Finite Element Analysis on Stress Concentration of Well Casing With Corrosion Pits

Corrosion-induced pits will disturb the original stress distribution of casing and appear local high stress area. Through 3-D finite element analysis on casing with spherical and cylindrical corrosion cavity, the stress concentration degree and the influences of cavity shape, size and orifice diameter on stress concentration factor are determined and analyzed. The results show that the depth and shape of corrosion cavities are major factors impacting the stress concentration factor. For the casing with corrosion pits, the smaller orifice diameter, the more obvious influence of hemisphere effect on stress concentration factor. With the transition from shallow-spherical cavity to exact hemispherical cavity or from exact hemispherical cavity to deep-spherical cavity or from exact hemispherical cavity to cylindrical cavity, the changes of stress concentration factor show different characteristics.Copyright © 2010 by ASME