Shear Member Post-Shear Segment Retention Apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Shear members often fail to provide clean breaks and can cause issues such as scoring or loosening, leading to jamming and potentially hazardous situations in subterranean applications due to the lack of effective retention mechanisms for segments after a shearing event.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of designs that utilize threads, retaining pins, and split ring structures to securely retain and subsequently remove sheared segments, including features like ratchets and pivot members to prevent remnant segments from escaping, facilitating easy removal post-shear event.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If clearance or interference fit is used to mount shear members in bores, then assembly is simplified and manufacturing is easier, but post-shear segments can score opposing members or come loose causing jamming
Solution Approach 1:
The shear member is divided into multiple segments by introducing one or more notches along its length. This segmentation allows the shear member to break into controlled pieces while maintaining retention features that prevent the segments from becoming loose or causing jamming after the shear event.
Solution Approach 2:
The retention member is inserted into a bore within the first component, creating a nested structure. The shear member passes through the retention member, with the retention member's outer surface engaging the bore to hold the shear member securely in place during operation and after shearing.
2Device complexity
If simple shear member designs are used, then device complexity is reduced and assembly is faster, but segments can escape or cause hazardous situations after shearing
Solution Approach 1:
The retention member is pre-installed in the bore of the first component before the shear member is inserted. This preliminary action ensures that the retention mechanism is already in place to capture and hold any segments that result from the shear event, preventing them from escaping or causing jamming.
Solution Approach 2:
The retention member acts as an intermediary between the shear member and the bore. It provides a mechanical interface that secures the shear member during operation and captures segments after shearing, mediating the interaction to prevent harmful effects while maintaining structural simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
Shear member designs in various formats are presented with additional features for segment retention and subsequent removal after a shearing event and removal of the tool from a subterranean location. In some embodiments a portion of the shear member is retained by threads so that the segment stays in the part and then can be removed at the surface with putting a notch in the segment and removing it with a screwdriver. In another embodiment a retaining pin in an intersecting bore can hold onto a sheared remnant of the shear pin by pushing the remnant laterally in the bore that it is mounted. Another design for a shear ring uses a split design with the right angle portion of the ring that gets sheared appearing in segments so that the ring can be rapidly snapped into a groove at its outer periphery followed by a retaining cap facilitating removal.