SPE 149032

Non-Linear Model for Evaluation of Elastomer Seals

Subjected to Differential Pressure
M.S.M. Al-Kharusi, S.Z. Qamar1, T. Pervez, M. Akhtar, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of
Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Box 33, Al Khoud 123, Sultanate of Oman

Copyright 2011, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE/DGS Saudi Arabia Section Technical Symposium and Exhibition held in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, 1518 May 2011.

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Abstract
The present paper discusses performance evaluation of swelling elastomer seals used in oil well
applications under different field conditions. Swelling elastomers are a new type of advanced polymers,
and have started to play an important role in improving existing wells, and in aiding oil recovery from
difficult or abandoned fields. On the other hand, failure of these swell packers can lead to significant
losses in terms of time and money. Performance evaluation of swelling-elastomer packers and other
sealing elements prior to being put to use is therefore critically important. Theoretical investigation of the
elastomer seal bonded between a metal tube and a rigid casing is carried out in the present paper.
Numerical modeling and simulation for swelling-elastomer seals is also conducted using a Finite Element
(FE) package such as ABAQUS. All Theoretical and numerical results of this study will help in
predicting the seal behavior under different well conditions and the parameter that will affect on the
sealing performance. Also, the study investigates both the effect of the material and geometrical
properties of the elastomer on its sealing performance under different loading conditions. For the sealing
environment, the study investigates the effect of radial strain (tubular expansion ratio) and the annular
fluid pressure on the sealing performance under different seal geometries.

Introduction
Due to the continued forecast of increasing energy demand (oil and gas in particular), oil companies are
stepping up their efforts in meeting the global demand. Drilling to increasing depths and producing from
difficult reservoirs are already posing serious challenges to the petroleum development industry. Apart
from this, there is a continued effort towards performance improvement, cost reduction and innovation
for new tools and techniques to make the dream of a mono-bore diameter well a reality. Solid expandable
tubular (SET) technology achieved quite a few milestones in this direction Error! Reference source not
found.1]. The technology is already being used around the world for applications such as zonal isolation,

1 Corresponding author. Tel +968-24141349; Fax +968-24141316; E-mail sayyad@squ.edu.om

2 [SPE-SAS-1216]

repair of ageing wells to have profitable production, etc. However, there have been difficulties when
cementing with expendables, making cementing a less attractive alternative for zonal isolation in
expandable wells [2][2]. When cement is pumped before the casing is expanded, operation setbacks can
be encountered with respect to setting of the cement, putting the well at risk. On the other hand, when
cement is pumped after casing expansion, the annulus where the cement is to be filled is much smaller;
uniform placement of cement to form a seal being more difficult in such a small annulus. These and
various other reasons make swellable elastomers a very attractive sealing alternative, assuring zonal
isolation when primary cement jobs are difficult, providing long term well integrity in critical areas of
well construction, etc.
Various experimental, numerical, and case studies have been reported in literature regarding the use of
swelling elastomers. However, many issues are not clearly understood and have not been addressed in
detail, including appropriate material modeling, material properties after swelling, seal performance
under different wells conditions, etc [3]. Since the elastomer is perfectly bonded (vulcanized) to the outer
surface of the tubular, these elastomer seals can be treated as bonded elastic layer problem. Bonded
elastomer layers have been studied by many researchers in quest for a closed-form solution able to
predict the behavior of elastomer under different conditions. Although the behavior of elastomer is
actually highly nonlinear, most of the published papers have assumed elastomers to behave linearly and
the modeling has been done for small strains only [4]4-11]. The obvious reason is that use of finite strain
analysis with nonlinear constitutive models usually leads to very complex solutions [12]12]. Furthermore,
additional simplifying assumptions have been generally made about the deformed shape and/or the state
of stress, in order to obtain a simple final expression [ 7].
The current paper is part of an ongoing study on performance evaluation of swelling elastomer seals used
in oil well applications under different field conditions. Attempt has been made here to develop a closed-
form solution for the distribution of sealing pressure along the seal length as a function of compression
ratio, seal geometry, and material properties. Rather than treating the material behavior to be linear elastic
(as in most of the earlier works), the model presented here considers the elastomer material to be Neo-
Hookean in nature (nonlinear).

