Numerical and experimental distribution of temperature and stress fields in API round threaded connection

Abstract Thread galling is one of the main failure forms for oil tubing and casing connections, and it leads to deterioration of seal performance and connection strength of oil tubing and casing directly. A series of full-scale tests were performed on samples of API J55 steel grade non-upset tubing threaded connections. The temperature and stress field distributions of the tubing threaded connection were measured dynamically under the action of different make-up and break-out torque and velocity. Major factors, which affect the distributions of temperature and stress fields of tubing connections, were studied and their effects on thread galling failure were summarized with friction-wear theory. The FEA models of tubing threaded connections are validated by comparing the numerical results with the full-scale tests. The validated models are afterwards used to perform parametric studies on the connection behaviour.