VOIDED MOLDABLE BUTTONS
A button includes a body including a void. The void pierces the body completely therethrough, and the body is made of a moldable material.
The present document is based on and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/829,208, filed Apr. 4, 2019, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUNDIn a variety of well fracturing applications, a wellbore is initially drilled and cased. A frac plug is then pumped down and actuated to form a seal with the surrounding casing. Once the casing is perforated, the frac plug is used to prevent fracturing fluid from flowing farther downhole, thus forcing the fracturing fluid out through the perforations and into the surrounding formation. In some applications, multiple frac plugs may be deployed to enable fracturing at different well zones. Each frac plug includes a sealing element, which is deformed into sealing engagement with the surrounding casing. The frac plug also includes one or more slip assemblies having a plurality of slips. The slips may include buttons, which are used to anchor the frac plug in the casing. To ensure sealing and sufficient anchoring with the casing, the frac plug tends to be formed with relatively precise and expensive components. In addition to the expense, the construction of such a frac plug also can lead to difficulties associated with milling out the frac plug after completion of the fracturing operation.
SUMMARYAccording to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a button includes a body comprising a void, wherein the void pierces the body completely therethrough, and wherein the body is made of a moldable material.
According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a method includes deploying a downhole tool into a cased wellbore, and anchoring the downhole tool to the cased wellbore, wherein the downhole tool includes: a plurality of slips, each slip of the plurality of slips including: a slip body; and at least one button disposed in the slip body, wherein the at least one button includes: a body including a void, wherein the void pierces the body completely therethrough, and wherein the body of the at least one button is made of a moldable material.
According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a method of manufacturing a button includes using a mold to form a body including a void, wherein the void pierces the body completely therethrough.
However, many modifications are possible without materially departing from the teachings of this disclosure. Accordingly, such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the claims.
Certain embodiments of the disclosure will hereafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements. It should be understood, however, that the accompanying figures illustrate the various implementations described herein and are not meant to limit the scope of various technologies described herein, and:
In the following description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of some embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the apparatus and/or method may be practiced without these details and that numerous variations or modifications from the described embodiments may be possible.
In the specification and appended claims: the terms “up” and “down,” “upper” and “lower,” “upwardly” and “downwardly,” “upstream” and “downstream,” “uphole” and “downhole,” “above” and “below,” and other like terms indicating relative positions above or below a given point or element are used in this description to more clearly describe some embodiments of the disclosure.
The present disclosure generally relates to an apparatus and method for facilitating a fracturing operation. Specifically, one or more embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to voided buttons made out of a moldable material, such as a powder metal material or a ceramic material, for use in a downhole tool during a fracturing operation. Because the voided button is made out of a moldable material, no machining of the button is required, which provides a significant cost savings. Moreover, the voided button exhibits improved performance during drill out.
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Due to the affordability of powder metal and the potential to eliminate machine work, the powder metal molding process as previously described may reduce the cost of the voided button 220 by up to 90%. There are commercially available powdered metals, which have low elongation, but comparable tensile strength to 8620 steel. As appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art, low elongation generally indicates that a material will fracture and mill more easily.
In other embodiments, 3D printing or additive manufacturing are other manufacturing methods that could be used to manufacture the voided button 220.
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Moreover, the synergy of combining a button molded out of powdered metal (or ceramic) with a void completely piercing the body of the button therethrough, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, achieves superior results and exhibits an unmistakable improvement in average fracture size during impact testing over the solid and un-voided prior art button of
Although a few embodiments of the disclosure have been described in detail above, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible without materially departing from the teachings of this disclosure. Accordingly, such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the claims.
Claims
1. A button comprising:
- a body comprising a void, wherein the void pierces the body completely therethrough, and wherein the body is made of a moldable material.
2. The button of claim 1, wherein the moldable material is a powder metal material.
3. The button of claim 1, wherein the moldable material is a ceramic material.
4. The button of claim 1, wherein the void pierces the body through a flat surface of the body.
5. The button of claim 2, wherein the void pierces the body through a flat surface of the body.
6. A downhole tool comprising:
- a slip body; and
- at least one button of claim 1 disposed in the slip body.
7. The downhole tool of 6, further comprising:
- at least one slip assembly comprising a plurality of slips, each slip of the plurality of slips comprising the slip body.
8. The downhole tool of claim 7, further comprising a sealing element.
9. The downhole tool of claim 8, wherein the downhole tool is a frac plug.
10. A downhole tool comprising:
- a slip body; and
- at least one button of claim 2 disposed in the slip body.
11. The downhole tool of claim 10, further comprising:
- at least one slip assembly comprising a plurality of slips, each slip of the plurality of slips comprising the slip body.
12. The downhole tool of claim 11, further comprising a sealing element.
13. The downhole tool of claim 12, wherein the downhole tool is a frac plug.
14. A method comprising:
- deploying a downhole tool into a cased wellbore; and
- anchoring the downhole tool to the cased wellbore,
- wherein the downhole tool comprises: a plurality of slips, each slip of the plurality of slips comprising: a slip body; and at least one button disposed in the slip body, wherein the at least one button comprises: a body comprising a void, wherein the void pierces the body completely therethrough, and wherein the body of the at least one button is made of a moldable material.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the moldable material is a powder metal material.
16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
- initiating a fracturing operation after the anchoring step; and
- drilling out the downhole tool after the fracturing operation.
17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:
- initiating a fracturing operation after the anchoring step; and
- drilling out the downhole tool after the fracturing operation.
18. A method of manufacturing a button comprising:
- using a mold to form a body comprising a void,
- wherein the void pierces the body completely therethrough.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the body is made of a powder metal material.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein the body is made of a ceramic material.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 3, 2020
Publication Date: Jul 14, 2022
Inventor: Robert Matthew Graham (Houston, TX)
Application Number: 17/601,091