Loads Calculation and Strength Calculation of Landing String during Deepwater Drilling

Abstract

As an important drilling tool, the landing string will be directly exposed to seawater during surface riserless drilling operations, and it will undergo complex deformation under the action of environmental loads such as ocean currents and waves and the displacement, heave and vibration of the drilling platform. At the same time, with the increase in water depth, the floating weight of drill pipe and casing also increases significantly, and the landing string will bear great tensile loads, which can easily cause accidents. Therefore, in this paper, based on ANSYS software, the finite element analysis models of three stages of the landing string lowering operation were established, and finite element simulations under different combinations of working conditions were carried out. Through theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, the ultimate load and stress distribution of the string under different operating sea conditions were obtained, and the external force requirements for restraining the lateral displacement of the string were proposed according to the existing standards of the industry. Thereby, the recommended safe operating time, safe operating conditions window and the required restraint reaction force of the support mechanism are given for landing string lowering operation throughout the year.

Keywords

• riserless drilling
• extreme condition
• stability
• deep-water