Wellbore seals with complex features through additive manufacturing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10358890-B2
Application number	US-201515736245-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 31, 2015
Priority date	Aug 31, 2015
Publication date	Jul 23, 2019
Grant date	Jul 23, 2019

Abstract

A wellbore sealing device having an elastomeric element with complex features and associated additive manufacturing method is disclosed. The complex features can include voids such as isolated voids and undercut-like voids that cannot be reasonably produced using existing molding techniques (e.g., due physically impossible mold shapes or cost-prohibitive mold requirements). These complex features can alleviate stress and increase radial expansion of the elastomeric element in response to axial compression of the elastomeric element. Such elastomeric elements with complex features can be additively manufactured (e.g., through three dimensional printing). In some cases, the elastomeric elements can be additively manufactured directly on a tool, such as on an end plate or mandrel of a wellbore sealing device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A wellbore sealing apparatus, comprising:
an elastomeric element axially compressible between an uncompressed state and a compressed state, the elastomeric element being axially positionable within an annulus in the uncompressed state and being expandable for fluidly sealing the annulus in the compressed state, the elastomeric element including an internal void and a channel connected between the internal void and an internal surface of the elastomeric element, the channel being positioned to create an inclined plane capable of converting axially compressive force into outwards radial force;
wherein the internal void and the channel are both formed within the elastomeric material of the elastomeric element.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a width of the internal void is at least twice a width of the channel.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the width of the internal void is at least four times the width of the channel.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the elastomeric element further includes a groove in the outer surface of the elastomeric element adjacent to the internal void.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the internal void is isolated from an inner surface or outer surface of the elastomeric element.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the internal void is positioned between a first section of the elastomeric element and a second section of the elastomeric element to facilitate separation of the first section from the second section in response to axial compression of the elastomeric element.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the elastomeric element includes a plurality of layers of elastomeric material formed over one another using an additive manufacturing technique, wherein a subset of the plurality of layers includes unfilled sections that form the internal void.

8. A method of producing a wellbore sealing device, comprising:
providing a tubular having an outer surface; and
forming an elastomeric element about the tubular, wherein forming the elastomeric element includes:
applying consecutive layers of elastomeric material to the outer surface of the tubular; and
forming an internal void and a channel connected between the internal void and an internal surface of the elastomeric element, wherein forming the internal void and the channel includes leaving unfilled sections in at least some of the consecutive layers of elastomeric material, the channel being positioned to create an inclined plane capable of converting axially compressive force into outwards radial force;

wherein the internal void and the channel are both formed within the elastomeric material of the elastomeric element.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein forming the elastomeric element further includes forming a channel connecting the internal void to an inner surface or an outer surface of the elastomeric element, a width of the internal void is at least twice a width of the channel.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the internal void is positioned between a first section of the elastomeric element and a second section of the elastomeric element to facilitate separation of the first section from the second section in response to axial compression of the elastomeric element.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein applying the consecutive layers of elastomeric material includes applying a layer of a first elastomeric material and applying a layer of a second elastomeric material that is different than the first elastomeric material.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein providing the tubular further includes forming the tubular, and wherein forming the tubular includes applying a layer of material to another layer of material.

13. An apparatus positionable in a downhole environment, comprising:
a mandrel having an outer diameter, the mandrel positionable within an inner diameter of a tubular or a wellbore for forming an annulus between the outer diameter of the mandrel and the inner diameter of the tubular or the wellbore;
an elastomeric element positionable around the outer diameter of the mandrel, the elastomeric element being axially compressible between an uncompressed state and a compressed state, the elastomeric element being axially positionable within the annulus in the uncompressed state and being expandable for fluidly sealing the annulus in the compressed state, the elastomeric element including an internal void and a channel connected between the internal void and an internal surface of the elastomeric element, the channel being positioned to create an inclined plane capable of converting axially compressive force into outwards radial force,
wherein the internal void and the channel are both formed within the elastomeric material of the elastomeric element; and
a pair of end plates positionable around the outer diameter of the mandrel at opposing ends of the elastomeric element for applying axial compressive force to the elastomeric element.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein a width of the internal void is at least twice a width of the channel.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the width of the internal void is at least four times the width of the channel.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the elastomeric element further includes a groove in the outer surface of the elastomeric element adjacent to the internal void.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the internal void is isolated from an inner surface or outer surface of the elastomeric element.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the internal void is positioned between a first section of the elastomeric element and a second section of the elastomeric element to facilitate separation of the first section from the second section in response to axial compression of the elastomeric element.

19. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the elastomeric element includes a plurality of layers of elastomeric material formed over one another using an additive manufacturing technique, wherein a subset of the plurality of layers includes unfilled sections that form the internal void.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the elastomeric element is formed using an additive manufacturing technique selected from the group consisting of three-dimensional printing, fused filament fabrication, selective heat sintering, fused deposition modeling, and selective laser sintering.

Assignees

• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Zhong Xiaoguang
• Harder Nathan J
• Clemens Jack Gammill

Classifications

• E21B33/128

  with a member expanded radially by axial pressure (E21B33/122, E21B33/124 take precedence) · CPC title

• E21B33/1208 Primary

  characterised by the construction of the sealing or packing means (E21B33/1277 takes precedence) · CPC title