United States Patent Carcagno et al. Gt) THREADI JOINT (75) Inventors: Gabriel E. Carcagno, Campana (AR) Giuseppe Della Pina, Treviolo (IT), Rita G. Toscano, Bucnos Aires (AR) Antonio Podrini, Rome (IT) (73). Assignee: ‘Tenaris Connections AG, Schasn (LI) (4). Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this pateat is extended or adjusted under 35 USCC 154(b) by 34 days. (21) Appl. Now 10/439,238 22) Filed: May 16, 2003 co) Prior Publication Data [US 20080017080 AI Jan. 29,2008 (30) Foreign Application Priority Data May 16,2002 ¢I1) RM20n200274| (1) Im cu! FI6t.25/00 2) US. Ch. (55) Field of Search 285/334; 285/300 288/333, 355, 288/300, 334 66) References Cited US. PATENT DOCUMENTS. A628173 A L198 Hands ota 4830011 A 5/1980 Thun ta Sora A 1901 Ta 1U$00690515082 (10) Patent No. 5) Date of Patent US 6,905,150 B2 Jun. 14, 2005, 51006052 A ILVOL Read SUSTI0 A ‘8/1902. Noo A 7/907 Nepan et SABLI7S BL 62K02 Evans eta 6357905 BL S203 Carcugno 2002Hni7788 AL 2K12 Keug ta amn2mN68192 AL 1172002 Coulon el 2onsmmGTL6s AL “4/2008. Sivey, IV ao0SOIOT2IT AL 6/2003 Daigle ot a FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS ca 2120 1996 EP aries: siiong E2un17 002 Ep mons 77200 FieL/ist Ep i309 S02 Fi6LA5i06 wo oiedss1 22001 FiLASi6 Primary Esaminer—Aazon Dunwoody (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm itzpattick, C Seinto a, Harper & 6 ABSTRACT Threaded pipe joint comprising a male element (1) and a emale element (2), threaded and provided wilh respective complementary sealing surfaces, which define, when screwed together, a notch (13) formed onthe female element Q)oFa predetermined length (X), and a space (7,8) between the threads of predetermined section (8), forming, reservoir to house the joint lubricant, which comes out ofthe volume between the threads of the female (2) and male (1) elements uring the tightening ofthe joint. 1s 2 Drawing SheetsU.S. Patent Jun. 14, 2005 Sheet 1 of 2 US 6,905,150 B2 JT LLINU.S. Patent Jun. 14, 2005 Sheet 2 of 2 US 6,905,150 B2 15 I D1 |b2|US 6,905,150 B2 1 ‘THREADED PIPE JOINT FIELD OF INVENTION The preseat invention relates to joint for dling pipes and more precisely, threaded joint foe joining pipes used the search and exploitation of hydrocarbons, in particular pipes for casing of wells, either for oil andor gas, explora- tion andr pumping. The joints are ofthe male/female type, Jn which a particular design of the thiead and the sealing surfaces together with a eservoir to collet the lubricant in cess ensures avoidance of pressure peaks eaused by the Jubricaat curing tightening and an excellent sealing capacity ‘even under high axial tensile loads. Such pipes can be used both for casings for drilling wells and as srings for gas or cil pumping, STATE OF THE ART In the natural gas and oil extraction industry, in the preliminary drilling phase, drilling is eatried out ether on the sea bed or on land, until the petroleum or gas reservoir is reached, which may even lay at depths of thousands of melees. During such preliminary phase, in order 10 proteet and guide the diling od, the well is eased with pipes of a pre-established length, which are connected to each other at the ends by means of threaded joints asthe drilling depth ‘Once drilling has hecm completed, another tubular string is introduced inside the thus eased well, which is used 0 pump gis or crude oil towards the surface from the under round reservoit. This string, which lies along the whole ‘depth of the well and which can therefore reach several thousand metres in Tength, is also formed by joining, by ‘means of joins ofthe sime type a8 above, pipes about ten mete long, ‘The pipes, made of carbon steel or of eormsion-resistant alloys, in ease the conditions ofthe well should be particu- Jarly aggressive due to the presence of cosrasive elements, rst resist to high stress a the bottom of the well, sch as the pressure of the fui tha i pumped, temperatures of the ‘well in particular at great depts, ad the relative variations in the size of pipes, mechanical sresses generated by the ‘weight of the string ete, always ensuring both gas and oil seal. IL extremely important, therefore, that a joint also ‘offers the same performance asthe pipe body, maintaining an airtight seal for Mud, and also ensuring the eontinuty of the walls ofthe well even in dificult conditions, due to the ‘environment, depth and arrangement ofthe well, which ean be diverted 6r horizontal “To make safer and more reliable the screwing operations ‘of the joints and the scal and integrity of the latter, now ‘designs of threaded joints are continuously developed and the behaviour and ellects of the lubrication means, which are used either 10 avoid seizures (grease or dope, of casings 10 aid screwing) or to contribute ta the sel, are tested ‘Such lubricants ae interposed in the empty space between, the Female and male theads of the join, and in the metal metal seal areas, in order to ensiee that no aon-lubricated areas are present, However, if no appropriate measures are taken, the use of lubricants ean be extremely dangerous for the integrity ofthe joint. In fact, as make-up proceed, in particular when the sealing surfaces come into contact with ‘each other and tightening of the joint begins, lubricant remains trapped inthe space between the teeth of the thread tnd in the area between seal and thread, and is therefore ‘compressed strongly. However, as the lubricant is % o 2 incompressible, extremely high pressure peaks oveur that are exiremely harmful, that can cause a deformation of the join, in particular ofthe metalimetal sealing surfaces, Inorder to solve this problem, the U.S. Pat. No. 4830-411 proposes (0 increase the space between the threads to house {he lubricant; however, it has been noted that when tight: ning the joint, very high pressure peaks ar sill reached, ‘even if, in time, the lubricant can Rw and the pressure therefore decreases, and therefore the problems de to the pressure peaks remain unsolved US. Pat, No. 5,649,725 there is provided a reservoir to collect the lubricant leaking from the thread area during the tightening of the joint. This type of joint, however, has Tacused ils attention on the definition of the length of the distance L, along which the sliding of the sealing surfaces ‘occurs during the make-up of the pipes, to remove the phenomenon of galling, determining it asa particular fune~ tion of the pipe’s external diameter. The document, om the other hand, has not solved the problem caused ‘by the high-pressure peaks that develop tipon Tightening, in pare ticular due to the non-optimal design of the reservoir, for ‘whict only the interval in which the length can vary depend- ‘ng onthe thread rate is suggested. In this case, however, the prablem of the development of high-pressure peaks during ‘make-up of the joints has not been overcome in a satis Other solutions, for example in patent US. Pat. No 5,131,310, provide forthe reduction to 2 minizum of the time interval between the moment whea the sealing surfaces ‘come into contact und the momeat of the fal ightening of the joint, by means of a high taper of the sealing surfaces with respect to the axis of the joint, thus reducing 10 = ‘minim the volume of lubeicaat tha cemains tapped ‘These solutions, hough having proved tobe efficent from the-point of view ofthe reduction of the peaks of pressure inthe lubricant, are found tbe weak fom the poiat of view ‘ofthe seal under high axial tensile loads beeause ofthe high taper of the scaling surfaces Therefore, up to now, the problem af having a lubricated {int easy to assemble, which ean be completely tightened, ‘without negative collateral ellects and which ensures 2 seal evel under strong axial tensile loads of has not been solved Tavourably, SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a jis that presenis, after tightening, reduced pressures in the lubricant ofthe joint sind bas excellent performance levels Anoter object of the invention is to provide a joi maintaining excellent performance even with excessive use ‘of lubricant, which ean result from an incorrect application by users when being applied in operation, Another object of the present invention is to provide a joint easy to assemble and to tighten in operational cond ‘ions during installation and thal ean therefore be used with automatic plants. Another object of the present invention is to provide a joint that can be manufactured and used both with earbon eels and with corrsion-resistant alloys, sich as stainless Steels with a high content of cheome or Chrome/Nickel alloys, in which the presence of chromium favours the Seizure of the sealing surfaces and therefore requires par ticular precautions