cumulative effect of this loading
sequence does not necessarily have a zero net effect; instead,
it may lead to the failure of zonal isolation in the wellbore.
Loading and unloading because of perforation are not addres-
sed in this paper.
Discretization. The model is discretized using 3D linear ele-
ments with full integration. The finite-element mesh is shown in
Fig. 3. Because interface contact plays a major role in the analy-
sis, the expected solution to the problem is not smooth, and, there-
fore, the use of higher-order elements will not lead to faster
convergence.
In the vicinity of the borehole, mesh size is selected such that
there are at least 30 elements per 90 arc of the borehole and such
that all elements in the vicinity of the borehole have an aspect
ratio close to unity. A convergence study was conducted during
which the mesh was refined uniformly by defining twice as many
Fig. 3—Finite-element mesh (green: formation; blue: cement;
red: casing; x-axis corresponds to direction of maximum hor-
izontal stress; y-axis corresponds to direction of minimum hor-
izontal stress; z-axis corresponds to vertical direction).
March 2009 SPE Drilling & Completion
Fig. 4—Equivalent-radial-stress distributions at the end of Cementing and Hardening Steps. Left: Casing and cement are deacti-
vated, uniform pressure applied to the wall of the borehole. Right: Cement and casing are in hydrostatic compression, which
is transmitted to the wall of the borehole.

elements in each direction. The results of this study confirm the
described selection of the mesh size, as illustrated in the right-
hand side of Fig. 2.
Solution Procedure. To implement the transformation from
slurry to solid accurately, “nonlinear-geometry analysis” was
assumed throughout the entire history of the loading. The problem
is highly nonlinear because of the contact condition at the cement/
casing interface and because of the presence of nonlinear-elastic
materials; therefore, the Newton solver is used throughout the
analysis. At least 50 increments are requested during the Shrink-
age Step to capture the evolution of the stress state in the vicinity
of the wellbore accurately.
Results
Using the staged-finite-element-analysis model described, the
stress states in the cement and in the formation in the vicinity of
the wellbore were analyzed for various combinations of cement
and rock-material properties. The summary of the analysis is
reported in the following subsections.
Hardening. Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the proposed method for the
staged finite-element analysis. The left side of Fig. 4 shows the
distribution of Von Mises stress by the end of the Cementing Step,
when the cement elements are still deactivated and the slurry is
applying hydrostatic pressure to the formation. The right side of
Fig. 4 shows the same distribution by the end of the Hardening
Step, when slurry hydrostatic pressure is replaced by pressure
applied to the formation by the cement elements. The distribution
of stress in the formation does not change; the solid cement
elements are activated and are free of shear strain.
Stress distribution in the formation is not axially symmetric
because the minimum and maximum horizontal stresses are not
equal. Stress distribution in the slurry is hydrostatic and, therefore,
is axially symmetric, even for the studied case of asymmetric
loading.
The left side of Fig. 5 shows radial-stress distribution by the
end of the Cementing Step. The right side shows radial-stress
distribution by the end of the Hardening Step. Stress distribution
in the formation does not change, even though the radial load
caused by slurry pressure is replaced by pressure applied by the

Fig. 5—Equivalent-Von Mises-stress distributions at the end of Cementing and Hardening Steps. Left: Casing and cement
are deactivated, uniform pressure applied to the wall of the borehole. Right: Cement and casing are in hydrostatic compression,
which is transmitted to the wall of the borehole.

