Torque and Drag Fundamentals

This section will cover:

• Torque and drag fundamentals
• Drillstring Buckling
– Fundamentals
– Recognizing & dealing with buckling

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
Common Misconceptions
• Torque & Drag are related
• What increases one will increase the other similarly
• Low angle wells have low T&D
• Build rates of 2o – 3o/100’ are “low”
• That all dog legs are created equal
• That tortuousity will inevitably lead to higher torque
and more difficulty running casing/completions

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
• Torque & Drag are caused by friction
• What is friction?
• Simply put, the force that resists motion
• Empirically determined
• First discovered by Leonardo da Vinci
• There are 3 laws of sliding friction:
1. The force of friction is directly proportional to the applied load
2. The force of friction is independent of the area of contact
3. The force of friction is independent of the sliding velocity

To disagree with these laws, is to disagree with physics itself!

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
• Sliding friction only occurs when there is normal force
• Normal force is created by 4 different mechanisms
• Weight of pipe on the low-side (Low-Side T&D)
• Tension-related side-forces through build, turn & drop
doglegs (Brake Drum T&D)
• Pipe pushing into the side of the hole due to helical buckling
(Buckling T&D)
• Pipe pushing into the side of hole, driven by stiffness and
diametrical clearance (Stiffness T&D)*

* For the time-being we are going to ignore this effect (revisited later)

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
• Low-Side T&D is created because of the resistance to
movement created from “friction”, as a result of being
pushed into the low-side of the hole
• Sensitive to angle, weight, buoyancy
• Each joint creates T&D independent of each other
• Creates the same side force, independent of direction
• RIH, POOH, Rotating FD = N x m FT = N x m x Reff
N = Sinq x W
Reff
Where:
FD= Drag Force
FT= Torque moment
Reff= Effective Radius
N = Contact Force (ie, Normal Force)
q = Inclination of component
Normal Force W = Buoyed weight of component
W
m = Coefficient of Friction
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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
• In curved sections, string tension creates additional
contact force and friction, much like a Brake Drum
• T&D forces are created via the tension of other “elements
below this interval
• Pickup, slackoff and rotating forces will be different in
curved sections, since string tension is different
Contact
Force

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals

N T    Sinq   T  q  W  Sinq 
2 2

Where:
N = Contact Force (ie, Normal Force)
T = Tension across component
 = Azimuth change across component
q = Inclination change across component
Contact W= Buoyed weight of component
Force

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
• Buckling T&D is created when the compression in the
pipe exceeds the helical buckling limit (discussed later).
• When sliding or tripping in, the additional normal force quickly
compounds on itself and eventually may cause “lockup”, resulting in the
inability to move downward
• When rotating or rotary drilling, the additional normal forces cause a
rapid increase in torque. However, downward motion and efficient
weight transfer is still possible.
𝑟𝐹 2
𝑁𝑏 =
4𝐸𝐼
Where:
Nb = Additional normal force due to buckling
F = Compression
E = Young’s Modulus
I= Moment of Inertia
r= Radial clearance
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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
• Let’s compare T&D for different well types
with the same MD - 20,000’ (6,000m)
• Vertical well (assume smooth hole)
– Low T&D,
0’
– High rotating weight
Buoyed string weight

MD/TVD
= 390 kips

5” DP, 40 kips BHA

12 ppg (1.44 SG) MW

20,000’

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
• Doglegs are the only source of friction at 0°, so
T&D is low for a smooth hole
• Hook supports the entire weight of the drillstring
• Because of high pipe tension, shallow doglegs
will create high contact force and can cause
severe casing wear

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals

Tablet Example 01.0

500’ KOP
3°/100’ build rates
45° tangent angle
Same depth & string

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 Shows surface tension while Slackoff,
Pickup, & Rotating
• Referred to as “Driller’s View”,
since this is that the driller sees
• Assumes 0.30 Friction Factor
• Slackoff = 180
• Pickup = 450
• Rotating = 290

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 Shows sensitivity to friction factors
• Slackoff = 125 – 250,
• Pickup = 350 – 600
• Rotating = 290

Notice different behavior of operations to friction:

• Pick up much more sensitive than slack off
• Opposite effect of friction
• Separation from rotating-weight is not
symmetrical

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 Shows tension in every joint of the
string when the bit is at one depth
Referred to as “Snapshot” view, since
it shows the load distribution at a
moment-in-time

Tablet Exercise:
1. Open Example 01.0
2. Click on 12¼” Trip
3. Toggle between “Driller’s” and “Snapshot” view

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 Shows side-forces (per joint) that explains different
behavior for each operation
• Notice the side forces in the tangent are the same
• Pickup side force across build is much more than slackoff

Tablet Exercise:
1. In Snapshot view, swipe-right to find
the side force plot
2. Lock the axis
3. Drag the string up/down the wellbore

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 Tension / Side force Snapshots

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 What about torque?
• Shows torque loads at surface vs. friction
• Torque loads are very sensitive to FF

Make up torque for NC50 tool joints

Tablet Exercise:
1. Click on the “Parameters” control
2. Set trip speed to 0
3. Set RPM to 120

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 • Notice how the torque builds very
quickly through the build section
• Why?

