Expandable Compliant Anchor/Seal

Abstract

A tubular is an expandable compliant anchoring and sealing tubular. In one embodiment, the expandable complaint anchoring and sealing tubular is located on a cladding string, a liner hanger, a packer or a bridge plug. The expandable compliant anchoring and sealing tubular has grooves and protrusions both on external and internal surfaces of the tubular with external protrusions positioned against internal grooves and internal protrusions against external grooves in a radial direction. Upon radial expansion of the expandable compliant anchoring and sealing tubular, the external protrusions may be disposed in high interference contact with the surrounding casing or wellbore providing an anchoring and sealing relationship. This tubular configuration may be used when precise internal diameter of the surrounding casing or wellbore is unknown. The expandable compliant anchoring and sealing tubular may provide dimensional adjustability by bending of the groove spans in a radial direction.

1 . An expandable tubular defining an internal wall and an external wall, said tubular comprising:
 a plurality of external grooves and external protrusions on the external wall and a plurality of internal grooves and internal protrusions on the internal wall, said external grooves are positioned against internal protrusions and internal grooves positioned against external protrusions in a radial direction;   said external grooves providing support and/or a sealing relationship with a surrounding casing or wellbore upon expansion of said tubular.   
     
     
         2 . The expandable tubular of  claim 1 , wherein a depth of the internal grooves and a depth of the external grooves are not less than a half of the expected variance in a diameter of the surrounding casing or wellbore. 
     
     
         3 . The expandable tubular of  claim 1 , further comprising groove spans, wherein the groove spans do not exhibit plastic bending upon radial expansion of said tubular before the external protrusions come in to contact with the surrounding casing or wellbore. 
     
     
         4 . The expandable tubular of  claim 1 , further comprising groove spans, wherein the groove spans exhibit plastic bending upon radial expansion of said tubular against the surrounding casing or wellbore with minimum expected internal diameter. 
     
     
         5 . The expandable tubular of  claim 1 , comprising substantially equal widths of the grooves and the protrusions. 
     
     
         6 . The tubular of  claim 1 , wherein widths of the grooves are larger than widths of the protrusions. 
     
     
         7 . The expandable tubular of  claim 1 , wherein the external protrusions include sealing elements. 
     
     
         8 . The expandable tubular of  claim 7 , wherein at least one external protrusion has a substantially smooth surface. 
     
     
         9 . The expandable tubular of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of the external grooves include elastic elements. 
     
     
         10 . The expandable tubular of  claim 9 , wherein the elastic elements become compressed between the surrounding casing or wellbore and said tubular upon radial expansion of said tubular. 
     
     
         11 . An expandable tubular system comprising a first expandable tubular and a second expandable tubular, said tubular system comprising:
 said first expandable tubular defining an internal wall and an external wall, said first tubular comprising:   a plurality of external grooves and external protrusions on the external wall and a plurality of internal grooves and internal protrusions on the internal wall, said external grooves are positioned against the internal protrusions and the internal grooves are positioned against the external protrusions in a radial direction;   the first expandable tubular positioned as a sleeve over the second expandable tubular and attached by at least one end to the second expandable tubular preventing sliding of the first expandable tubular over the second expandable tubular in a longitudinal direction;   said expandable tubular system providing sealing and/or anchoring relationships with the surrounding casing or wellbore upon radial expansion thereof against the surrounding casing or wellbore.   
     
     
         12 . The expandable tubular system of  claim 11 , wherein the first expandable tubular comprises a depth of grooves on the internal wall and a depth of the grooves on the external wall not less than half of the expected variance in a diameter of the surrounding casing or wellbore. 
     
     
         13 . The expandable tubular system of  claim 11 , further comprising groove spans, wherein the groove spans do not exhibit plastic bending upon radial expansion of said expandable tubular system before the external protrusions come in to contact with the surrounding casing or wellbore. 
     
     
         14 . The expandable tubular system of  claim 11 , further comprising groove spans, wherein the groove spans exhibit plastic bending upon radial expansion of said tubular against the surrounding casing or wellbore with minimum expected internal diameter. 
     
     
         15 . The expandable tubular system of  claim 11 , comprising substantially equal widths of grooves and the protrusions. 
     
     
         16 . The expandable tubular system of  claim 11 , wherein widths of the grooves are larger than widths of the protrusions. 
     
     
         17 . The expandable tubular system of  claim 11 , comprising widths of the grooves substantially larger than the width of protrusions. 
     
     
         18 . The expandable tubular system of  claim 11 , wherein the external protrusions include sealing elements. 
     
     
         19 . The expandable tubular system of  claim 11 , wherein the internal protrusions include sealing elements. 
     
     
         20 . The expandable tubular system of  claim 19 , wherein at least one external protrusion has a substantially smooth surface. 
     
     
         21 . The expandable tubular system of  claim 11 , wherein a portion of the external grooves include elastic elements. 
     
     
         22 . The expandable tubular system of  claim 21 , wherein the elastic elements become compressed between the surrounding casing or wellbore and the first expandable tubular upon radial expansion of said expandable tubular system.