in planning and execution, "These and other objets tht will hecome apparent fom the present description are achieved aceording to the presentUS 6,905,150 B2 7 jnvention by means of a threaded joint fbr pipes, which ‘compliance with the disclosed invention comprises 4 gen= ‘eraly tubular male element with @ nominal exteral diam- ‘ler carrying a respective male thteading near to anc of is ‘ends, comprising teth having each leadkin and losd Ranks, ‘with roots there between and, between said end and said respective thread, a frst unthreaded surface carrying a frst ‘scaling surface, and aa abutment surface near is extremity, 4 generally tubular female element careying a respective female threading close to one ofits ends, comprising tet, having each fead-in and Toad anks, with roots there between and, between sad end and said respective thread, a second scaling surface, complementary to sad frst sealing surface of the male element, ssid male and female threads ‘defining between them, when made-up together, a space 10 ‘store lubricant, said male and female elements defining & ‘common symmetrical axis of the joint, suid female element boeing further provided with a notch between said respective female thread and said second sealing surface, of a substan- tially toroidal shape, constituting areseroie for the lubricant flowing out ofthe space between the threads of the female and male elements during tightening of the joint, and with an hutment surface adapted for cooperating wi the abutment surface of the male clement when the mule and female ‘elements are completely made-up, wherein suid notch has a Jength, measured paralle othe joint axis, between 4 and 10 ‘mm, that it begins a a distance from the abutment surface ‘of the female clement, between 5 and 12 mm, and his a Volume, expressed ia mm’, in absolute value of atleast 25 times the numerical value of the nominal external diameter, ‘expressed in mm, of said male element, Ina particularembodiment ofthe invention, together with the abovementioned reservoir, the joint is characterised by the presence inthe thread ofa space between the peak of the tooth of the male thread and the root of the female element and also between the lead-in flanks of the corresponding teeth, which defines an empty zone whose area, inthe plane al section of the joints greater than Ot ‘Moreover, the choice of the particularly low value, and substantially lower than the length of the noteb, of the distance in the axial dieection between the poiut of fis ‘contact between the respective sealing surfaces of the ends ‘of the male element snd the female element, during make-up ‘of the joint, and the final position of serewing ofthe sealing ‘surfaces, allows for the formation ofthe sel to be delayed, ith the result that the closure ofthe aot that Functions as areservoir forthe dope or grease forthe joint is delayed and the amount of dope that remains trapped i reduced, Finally, the design of the joint, especially regarding the ‘mutual positions of the threads and the notch, is such that when the joint completely tightened, the tooth ofthe male thread nearest to the reservoir docs not totaly ecupy the space ofthe reservoir isl From the combination of the elements that make up the joint according ta the invention and the innovative geomet Fic characteristics ofthese elements there results a joint with ‘optimised performance as searched for in the preamble In this way, both a reduetion of the pressure of the grease fin the joint and a better behaviour in forming the seal between the two elements of the joint are achieved, yet maintaining the high siructural performance level thal allows it (0 be used even in the presence of high sires, particularly in an axial direction, thus making the use of i advantageous for particular applications. Further particular embodiments of the invention are described in the dependent claims. % o 4 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS ‘he present invention will now be deseribed with refer- ence 10 a preferred embodiment, illusiated by way of a ‘non-limiting exumple of the objects and the scope of the present invention in the appended drawings, ia whieh FIG. 1 is a section view of a joint according to the invention after make-up, FIG, 2 is an enlarged view of part of FIG. 1 and shows, in particular, the end part ofthe thread, the reservoir