Grant Prideco, Inc.

Wei Tang

Gerald E Wilson

R Thomas Moore

A heavy weight drill pipe member is disclosed for use in drilling high angle and horizontal well bores in a corrosive environment. The heavy weight drill pipe member consists of a tubular member with a longitudinal bore therethrough, and includes connectors or tool joints attached at each distal end for connecting additional heavy weight drill pipe members. The tubular member and tool joints are preheated, water quenched and tempered to obtain a unique combination of hardness, a yield strength and impact strength for improved resistance to stress corrosion cracking and hydrogen embrittlement in a hydrogen sulfide environment. The tubular member includes a plurality of wear pads or protectors equidistantly spaced along the longitudinal axis of the tubular member to reduce bending stress in the pipe by limiting the degree of bend when the pipe is placed in compression in a high angle well bore. To reduce the chances of differential pressure sticking of the pipe when the pipe is used in high angle or horizontal well bores, each wear pad or protector is provided with spiral grooves therein. Each wear pad or protector may also be hard faced or hard banded to reduce wear.

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College Station, TX, United States of America

Wei Tang