Problem Description
Figure-2 show the arrangement of a single elastomer seal perfectly bonded to the outer surface of the
tubular. During operation, the elastomer seal comes in contact with an outer pipe (known as casing) or
with the rock formation. The sealing is achieved when the elastomer is strained between the two tubes (or
between the tube and the formation) by (a) expansion of the inner tubular, (b) swelling of the elastomer
when it comes in contact with water or oil, or (c) a combination of expansion and swelling. The elastomer
is considered to be perfectly bonded to the inner tubular (SET). In the absence of any tubular expansion
or elastomer swelling, an elastomer seal of thickness t is just touching the outer casing. When the tubular
is expanded, or the elastomer swells upon coming in contact with a fluid (or both), the elastomer seal
undergoesacompression.The elastomer is assumed to be nearly incompressible elastic solid, behaving
like a simple neo-Hookean material, with a single elastic coefficient (shear modulus G).
For a neo-Hookean material, Rivlin [13] showed that a second-order normal stress zz is required to
maintain the shear deformation, in addition to the shear stress rz:
[SPE-SAS-1216] 3

zz = G2 + p, (1)
where p is representing the fluid pressure. Also, shear stress rz is linearly related to the amount of shear
, even for large shear strains [14]:
rz= - G. (2)

Constitutive Model
The deformation can be considered to take place in two stages: a simple homogeneous compression, and
a simple shear deformation that restores points in the plane of the bonded surfaces to their original
position. The elastomer seal of length H, inner radius r1 (same as outer radius of the tubular), and
thickness t (elastomer just touching the outer casing), is assumed to undergo a simple shear deformation
with displacements only in the length direction, with no deformation in the radial and azimuthal
directions. Thickness is assumed to be much smaller than the inner radius r1 (t << r1). The elastomer is
assumed to be near incompressible and neo-Hookean in elastic behavior [15-17], with shear modulus G.
Using the approach proposed by Gent [15], the stresses acting on a cylindrical element of the tubular
having a radial thickness dr (Figure-3), in terms of cylindrical coordinates (r, , z) are
u(r,z)
rz= G G (3)
r

u(r,z)
2

zz=G 2 p G p. (4)
r
Here, u(r,z) represents the parabolic deformation of the seal as shown in Figure-4 . As the only
deformation is in the length (z) direction,
= = 0 . (5)

Force Analysis
The static equilibrium of forces acting on the differential element in the axial (z) direction yields
rz zz rz
0. (6)
r z r
Also, since is assumed to be independent of z (t << r1),
zz/z = p/z.
Accordingly, p/z can be converted to dp/dz. Equation (6) thus becomes
2 , 1 , 1
+ = . (7)
2
Now, let
1 dP
q( z ) , (8)
G dz
where q(z) represents the (maximum) deflection of the elastomer at the center. On the other hand, since
the material is bonded to the tubular and, the boundary conditions used to solve the above non-
4 [SPE-SAS-1216]

homogenous differential equation are u( ~

r1 ,z) = u(r2,z) = 0; Figure-4.
The deformation field u(r, z) thus becomes
(r22 ~
r1 2 )
u (r , z )
1
q ( z ) r 2 ~
r1 2 ~ ln r ln ~r1 , (9)
4 (ln r2 ln r1 )

where ~r1 r1 . As shown in Figure-4, the deformed shape of the seal after compression takes a
parabolic shape.

Pressure Distribution along Elastomer Seal

Since the elastomer is assumed to be nearly incompressible, stresses in all directions are very similar for
this constrained geometry. Hence, the volume change can be calculated from
V ( z) 2 [ A ( z z) A ( z)]~
rc 2rc z , (10)

where A (z ) and ~
rc are as shown in Figure-4. Integrating over the compression height, we obtain
r2

rc [u (r , z z ) u (r , z )]dr 2rc z
V ( z ) 2~
~
r1

This can written as

~
V ( z ) 1 q( z) 2rc z , (11)
where, in terms of equation 8,
3(r13 2r13 ln r2 3r1r22 3r23 2r23 ln r2 3r2 r12 rs

1 ,
6ln r2
r2

u(r, z)rdr
~
3~r1 4 ~
r1 ln ~
4
r2 2~ r1 2 r2 r2 r2 ln ~
2 4 4
r2 ,
~
rc

r1

4 3~
r1 3 2~r1 ln ~ r2 3~r1r2 3r2 2r2 ln ~ r2 3~
r2 3 2 3 3
r1 2 r2
u(r, z)dr
~
r1

and rs r1 .
2
The volume change can be further expressed in the form
P( z ) ,
V ( z ) V (12)
K
where K is the bulk modulus of the elastomer material. We know that
E E
K , and G (13)
3(1 2 ) 2(1 )
Here E and aretheelasticmodulusandPoissonsratio of the material, respectively. Substituting (12) in
(11), using equation (13), and considering length of the differential element z to be infinitesimal, we
obtain
[SPE-SAS-1216] 5

d 2 P( z ) ~2 r E
P( z ) ~ s 0. (14)
dz 2
1 (1 )
~ 3 A(1 2 )
Here, 2 ~
21 (1 )
By solving equation (14) we get
~ ~ rs E
P(z) C1e z C2 e z ~ . (15)
1 (1 )
Since the boundary condition for this particular problem is P(z=0)=Pa, and P(z=H)=Pb, the constants C1
and C2 in equation (15) are
~
PB ~ ~rs E PB ~ ~rs E e H
r E 1 (1 )
2
1 (1 )
2
C1 PA ~ ~2s
1 (1 )
~
~
e H e H and

