Title: Numerical simulation and experimental validation for design improvement of packer rubber

Authors: Hanxiang Wang; Shengshan Chen; Yanxin Liu; Lijun Zhang; Zhenning Zhang

Addresses: College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao, China ' College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao, China ' College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao, China ' College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao, China ' Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling Equipment, Jiangyan, China

Abstract: As the packer plays an important role in the exploration of low permeability reservoirs, the sealing property of the dual-channel packer is studied in this paper. The finite element analysis software ABAQUS is used to optimise the sealing unit structure of the dual-channel packer. The influences of inner groove shape and structure of shoulder protection on the sealing property are investigated. Based on simulation results, the best inner groove shape and the structure of shoulder protection are confirmed. Furthermore, the validity of the simulation results is confirmed by performing experiments, which show that the dual-channel packer with optimised sealing unit can work reliably in 70 MPa and 170°C.

Keywords: process modelling; packer rubber; design improvement; sealing property; dual-channel packer; ABAQUS; numerical simulation; inner groove shape; shoulder protection structure; experimental validation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSPM.2017.087603

International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling, 2017 Vol.12 No.5, pp.419 - 428

Received: 25 Apr 2017
Accepted: 08 Jun 2017
Published online: 22 Oct 2017 *

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