The most important mechanical properties of casing and tubing are burst strength, collapse resistance and tensile strength. These properties are necessary to determine the strength of the pipe and to design a casing string. If casing is subjected to internal pressure higher than external, it is said that casing is exposed to burst pressure loading. Burst pressure loading conditions occur during well control operations, casing pressure integrity tests, pumping operations, and production operations. The MIYP of the pipe body is determined by the internal yield pressure formula found in API Bull. This equation, commonly known as the Barlow equation, calculates the internal pressure at which the tangential (or hoop) stress at the inner wall of the pipe reaches the yield strength (YS) of the material.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) has numerous manufacturing requirements for tubing. Many API standards have also been adopted by the International Standards Organization (ISO). The tubing purchaser and designer should be aware of API requirements and testing procedures (see API Spec. All tubing should meet API minimum requirements. In critical wells, the purchaser may want to receive and review the manufacturer's test results.

The predominant cause of cementing failure appears to be channels of gelled drilling fluid remaining in the annulus after the cement is in place. If drilling-fluid channels are eliminated, any number of cementing compositions will provide an effective seal. Proper hole preparation is the key to success. In evaluating factors that affect the displacement of drilling fluid, it is necessary to consider the flow pattern in an eccentric annulus (i.e., where the pipe is closer to one side of the hole than the other). Flow velocity in an eccentric annulus is not uniform, and the highest velocity occurs in the side of the hole with the largest clearance.

An exceptional flow case is the operation of running pipe or casing into the wellbore. Moving pipe into the wellbore displaces fluid, and the flow of this fluid generates pressures called surge pressures. When the pipe is pulled from the well, negative pressures are generated, and these pressures are called swab pressures. In most wells, the magnitude of the pressure surges is not critical because proper casing design and mud programs leave large enough margins between fracture pressures and formation-fluid pressures. Typically, dynamic fluid flow is not a consideration, so a steady-state calculation can be performed.

The first design task in preparing the well plan is selecting depths that the casing will be run and cemented. The program results should allow the well to be drilled safely without the necessity of building "a steel monument" of casing strings. Unfortunately, many well plans give significant considerations to the actual pipe design, yet give only cursory attention to the pipe setting depth. The importance of selecting proper depths for setting casing cannot be overemphasized. Many wells have been engineering or economic failures because the casing program specified setting depths too shallow or deep. Applying a few basic drilling principles combined with a basic knowledge of the geological conditions in an area can help determine where casing strings should be set to ensure that drilling can proceed with minimum difficulty. Drilling environments often require several casing strings to reach the total desired depth. Figure 1 shows the relationship of some of these strings.

During drilling operations, a pipe is considered stuck if it cannot be freed from the hole without damaging the pipe, and without exceeding the drilling rig's maximum allowed hook load. Pipe sticking can be classified under two categories: differential pressure pipe sticking and mechanical pipe sticking. Complications related to stuck pipe can account for nearly half of total well cost, making stuck pipe one of the most expensive problems that can occur during a drilling operation.[1] Stuck pipe often is associated with well-control and lost-circulation events--the two other costly disruptions to drilling operations--and is a significant risk in high-angle and horizontal wells. Drilling through depleted zones, where the pressure in the annulus exceeds that in the formation, might cause the drillstring to be pulled against the wall and embedded in the filter cake deposited there (Figure 1[2]).

The causes of mechanical pipe sticking are inadequate removal of drilled cuttings from the annulus; borehole instabilities, such as hole caving, sloughing, or collapse; plastic shale or salt sections squeezing (creeping); and key seating. Excessive drilled-cuttings accumulation in the annular space caused by improper cleaning of the hole can cause mechanical pipe sticking, particularly in directional-well drilling. The settling of a large amount of suspended cuttings to the bottom when the pump is shut down, or the downward sliding of a stationary-formed cuttings bed on the low side of a directional well can pack a bottomhole assembly (BHA), which causes pipe sticking. In directional-well drilling, a stationary cuttings bed may form on the low side of the borehole (see Figure 1). If this condition exists while tripping out, it is very likely that pipe sticking will occur.

To evaluate a given casing design, a set of loads is necessary. Casing loads result from running the casing, cementing the casing, subsequent drilling operations, production and well workover operations. Mechanical loads are associated with casing hanging weight, shock loads during running, packer loads during production and workovers, and hanger loads. In tubing and over the free length of the casing above top-of-cement (TOC), changes in temperatures and pressures will have the largest effect on the ballooning and temperature load components. The incremental forces, because of these effects, are given here.

Bit- and casing-size selection can mean the difference between a well that must be abandoned before completion and a well that is an economic and engineering success. Improper size selection can result in holes so small that the well must be abandoned because of drilling or completion problems. The drilling engineer (and well planner) is responsible for designing the hole geometry to avoid these problems. However, a successful well is not necessarily an economic success. For example, a well design that allows for satisfactory, trouble-free drilling and completion may be an economic failure, because the drilling costs are greater than the expected return on investment.

The pressure rating that continuous operations may take place at the set conditions and fluids. Examples – e.g., WP set at 80% of rated burst for new pipe, 70% for used pipe, 50% for welded or damaged pipe.