Torque limit of the tube under

applied tension and bending load

Make up torque for NC50 tool joints

Snapshot analysis of torque when at TD

• This snapshot is only valid at one depth
• Shows torque on each joint within the string
• Only point that matches what driller sees is the one at surface
• Shows how the torque is being generated

Tablet Exercise:
1. In Snapshot view, swipe-right to find
the side force and torque plot
2. Lock the axis
3. Drag the string up/down the wellbore

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 Tension / Side force Snapshots

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
Consider the use of torque reduction tools
 Usually used across the build section
 Would they be effective here? If so, why?

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals

1.) This is the snapshot of torque

without devices on the string

2.) Torque reduction tools placed across build

section (2000’) reduce local FF to 0.15

Tablet Exercise:
1. Load Example 01.1
2. In Snapshot view, are 2000’ of NRDPP’s enough
to manage with 0.30 FF?
3. Switch to Drillers view.
4. What length of NRDPP’s would be needed to
allow a 0.30 FF to work all the way to TD?

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 Tablet Example 2.0
500’ KOP
3°/100’ build rates
45° tangent angle
Drop to vertical at 10,000’
MD
3°/100’ drop rate
Same depth & string

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 Surface Tension for S-path well
For 0.30 FF:
• Slackoff increases 50 kips
• ROB increases 60 kips
• Pickup increases 90 kips

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 Torque loads for S-path well
•Range is now 14 - 72
• Was 12 - 62 for 45o B&H wellpath
• Loads have increased
• More sensitive than before

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 Snapshot at TD of Torque loads for S-path well
• Shows build section slightly more torque being created
• Also a significant torque increase across the drop section
• Double Brake-Drum Effect!

Tablet Exercise:
1. Load Example 02.0
2. Go to 12¼” Hole Tripping
3. Switch to Snapshot view
4. Lock the axis
5. Drag the string up hole
6. How far below the drop can we drill before
torque becomes excessive?

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 What can be done to reduce torque?
• Lighter pipe in the vertical/drop section?
• Skinnier drill pipe, or perhaps 5.15” Aluminum DP?

Tablet Exercise:
1. Load Example 02.1
2. Go to 12¼” Hole Tripping
3. Switch to Snapshot view
4. Lock the axis
5. How much Aluminum drill pipe is needed to
sufficiently reduce torque?

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 Tablet Example 03.0
500’ KOP
3°/100’ build rates
78° tangent angle
Same depth & string

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 Tension loads for high angle well
• Now will only trip in if FF <0.30
• Completely different results than 45° well!

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 Torque loads for high angle well
• Range is now 11 - 59
• Was 12 - 62 for 45o B&H well path

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 Snapshot of Torque loads
• Notice different behavior across build section

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 Side forces (all wells)
• Notice that this high angle wellpath has no
casing wear concerns, while other paths have
severe casing wear issues

Casing wear concerns exist when side

forces exceed 2 k-lbs per tooljoint

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 Let’s revisit the slackoff loads…
• For 0.30 and higher FF, the string encounters
negative weight prior to reaching TD
• Drill pipe can’t really be “pushed” above the
rotary table, so how do we trip in?
• Answer: Rotation

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
Let’s discuss why rotation helps…
• First, friction only acts opposite to the direction of motion
− When we are stationary and rotate, friction is torsional
− With the rotary off and the string moved up or down, friction is axial

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
• Things change when the string is reamed in or out of the hole
− We now have simultaneous motion in two directions
− Friction acts diagonally, meaning that a percentage of the total friction
is shared torsionally and axially.
− The proportion of the friction “share” is a function the velocity ratio

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
Vc
2 2 ′ 𝑉𝑎
𝑉𝑟 = 𝑉𝑎 + 𝑉𝑐 𝐹𝐹𝑎 = 𝐹𝐹𝑎 ×
𝑉𝑟
𝜋𝐷 ′ 𝑉𝑐
𝑉𝑐 = × 𝑅𝑃𝑀 Vr 𝐹𝐹𝑡 = 𝐹𝐹𝑡 ×
12 Va 𝑉𝑟
Va= Axial velocity, ft/min FFa= Axial friction factor
Vc= Circumferential velocity, ft/min FFt= Torque friction factor
Vr= Resultant velocity, ft/min FFa’= Effective axial friction factor
D= Tool joint OD, in FFt’= Effective torque friction factor
RPM= Rotary speed, c/min

