Anchoring & Isolation Intern (Garter Spring Knowledge Project)

Job Duties and Qualifications

Internship Project: Garter Spring Knowledge Project

Problem Statement:

Garter springs are used in the elements of a retrievable packer to prevent rubber extrusion during setting process and pressurization.  Additionally, the garter springs aid in the retraction of the elements after release of the packer. The FEA is a powerful tool to understand the mechanics, evaluate the setting process, and improve the design. Accurate virtual testing significantly reduces development time and cost. Since a good representation of the garter spring is vital for accurate analysis of setting process, it requires a comprehensive understanding on the physics, well-calibrated material properties and balancing accuracy with computational cost.

Objectives:

• This internship placement will take a hybrid approach (experimental and numerical) to develop the knowledge and know-hows for development of robust garter spring and garter spring reinforced plug/elements. 
• Analyse existing dataset to establish fundamental understanding of the mechanics
• Develop test methods at component and element level for FEA verification 
• Improve current Finite Element model for garter spring model for better predictions 
• Establish/Improve Garter Spring design rules  
• Explore opportunity for a Simulation/Mechanics driven innovation  

Typical qualifications/requirements:

Typically engineering graduate level student, preferably with a Mechanical Engineering background with experience in nonlinear FEA and nonmetallic material science.