Recess Shoe Insert Sleeve Radial Deflection
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Solution Overview
Problem
The hydrocarbon recovery industry faces complexity in creating a recess in tubular structures using multiple swaging tools or bi-modal swages, which complicates operations and makes it difficult to achieve a consistent 'monobore' system, especially when additional sleeves are required for recess shoes.
Innovation Solution
An insert sleeve with radially deflectable fingers that can be over-expanded using a single swage, allowing for the creation of a recess shoe with an outside dimension smaller than the swage, eliminating the need for additional swages and simplifying the process by maintaining a consistent bore throughout the tubing string.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple swaging tools or bi-modal swages are used to create a recess, then the recess can be formed, but the operational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The insert sleeve is segmented into multiple radially deflectable fingers that can be independently deflected by the swage. This segmentation allows a single swage to achieve the complex task of forming a recess, eliminating the need for multiple swaging tools or bi-modal swages while maintaining reliable recess formation.
Solution Approach 2:
The insert sleeve transitions from a static structure to a dynamic one with radially deflectable fingers. During swaging, the fingers deflect radially outward to accommodate the swage, and then return to their original position, enabling a single swage to perform what previously required multiple tools.
2Manufacturing precision
If additional sleeves are placed within the recess to maintain monobore, then bore consistency is maintained, but retrieval complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The insert sleeve's fingers are designed to be radially deflectable, allowing them to expand during swaging to maintain bore consistency, then automatically retract when the swage is removed. This dynamic behavior eliminates the need for manual retrieval operations, as the sleeve self-retracts to allow tubulars to be hung further downhole.
Solution Approach 2:
The insert sleeve performs self-service by automatically retracting its fingers after the swage is removed. This self-retraction mechanism maintains bore consistency during the operation while automatically resolving the retrieval issue, eliminating the need for additional operational parameters or manual intervention.
3Strength
If the insert sleeve fingers are made rigid to maintain structure, then structural strength is maintained, but over-expansion capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The insert sleeve fingers are designed with controlled flexibility, allowing them to deflect radially outward during swaging to enable over-expansion of the recess shoe. The fingers maintain sufficient structural strength to withstand the swaging forces while being flexible enough to deflect and then return to their original position, achieving both strength and adaptability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables efficient over-expansion of recess shoes without requiring multiple swages, simplifying operations and facilitating the creation of a monobore system, while allowing for easy retrieval of the insert sleeve, thus enhancing operational efficiency and reducing complexity.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of fingers extending from the ring, the fingers being radially outwardly deflectable in response to a radially outwardly directed force generated by a swage in a swaging position acting on an inside dimension of the insert sleeve
Implementation Method 2
the fingers being radially outwardly deflectable in response to a radially outwardly directed force generated by a swage in a swaging position acting on an inside dimension of the insert sleeve and radially inwardly retractable when the radially outwardly directed force is removed
Data Source
AI summary
A recess shoe system includes a recess shoe an insert sleeve disposed radially inwardly adjacent of the recess shoe in a portion of the recess shoe. The insert sleeve includes a ring and a plurality of fingers extending from the ring, the fingers being radially outwardly deflectable in response to a radially outwardly directed force. The force is generated by a swage in a swaging position acting on an inside dimension of the insert sleeve, and the insert sleeve is radially inwardly retractable when the radially outwardly directed force is removed such that the fingers of the insert sleeve define a tubular structure having an outside dimension smaller than an outside dimension of the swage in the swaging position and method.