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
Circumferential Velocity (ft/min)
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Inputs 0
Tool Joint OD= 7 in x y
Rotary Speed= 100 RPM 20 Axial 0 0
ROP= 6000 ft/hr Axial 0 100.0
40
Results Circumfrential 0 0
Drag Reduction= 52.1 % 60 Circumfrential 183.3 0

Axial Velocity (ft/min)

Torque Reduction= 12.2 % Resultant 0 0
80
Resultant 183.3 100.0 208.768
100

120 Axial Velocity

Circumferential Velocity
140
Resultant Velocity
160

180

200

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals

Tablet Exercise:
1. Load Example 03.0
2. Go to 12¼” Hole Tripping
3. Open the parameter control panel
4. What combination of trip speed and RPM will
allow the string to be reamed into the hole
without negative weight for 0.30 or 0.40 FF?

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
• Let’s re-visit the 45o wellpath
– Can the wellpath be optimized to improve performance?
– Consider changing the build design specifically for side-force
management
• For casing wear reasons
• Also for torque reasons

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 A pseudo Catenary path is used:
• Slow BUR at start, accelerating with depth

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 Torque and Drag Fundamentals
• What is Catenary?
– A trajectory concept used to minimize sideforces (the so called
“perfect curve”
• Difficult to execute in practice.
• Mimicking the trajectory (ie “pseudo”) produces similar results
– Slow initial curvatures, accelerating near EoB
– Commonplace in civil engineering applications
• Moored vessels, bridges, arches, etc.

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 Driller’s view of surface torque
• Shows benefit of catenary path
• In this case, torque gain is not significant
• But what about casing wear?

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 Side forces
• Catenary path significantly reduces side-forces
• Has significant impact on casing wear, and
NRDPP loading

Casing wear concerns exist when side

forces exceed 2 k-lbs (1 mT) per
tooljoint (more later)

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 Buckling Fundamentals

• Buckling is when the pipe bends or coils downhole

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 Buckling Fundamentals
Common Misconceptions
• Buckling involves “bent pipe” when racked back

• Can’t buckle 5½”- 5⅞” drillpipe inside 9⅝” casing

• Buckling is rare

• All T&D software can identify buckling

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 Buckling Fundamentals

• There are many misconceptions about pipe buckling

• Two forms: Sinusoidal (snaky) & Helical (coiled)

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 Buckling Fundamentals
• Sinusoidal (Snaky) Buckling
– 1st phase of buckling (occurs at lower compression
load than helical)
– Pipe “snakes” from side-to-side along the low side
• Gravity keeps pipe from climbing to the top of the hole
– Sinusoidal buckling still allows weight transfer
(inefficiently)
• Shows up as poor tool face control, motor stalling
• Often diagnosed wrongly as ‘bad hole’

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 Buckling Fundamentals
• Helical (Coiled) Buckling
– 2nd phase of buckling: as compression increases,
pipe suddenly snaps into a full coil (like a “Slinky”)
– Prevents all further transfer of weight
– More compression just gives the coil a better grip
on the hole (like a set of slips)

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 Fundamentals of
Drill String Buckling

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 Buckling Fundamentals
• Driller is tripping in 12¼” Hole @ 84o
• String stands up at 18,700’ (5,700m)
• Driller assumes a “ledge” stopped the string, so he
kelly’s up and attempts to “roll” past the ledge…

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 Example of Buckling
• Stopped RIH at 18,700’
• Model shows cause was helical
buckling. But where was buckling
occurring? (there were no signs of
problems at surface)
• Note – there was plenty of tension
available at surface when this happened

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 Example of Buckling
• Snap-shot while tripping at 18,700’
(5700m), when pipe stood up
• Shows pipe going into helical
buckling, in upper tangent portion

Tablet Exercise:
1. Load Example 04.0
2. Go to 12¼” Hole Tripping
3. Switch to snapshot mode
4. At what depth did buckling first start to occur?
5. At what rpm/trip speed can the string be reamed
in without buckling?

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 Buckling Fundamentals
• Is buckling bad for the pipe?
- Usually no, as long as pipe is not rotated
• Rotation causes back and forth bending which can quickly
lead to fatigue failure if bending stress is excessive
• Often bending stress is low, as long as the hole is not
excessively washed out / enlarged or WOB is not
outrageous
- Many have a misconception about bent pipe
• Permanent cork-screwing is normally caused by impact
• Buckling stresses are usually below the yield strength of
the pipe (pipe will unbuckle with no ill effects)
• The exception is relatively small pipe in a big hole (e.g.
CT inside 11-3/4” or 5” DP inside 20” casing)
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 Buckling Fundamentals
What affects buckling?
For straight, inclined holes, buckling occurs at;
4 EIWSin q 4 EIWSin q
Fcs  Fcb  1.414
r r
 (OD4  ID 4 )
I
64
W= Buoyed weight of the pipe, lbs/in
Fcs= Compression required to initiate sinusoidal buckling, lbs
Fcb=Compression required to initiate helical buckling, lbs
I= Moment of inertia, in4
r= Radial clearance, in
E= Young’s Modulus, psi (30,000,000 for steel)
q= Inclination of wellbore
OD= Outside diameter of the tube, in
ID= Inside diameter of the tube, in
*From SPE 11167