~
PB ~ ~rs E PB ~ ~rs E e H
1 (1 )
2 1 (1 )
2
C2
~ ~
e H e H
Hence, pressure distribution of the elastomer seal along the z-direction is

~
PB ~ ~rs E PB ~ ~rs E e H
r E 1 (1 )
2
1 (1 )
2 ~
P(z) PA ~ ~2s e z
1 (1 )
~
H
e e
~

H


. (16)
~
P rs E P rs E e H
1 2 (1 ) 1 2 (1 ) ~
B ~ ~ B ~ ~
e z rs E

~
H
e e
~
H

~~
1 2 (1 )

Equation (16) represents the pressure distribution along the elastomer seal as a function of the differential
fluid pressure, seal geometry, seal compression, and material properties of the elastomer. Figure-4, 7, and
8 show the variation of sealing pressure along seal length (z-direction) without seal compression
(elastomer just touching the outer casing, =0), with compression of 0.1 mm, and for different
compressions. Representing typical actual values from a regional oil well, seal geometry is represented
by a tubular outer dia (seal inner dia) r1 = 10.33 mm, seal length (H) of 20 cm, and a seal thickness (t) of
7 mm. Material parameters for a near-incompressible elastomer are taken as E = 12.4998 MPa, and =
0.4995. Fluid pressures above and below the seal element are 1.0 MPa and 0.8 MPa respectively.

Finite Element Analysis

Finite element model of the elastomer seal, using the commercial FEM package ABAQUS, is shown in
Fig-5. The same model has been used for different loading (boundary) conditions. In the first case, only
differential pressure is applied on the elastomer (pressure Pa above and pressure Pb below the elastomer
segment), with no compression of the elastomer seal (seal just touching the outer casing); displacements
6 [SPE-SAS-1216]

along r and z being restricted on the left and right sides. In the second case, the elastomer seal is
compressed against the outer casing by an amount of = 0.1 mm, with no differential pressure across the
seal. In the third case, the elastomer seal is subjected to both compression against casing and a differential
pressure across the seal.

Results and Discussion

Figure-4-6 shows the pressure distribution along the seal when only differential fluid pressure (axial
direction) is applied, with no seal compression (elastomer just touching the outer casing, =0). As
expected with these boundary conditions, the minimum sealing pressure is in the middle of the seal, and
sealing pressure at the two ends (top and bottom) depend on applied fluid pressure value. When only seal
compression is applied, with no fluid pressure (Fig-7), the maximum sealing pressure occurs in the
middle of the seal. An elastomer segment being compressed between two plates does behave in this
manner, as the material at the two ends is free to expand in the axial direction, thus reducing the seal
pressure at the ends. Also, as would be naturally expected, sealing pressure is higher when lateral
displacement (seal compression) is applied in comparison with the case when only differential fluid
pressure is.
Figures 6 and 7 demonstrate a very close match between analytical and numerical results, thus validating
the analytical model developed. We can therefore use the analytical model (equation 16) to predict the
sealing behavior under different conditions. Figure-6 shows the distribution of sealing pressure along the
seal length for different amounts of seal compression , using equation 16. An interesting observation
from is that the pressure distribution is symmetric along the seal as long as the end pressures are the same
(including the case of zero fluid pressure).

Conclusions and Future Work

An analytical model has been developed that can be used for performance evaluation of an elastomer seal
behavior bonded between a metal tube and a rigid casing (or rock formation). The model is used to
determine the sealing pressure along length of the seal as a function of seal geometry, applied fluid
pressure, and bulk properties of the seal material. Seal compression can be achieved by expansion of a
solid tubular, by swelling of the elastomer due to contact with water or oil, or by a combination of both.
The final closed-form solution is in the form of a partial differential equation, describing the sealing
pressure along the seal length as a function of seal material properties, seal dimensions, seal compression,
and different fluid pressures acting on the seal. Finite element modeling and simulation has also been
carried out for the same sealing parameters, using the commercial FEM package ABAQUS. Analytical
solution is found to be in close agreement with simulation results, thus validating the model.
For continuation of this work, the analytical model will be used for determination of the sealing pressure
under different boundary conditions, seal geometries, and material properties. After validation with
further numerical and experimental results, the model can then be used for prediction of sealing pressure
behavior for varying seal length, seal thickness, compression ratio, etc. These results can be used by field
engineers for prequalification of swell packers, and by development engineers for improvement of
elastomer seal design.
[SPE-SAS-1216] 7