March 2009 SPE Drilling & Completion 133

solid elements. The elements of cement and casing are under
initial conditions of hydrostatic stress in the slurry.
Debonding at the Casing/Cement Interface. Even though the
cement is shrinking, debonding at the casing/cement interface
does not necessarily occur. The lost volume can be accommodated
by the elastic expansion of the formation, cement, and casing, and
the elastic and plastic deformations of the cement and formation.
Debonding at the casing/cement interface was observed for
“stiff-material systems” that involve rock with a high value
of Young’s modulus and a high value of cohesive strength. In
“compliant-material systems,” rock deformed elastically (case of
low value of Young’s modulus) and/or plastically (case of low
value of cohesive strength) to compensate for cement shrinkage.
Another observation is that debonding does not necessarily
start at the deepest location of the well. For example, for the
material system with rock-type R3c3, cement-type A, and 1,000-
lbf bond strength, the debonding did not occur at the maximum
well depth of 15,000 ft but was observed when the analysis was
rerun for the shallower depth of 12,500 ft.
If debonding does happen, it is not necessarily observed first
by the end of the Shrinkage Step. For the material system given as
rock-type R3c3, cement-type A, and zero bonding strength, Fig. 6
illustrates the creation of a microannulus at the casing/cement
interface by the end of the Production Step, after the wellbore
has experienced loading not only because of cement shrinkage,
but also because of the unloading/loading/unloading cycle of
Completion/Hydraulic-Fracturing/Production Steps.
Even though the surface separation in this case is very small,
0.00054 in. on average, a microannulus of 0.001 in. is sufficient to
allow gas a flow path (Seidel and Greene 1985). Because fluctua-
tions of the pressure in the casing during the production stage of
life-of-well might lead to further reduction of the diameter of the
casing, the long-term zonal isolation is not achieved in this case.
The gap between the casing and cement is not uniform, as
shown in Fig. 6. The interface distance is smaller in the direction
of the maximum horizontal stress and is larger in the direction of
the minimum horizontal stress. This effect is probably based on
the same mechanical principles as the conclusions of Hubbert and
Willis (1957) that hydraulic fractures should occur in the plane
perpendicular to the least principal stress.
Development of Plastic Zones. The high value of plastic strain
may lead to material damage, such as the creation of voids
or cracks, and consequently may lead to the failure of zonal
isolation.
The lower the Young’s modulus and the lower the cohesive
strength of the rock, the higher the probability that a plastic zone
Fig. 6—Debonding along casing/cement interface at the end of
the Production Step. Angle is 0 at the direction of maximum
horizontal stress and 90 at the direction of minimum horizontal
stress. Field parameters: 15,000-ft depth. Material system: rock-
type R3c3, cement-type A, zero bonding strength.
134
will develop in the vicinity of the borehole. Table 3 reports the
maximum amount of plastic strain observed in the cement, and
Table 4 reports that for the formation.
The results show a strong dependence of the development of
plastic zones on the direction of the minimum horizontal stress.
The plastic zone is mostly located at the side of the borehole with
a normal collinear to the direction of the minimum principal
stress, as illustrated in Fig. 7. If the amount of plasticity is small,
the plastic zone is localized. For the situation where there is a
great amount of plasticity, the plastic zone encircles the entire
borehole. The width of the plastic ring is not uniform, with the
widest cross section again in the direction of the minimum hor-
izontal stress. This strong dependence on the orientation of the
minimum horizontal stress resembles the similar dependence of
the development of debonding.
Similar to debonding, the presence and size of the plastic
zone depends strongly on the entire history of loading and defor-
mation. For example, for the material system with rock-type
R1c1, cement-type A, and zero bonding strength, the plasticity
starts not during the Shrinkage or the Hydraulic-Fracturing Step,
but only at the end of the Production Step (Fig. 7).
Conclusions
A review of literature concerned with wellbore cementing for
zonal isolation is conducted, and the need for a careful, nonlinear,
3D analysis for vicinity of the wellbore during all stages of life-of-
well is emphasized.
A staged finite-element approach is proposed and discussed in
detail. This approach allows one to follow development of stress
and strain state during all stages of the life-of-well. The proposed
approach is specially designed to accommodate further extensions
that are listed in the Future Work section.
The method is illustrated using the example of a simple pro-
blem that involves cementing of a vertical wellbore for different
material properties of the formation. The behavior of the wellbore
components during life-of-well is observed, and the possibility of
zonal-isolation failure because of both debonding at the casing/
cement interfaces and material failure is discussed.
The results confirm the need for taking into account all speci-
fics of the complicated stress state near the wellbore, such as
triaxiality of stress, plasticity of the formation and cement, the
possibility of bond failures, along with the entire history of load-
ing and deformation, for an accurate analysis and prediction
of zonal isolation over the entire life-of-well.
This paper establishes a framework for a nonlinear, 3D ana-
lysis of the wellbore under various conditions, which will be
presented in the subsequent papers.
March 2009 SPE Drilling & Completion
Fig. 7—Dependence of plastic-strain distribution on material system and loading conditions. Left: Rock-type R1c1, end of
Production Step; minimal plasticity. Right: Rock-type R3c1, end of Hydraulic-Fracturing Step; significant plasticity.
Future Work
Based on the method discussed in the previous section, the follow-
ing modeling studies are ongoing, and results will be included in
future publications:
• Inclined wells and horizontal wells
• Eccentric casing
• High-temperature effects
• Anisotropic-material behavior
• Time-dependent material models
• Damage and failure
• Debonding at the formation/cement interface
• Poroelasticity
• Fluid flow
Subsequent publications will also take into account experi-
mental results from the life-of-well program on oilfield cements
regarding shrinkage; mechanical behavior during loading/
unloading processes; stress/strain paths; uniaxial, biaxial, and
triaxial strengths; and static and dynamic moduli.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Ametek/Chandler Engineering,
BJ Services, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Schlumberger for support
of this work in “Casing, Cement, and Formation Interactions
During Drilling, Completion, and Production Operations,” Life-
Of-Well Rock, Fluid, and Stress Systems Research Program at
The University of Texas at Austin.
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SI Metric Conversion Factors
ft  3.048* E–01 = m
gal  3.785 412 E–03 = m3
in.  2.54* E+00 = cm
lbf  4.448 222 E+00 = N
lbm  4.535 924 E–01 = kg
psi  6.894 757 E+00 = kPa
*Conversion factor is exact.
K.E. Gray received BS and MS degrees from the University of
Tulsa and a PhD from the University of Texas, where he is a
professor of petroleum engineering. His teaching and
research activities are in drilling, rock mechanics, wellbore sta-
bility, and geomechanics applications to managed pressure
drilling. Gray is a Senior Member, Life Member, Distinguished
Member, and Legion of Honor Member of SPE. He has served
on and chaired a variety of SPE and AIME committees, forums,
and applied-technology workshops; chaired an SPE Annual
Fall Meeting Program; and served twice as an SPE Distin-
guished Lecturer. Evgeny Podnos is a research engineer
at the University of Texas at Austin. His activities deal
with finite-element simulations and analytical modeling of
complex physical systems incorporating 3D, nonlinear, time-
dependent, and hysteretic behavior of solids and porous
media. Podnos holds a BS degree from Leningrad Polytechnic
Institute and MS and PhD degrees from the University of Texas
at Austin. Eric B. Becker holds BS and MS degrees from the
University of Texas at Austin and a PhD from the University of
California at Berkeley. He is a professor emeritus of engineering
mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin, where he
developed curricula and research programs in computational
mechanics. Becker is a cofounder of the Texas Institute for
Computational Mechanics (TICAM) and a pioneer in finite-
element methods now used as standard procedures.
March 2009 SPE Drilling & Completion