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 Buckling Fundamentals
• What affects buckling?
- Pipe must be in compression
- Easier to buckle in a big hole
• Pipe is not as well confined
• Higher WOB may be desired in a large hole
- Easier to buckle small OD pipe
• Stiffness increases rapidly with OD
• Thicker wall helps, but much less so
• 5” DP is twice as stiff as 3½”

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 Buckling Fundamentals
• What affects buckling?…continued
- Harder to buckle at higher angles, but not impossible
• Gravity pushes pipe into the low side of the hole
• Any compression in a vertical hole results in buckling (Note how DP
slumps as it stands in the derrick!)
• 5” DP helical buckling occurs at 38 k-lb (17 tonnes) for 75° inclination,
but only 11 k-lb (5 tonnes) for 5° inclination (12¼”hole)

- Harder to buckle in a curved hole, but not impossible

• Bending forces exerted by hole help pipe resist buckling
• Pipe will always buckle first in a straight section

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 Buckling Fundamentals
Intervals Where Buckling Is Most Likely
Vertical sections This is when sliding / tripping into the hole
(i.e. without rotation)

Lower Tangent
• Above the curve
• Especially for slim
Upper Tangent pipe above liner top
• High compression
pushing rest of string

Near Heel
• Long horizontals

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 Buckling Case Study
• Example of buckling problems in a non-ER Well
• Operator has had problems running casing to TD on the
past several wells
• Problems originally thought to be hole cleaning related
− Lots of time spent cleaning up at TD, sweeps,
backreaming, reamer runs, etc.

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 Buckling Case Study
Buckling Example
• 4½” Casing run in 6⅛” Hole
• Tracked 0.50-0.60 FF
• Model indicates casing will not run
to TD
• Many T&D programs do not
include post-buckling effects

Tablet Exercise:
1. Load Example 05.0
2. Go to 4½” Casing Tripping
3. Switch to snapshot mode
4. What part of the string is buckled?

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 Buckling Case Study

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 Solution #1: Tapered Casing
Tapered 5”x4½” casing
• 4½” in lateral minimizes compression
• 5” 21.4# in vertical resists buckling
– Due to larger OD
– Due to smaller ID
– Due to weight

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 Solution #2: Rotate Casing
Rotating Casing
• Surface and downhole equipment
• Requires high torque connections

LTC RTS6 563

4,500 ft-lbs 9,400 ft-lbs 13,500 ft-lbs

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 Solution #3: Run as a Liner
4½” casing run as liner
• With DC’s and HWDP above TOL
– 1500’ 4¾” DC’s
– 1500’ 4” HWDP

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 Buckling Fundamentals
What about when rotary drilling ?
• Where does buckling occur ?
In Sub-Horizontal (<90° inclination) wells:
Under normal circumstances, buckling-while-
rotating occurs in the first few joints of drill
pipe above the BHA
• when too much WOB is used

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 Buckling Fundamentals
What about when rotary drilling ?
• Where does buckling occur ?
In Horizontal (~90° inclination) wells:
Under normal circumstances, buckling-
while-rotating occurs across the entire
lateral when too much WOB is used

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 Buckling Case Study

Tablet Exercise:
1. Load Example 05.0
2. Go to 6⅛” Drilling
3. Switch to snapshot mode
4. How much WOB can be tolerated?
5. What happens to side forces and
bending stress?
6. Load Example 05.1 (12” washout)
7. What happened?
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 Buckling Fundamentals
• Techniques to avoid buckling problems
– HWDP can be used above KOP in short
horizontal wells (less applicable in ERD or long
laterals)
– Use larger OD drill pipe (increased stiffness)
– Use a tapered drill string (less weight to push)

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 Buckling Fundamentals
• Techniques to avoid buckling…continued
– Reduce friction to reduce compression
• Use lubricants or OBM rather than WBM
– Use advanced top drive control systems to
automatically “rock” the drill string
– Use a rotary drilling strategy rather than steerable
motors (RSS or AGS)

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 Buckling Fundamentals
• Techniques to avoid buckling…continued
– Follow rules for high angle BHA design
• Use minimum BHA for directional control & surveys
• Use only 3 stands of HWDP to provide stiffness
transition and jar action (1 stand below jars)
– Remember, at high angle:
• Neutral point is irrelevant, DP compression is OK
• BHA and HWDP are not there for WOB
• Excess BHA & HWDP length increases T&D, creates
buckling up the hole, and hurts hydraulics

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