Load transfer mechanism of flexible drill string with hinges based on dynamic relaxation method

The flexible drill string with hinges is a unique structure for drilling ultra-short radius horizontal wells. In this paper, spatial beam elements are used to simulate the flexible drill string and outer tube, universal joint connection elements are used to simulate hinge joints, and contact gap elements are used to simulate the random contact between the flexible drill string and the outer tube. A nonlinear mechanical analysis model is established for the contact of the flexible drill string with hinges in the outer tube, and the dynamic relaxation method is adopted to solve the model. The correctness of the model and method is verified by an example with analytical solutions. Numerical calculations are conducted on six types of hinge rotation limits and six different single section lengths of flexible drill strings in the inclined section. The results illustrate that the contact force between the flexible drill string and the outer tube is discontinuous and randomly distributed along the axis. The hinge rotation limit is increased from 3° to 5.5°, the axial force transmitted to the bottom of the flexible drill string is reduced from 16.7 kN to 1.5 kN, and the torque transmitted to the bottom has little changed, and its values are close to 1900N·m. When the hinge rotation limit is greater than 5 degrees, the axial force loss rate is greater than 59.5 %. When the hinge rotation limit is 4 degrees, the axial force and torque transmitted to the bottom of the well have little change for flexible drill strings of different single section lengths.