References
[1] Pervez T., Seibi A., Al-Hiddabi S.A., and Karrech A., (2005) Reviewofsolid expandable tubular
technology,SPE Paper # 88820, SPE Drilling and Completion Journal
[2] Herold B.H. (2006) Evaluating expandable tubular zonal and swelling elastomer isolation using
wireline ultrasonic measurements, SPE Paper # 103893, 2006 IADC/SPE Asia Pacific Drilling
Technology Conference, Bangkok, Thailand, 13-15 Nov 2006
[3] Evers R., Young D., Vargus, Solhaug K. (2009) Design methodology for swellable elastomer
packers in fracturing operations, SPE Paper # OTC 20157, Offshore Technology Conference,
Houston, Texas, 4-7 May 2009
[4] Constantinou M.S., Kartoum A., Kelly J.M. (1992) Analysis of compression of hollow circular
elastomeric bearings, Engineering Structures, vol. 14, p 103111
[5] Gent A.N., Lindley P.B. (1959) The compression of bonded rubber blocks, Proceedings of the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers 173, p 111122
[6] Gent A.N., Meinecke E.A. (1970) Compression, bending and shear of bonded rubber blocks,
Polymer Engineering and Science, vol 10, p 4853
[7] Horton J.M., Tupholme G.E., Gover M.J.C. (2002) Axial loading of bonded rubber blocks, Journal
of Applied Mechanics, ASME 69, p 836843
[8] Lindley P.B. (1979) Compression module for blocks of soft elastic material bonded to rigid end
plates, Journal of Strain Analysis, vol 14, p 1116
[9] Mott P.H., Roland C.M. (1995) Uniaxial deformation of rubber cylinders, Rubber Chemistry and
Technology, vol 68, p 739745
[10] Yeoh O.H., Pinter G.A., Banks H.T. (2002) Compression of bonded rubber blocks, Rubber
Chemistry and Technology, vol 75, p 549561
[11] Koh, C.G., Kelly, J.M. (1989) Compression stiffness of bonded square layers of nearly
incompressible material, Engineering Structures, vol 11, p 915
[12] Kelly J.M. (1997) Earthquake Resistant Design with Rubber, Springer-Verlag, London
[13] Koh C.G., Lim H.L. (2001) Analytical solution for compression stiffness of bonded rectangular
layers,International Journal of Solids and Structures, vol 38, p 445455
[14] Rivlin R.S. (1948) Large elastic deformations of isotropic materials IV. Further developments of
the general theory, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (London), Ser. A, 241, p 379
397
[15] Gent A. N, Yeoh O. H., (2009)Non-linear stresses in a rubber cylinder sheared by pressure at one
end, International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics, 44(7), p 797-800
[16] Wineman A., (2005) Some results for generalized neo-Hookean elastic materials, International
Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics, vol 40, p 271279
[17] Gent A.N., Suh J.B., Kelly III S.G. (2007) Mechanics of rubber shear springs, International
Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics, vol 42, p 241249
8 [SPE-SAS-1216]

Figure-1 Arrangement of tubular with elastomer seal used in oil wells

Fluid A, Pa

Casing/
Casing/ formation
formation
Elastomer

Elastomer
SET

Smooth
SET

surface Smooth
geometry surface
geometry
Fluid B, Pb

(a) (b)

Figure-2 An elastomer seal confined between tubular and casing/formation subjected to differential
pressure; before (a) and after sealing (b)
[SPE-SAS-1216] 9

Figure-3 Force balance on differential element of the elastomer seal

Figure-4 Elements of the deformed shape of elastomer seal

10 [SPE-SAS-1216]

P0
P a

Boundary
Conditions

Prescribed
Displacement Elastomer
Seal
Elastomer

PH
Pb

Figure-3 Finite element model of elastomer seal under compression and differential pressure

5
x 10
10
Analytical
FEM
9

8
Sealing Pressure, Pa

3
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
Distance Along Seal, (m)

Figure-4 Pressure distribution along seal length when only fluid pressure is applied;
no seal compression (=0)
[SPE-SAS-1216] 11

7
x 10
4
Analytical
3.5 FEM

3
Sealing Pressure, Pa

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
Distance Along Seal, (m)

Figure-5 Pressure distribution along seal length when only lateral displacement (seal compression)
of = 0.1 mm is applied, with no differential fluid pressure

7
x 10
4
=0.1 mm
3.5

=0.08 mm
Maximum Sealing Pressure, Pa

2.5
=0.06 mm
2

=0.04 mm
1.5

1 =0.02 mm

0.5
=0 mm
0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
Distance Along Seal, (m)

Figure-6 Pressure distribution along seal length for different amounts of seal compression ()