Analysis on the nonlinear lateral vibration of drillstring in curved wells with beam finite element

This study focuses on the nonlinear lateral vibration of drillstring in curved wells. One of the most important features of this work is that the drillstring dynamics in curved wells (including both vertical, deflecting and horizontal well structures) are modeled and presented in actual drilling engineering scale. In the proposed model, beam finite element (FE) method is employed to calculate the drillstring dynamics in curved wells. The model is solved by the generalized-α method and verified by reproduction of the field data. The model has coupled the lateral, torsional and longitudinal vibrations of the drillstring, while we only pay our attention to the nonlinear lateral vibration of drillstring in curved wells. The efficient length of lateral vibration of a field curved well is firstly proposed, and the influences of rotation speed, weight on bit (WOB), coefficient of friction (COF) and stabilizer (STB) on the lateral vibration of drillstring in curved wells are discussed. •A beam FE model for predicting drillstring dynamics in curved well is built.•The model is solved by generalized-α method and verified by reproduction of the field data.•The efficient length of lateral vibration of curved well is firstly proposed.•Effects of working parameters on lateral vibration of curved drillstring are discussed.