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An annular packer is used in the oil industry to shut off a well. It looks like a large rubber donut
from the outside. Inside the rubber are molded specially shaped wedges of metal. When the well
flow needs to be shut off, a mechanism is activated which drives the embedded metal components
towards the center of the hole. This causes the rubber to flow inward, thus closing off the center
hole, and sealing the well. To achieve this the rubber undergoes extreme movement and "puckers
up" at the center. The following shows a plot of the packer in a partially deformed condition. A
wedge has been removed to allow viewing of the cross-section. The rubber was modeled using a
two coefficient Mooney-Rivlin material. The inserts were modeled using steel.
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The initial thought that usually occurs after viewing the deformed shape is, "I did not think the
rubber could take that shape without fracturing." Achieving an accurate analysis of this condition
has been a goal of packer designers for years. To obtain a computer simulation using FEA would
reduce the design cycle time significantly. These results indicate that this goal has been realized.
Video of Annular Packer Sealing Analysis:
Note: the ZIP files download faster than the AVI file. After downloading, you must unzip the file with a program, such as
WinZip or
PKzip. Then choose "File | Open" from your web browser's menu. Find the unzipped file and open it with the web browser. Click on the image to see the video.
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