Flow of Fiber-Reinforced Cement Slurries at Elevated Temperatures

Cement slurries are used for the construction of oil wells as deep as 30,000 ft (9,000 m). The severe performance requirements for such materials have prompted the search for appropriate fiber reinforcement to improve the slurry’s tensile strength, impact resistance, and fracture toughness, without decreasing its pumpability. A continuum theory for dilute suspensions of large-aspect-ratio particles is applied to the flow of fiber suspensions in a simplified three-dimensional fluid flow. The fluid itself is modeled as a non-Newtonian fluid, obeying the power law. A finite element analysis was carried out to investigate the velocity profile for a constant pressure drop of a fiber-reinforced cement slurry through an eccentric annulus at elevated temperatures. The material constants were determined in an experimental test program reported elsewhere.