forthe dope and the sealing sutsees, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of part of FIG. 2 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT. With reference 10 the figures, «joint according to the present invention is now described asa non-limiting example "The joint according o the present invention, used to join pipes with « nominal diameter, comprises 4 male element carrying an external thread 1', anda female clement 2 bearing an internal theead 2 The common axis of the pipe and the male and female clement ix indicated wih A. Al the teeth 1",1" and 2" of the threads 1° and 2 respectively have lead-in flanks, respectively 6 and 8, inclined towards th lft, in the sense of FIG. 2, with respect toa perpendicular Po the axis At an angle f between 10° and 25°, and load flanks, 4 and 3 respectively, inclined, in the sense of FIG. 2, with respect lo a perpendicular Pto the axis A of an angie @ between ~4° and 3°. The peaks 8 and the rots 7 of the teeth are inclined With regard tothe axis ‘Aof the pipe of an angle y of a value between O° and 4. ‘The inner part of the male element 1 comprises a tapered ron-threaded surface 12, and ending witha portion 10. The ‘most inner part of the joint of the female element 2 has @ roth 13, and an end surface I which, when the joint has been totaly tightened, isi contact with the surface 10.The internal end of the male clement 1 has a truncated cone- shaped abutment surface 14 parallel (© a comtesponding {runeated cone surface 15 of the female clement 2 and intended wo come into contact with each other when the 660 clements 1 and 2 are completely made-up. Dring the serewing of the join, the Nanks 6, $ and 8, 7 of the thread teth are a a distance from each other s0 a8 to Sefine a space between them intended to hold the dope of| area, defined on the longitudinal axial section plane ofthe joint and included between the male thread peaks 8, the Temale thee roots 7 and the suefaces of the Ieadin Manks 5 and 6. This area Sis greater than 0.4 mm* and is preferably between 0.4 aad 0.6 mm ‘While serewing the joint, the dope placed on the threads flows into the space between the threads of area A towards the note or the reservoir 13, tha! begins a a pre-established stance L, of a value comprised between Sand 12 mm from the abutment suefuce 15 of the female element, Sid notch 13 has a length X, measured parallel to the joint axis, between 4 and 10 mm, preferably between 4 and 8 mon, and ‘even more preferably between 5 and 8 mm. The volume of the reservoir 13 in me is equal, in absolute vale, oat last times the numerical value ofthe nominal exteral diam eter D, expressed in mm, ofthe pipe 1, and is preferably 30 ‘times higher than D. Inthe joint it is advantageously provided that the profile of the sealing surfaces 10 and IN is such that, during screwing, the distance 8, measured in an axial direction between the point of fist contact between the two sealingUS 6,905, 5 ‘surfaces 10 and IL and the final positon of the serewing of the two elements 1 and2is less han the length X, preferably Jess than O.6X, even more preferably less than OSX. After the scaling surfaces 10 and I, during the screwing, have ‘established te ist contac, te lubricant that is between thes Séal and the thread can no longer flow outside and is accumulated in the notch or reservoir 13. Minimising the Aistance 6 permits a delay in closing the rescewoir 13 and ‘consequently reduction of the quantity of tapped dope By permanently tightening the joint, the surfaces 10 and 11 utually slide wath interfereaee, forming » metabto- metal seal aea, ule supporting srfaes 14 and 18 enter permanenily into contact, signalling the completed tighten- ing ofthe joint and forming a further contribution to the ‘sealing of ihe join. In a particularly advantageous embodiment, when the joint has been completely made-up the tooth 1 ofthe male thread nearest to the sealing surface 10 doesnot occupy the space othe reservoir 13; in other words the flank 6 willbe, the most advanced pesiton ofthe male thead, atthe most ined with the Hank 3, thus leaving the ene volume of the reservoir 13 available for the lubricant, and in such a way preventing the occurrence of haemful peaks of presse. Dae to the size and volume adopted with the present. crease dns om the joint is Tess th ‘destined to contain it. In such a