Ultimate bearing capacity analysis and structural optimization of packer slip

The packer's slips indent the inner wall of the casing, leaving a series of marks between the teeth of the slips and the inner wall of the casing. Excessive bite depth can result in damage to the inner wall of the casing, potentially leading to failure. To minimize damage to the inner wall of the casing and improve the ultimate bearing capacity of the slip, a three-dimensional finite element analysis model of the slips is developed and validated through laboratory experiments. The optimization objective is to minimize casing damage and maximize bearing capacity. This paper examines the correlation between the residual collapse strength of the casing and the maximum depth of slips penetrating the inner wall. It determines the critical depth value by calculating the extrusion force endured by the inner wall of the casing as an optimization evaluation index. At the same time, the optimal structural parameters of the slips were determined through numerical simulation and orthogonal experiments. These parameters include a 90° dental angle, a 21° inner cone angle, a 219 mm outer diameter, and a 6.5 mm tooth pitch. The research results indicate that the equivalent stress of the improved slip has decreased by 8.66 %. The equivalent stress on the inner wall of the casing has been reduced by 9.34 %, and the maximum tooth mark depth of the casing has decreased by 30.48 %. Furthermore, the ultimate bearing capacity of the slip has increased by 2.24 times. Research has shown that the improved slip not only reduces damage to the inner wall of the casing and minimizes stress concentration on the slip, but also increases the ultimate bearing capacity of the slip. The research results can serve as a reference for the study and application of packers.