way, the lubricant inside the joint is not compressed and therefore no peak of pressure is ‘ever created. The optimal volume of the reservoir 13 offers this advantage without causing an unacceptable weakening of the joint. We aim: 1. A threaded joint for pipes, comprising a generally tubular male element (1) with a ominal external diameter (D) carrying a respective male threading near to one ofits ‘ends, comprising teeth (1), having each lead-in (6) and loa (flanks, with roots there between and, between said end and said fespective thread, a first unthreaded surface (12) ‘carrying a firs sealing surface (10), and an abutment surface (a) near its exiemily, a gencrally tubular female element (2) carrying a respective female thneading close to one of is ends, comprising leeth 2), having each lead-in (8) and load {@) flanks, with roots there between and, between said end and said respective thread, a second sealing surface (11), ‘complementary to sid firs sealing surface (10) of the male ‘element (1), said male and female threads defining between them, when made-up together, a space to store lubricant, said ‘mae’ (1) and female @2) clements defining a common symmetrical axis (A) ofthe joint, ssid female element (2) being further provided with notch (13) between said respective female thread and said second sealing surface (UD, of «substantially toroidal shape, constituting a reser- ‘oir for the lubricant flowing out of the space between the threads of the female (2) and male (1) elements during tightening of the joint, and with an abutment surface (1S) % 150 B2 6 adapted for eoopeatag with the abutment surface (14) of ‘hema element, when th mae (1 and female @) elements axe completly madcap, wherein sid notch (13) has 2 Jeng (8), mcasured parle the joint ais, between 4 and 10'mm, that it begin ata distance (L) from the abutment surface (15) ofthe female element (2), etween 5 snd 12 ‘mm, and as volume, expressed in min absolute value of a Teast 30 tins the numeral vale of the nominal extemal diameter (D), expressed nm, of said male element (I), where the Hank (6) ofthe tooth ofthe thread ofthe male element (1) nearest to the first sealing surface (Qo) isa a distance greater than or equal to L4X tom the sbuiment surface (14) of the male clement whereby said flank (6) ofthe toh ofthe teead of the male element (1) js al most circumereatilly aligned wilh the lank (3) seatest to the end of sad female element 2) of sid notch ‘when made vp, thus leaving the whole volume of the reservoir (3) available for the lubricant 2. The threaded joint according to elim 1, whersin sa notch (13) has a Tength &9 between 4 and § mm, 3. The threaded joint according to claim 2, whrsin sa notch (13) has Tenth @X) between 5 and 8 mm. 44 The threaded join accondng to claim 1, wherein the volume of the note (13) is more than 30 times lage th {he mumerial vale of the nominal exteral diameter (D) of ‘ine male element (1), expressed in mm, 'S The threaded joint according lo claim 4, wherein between the peak () of a tooth ofthe thread of the male element (1) andthe 1001 (7 botween the aacea tet ofthe thread of the female element (2) and between the Tessin ‘anks (6) and (5) ofthe same tethaspace is defined, whose area (S) inthe plane ofa ongitudial axial section ofthe jon, greater than Ot mm, sd wherein the proile ofthe Sealing surfaces (10) and (I) is such that during making up, {he point in which thelist contact botvcen the wo sealing surfaces takes place is axially distant rom the inal screwing psiton of the two male (1) and female 2) elements by 2 ‘ale 8 fess shan the Fength (X) of sal noth (13) ‘6. The theaded jot secording to claim 8, wherein the anea (8) of sad space is between 0.4 ad 0.6 mm= "Threaded joan accoing to claim 8, wherein the value of} is 0.6 times lower thao the length (X) af sad notch (3), 8. The theeaded join according to claim 8, wherein the vale of is 0.5 times lower than the length (X) of sig notch a3). 9 The joint according wo claim 1, wherein the teh (1°, 1) and (2 ofthe thread of the male (1) andthe Female 2) cements respectively have lenin flanks, respectively (6) fun inlined with esard to & perpendicular (P) to the 25 (A) ofan angle with a value between 10 apd25", and Joad flanks, respectively 4) and incline, with regal t0 4 perpendicular (P) fo the axis(A) of an angle awith vale between =#" and 3