Explosive Train Components:

1. Initiator or
Detonator
2. Detonating Cord
3. Shaped Charges

2. Detonating Cord
Used to transmit detonation along the axis of the
perforating gun, sequentially initiating each charges as
the detonation wave passes by.
The protective sheath
1. Single-component material
- lead or aluminum
2. Layered materials
- such as an extruded plastic jacket
over a woven fabric braid.

CORDS

VELOCITY

DESCRIPTION

HNS & PYX

20,000 21,00 ft/sec

Slowest

RDX & HMX

26,00 ft/sec

Faster than HNS & PYX

HMX w/ pressure

Up to 29,500 ft/sec

Used when trying to avoid

shot interference

3. Shaped Charges
The shaped charge, or jet perforator, is the explosive
component that actually creates the perforation.

TYPES OF SHAPED CHARGES

TYPES OF
SHAPED CHARGE

LINER
GEOMETRY

DESCRIPTION

1. Deep Penetrating
(DP) Charge

conical, a
long, thin

2. Big Hole (BH)

Charge

parabolic or
hemispherical

HOLE
DIAMETER

JET TIP
VELOCITY

The penetration of the jet into the target

is relatively deep and the hole diameter
is small.
They are used
primarily for perforating hard formations.

0.2 and 0.5

in

up to 26,000 ft/sec
(Copper Liner)

much more massive, slower-moving jet

used for perforating unconsolidated
formations.
Used exclusively in sand control
completion

0.6 and 1.5

in.

13,000 to
20,000 ft/se

3. Good Hole
Charge

offer a perfect balance between larger

hole diameter while retaining very good
penetration.
This kind of perforation is ideally suited
for fracturing operations where hole
size needs to be large enough for
proppant flow, yet deep enough to go
beyond the damaged zone to allow for
lower break down pressures.

TYPES

LINER MATERIALS

DP Perforators (DP)
Charges

Mixtures of powdered copper and tungsten

a small amount of powdered lead or tin is
added to serve as a binder.
Liners for DP charges today routinely contain
high percentages of tungsten (55% or more is not uncommon)

Big-hole (BH) Charges

Copper
Brass alloys the presence of alloying
elements (primarily zinc) in the brass cause the jet to break up
and leave less liner debris in the perforation tunnel.

Hydrocodes
powerful computer codes that allow to study the
mechanics of the collapse and penetration processes.
It also allow the viewing of explosive events on a
microsecond-by-microsecond basis.
hydrocodes correctly model the physics of the
penetration process as long as the dynamic material
properties for both the shaped charge and the target
are well known.

Penetration Process

The Damaged Zone

The Damaged Zone

Hydrodynamic Approximation
Assumed the jet and target were incompressible, or
Bernoulli, fluids.
This allowed the strengths and viscosities of the jet and
target materials to be neglected since the impact
pressure far exceeds the yield strength of most materials.
Temperature plays a negligible part in the penetration
process.

 Experimental evidence confirmed that hydrodynamic

approximation was not valid for all stages of

penetration.
Thompson (1962) was the first to publish data showing
that perforator penetration decreased as a function of
increased formation compressive strength.
His data correlated to the semilogarithmic expression:

where lpf is the penetration into the producing

formation and lps is the penetration into the test
sample in in., and C1 is the compressive strength of
the test sample and C2 is the compressive strength of
the producing formation in psi.

For penetration of rock downhole

Compressive strength & downhole effective
stress(overburden stress minus the pore pressure)
This "effective stress" acts to make the rock stronger
and thus more resistant to penetration.

 several factors are known to reduce jet penetrations in

formation rock under downhole conditions when compared
to penetrations obtained in concrete surface shots.

An underlying assumption in the model is that penetration

of stressed Berea targets is about 70% that of concrete.
From Table 10-3, if the concrete penetration of 15.49 in. is
multiplied by 0.7, a predicted Berea penetration (in
stressed rock) of 10.84 in. is obtained.

Safety and Accidents

document API-RP 67 (1994) - guidelines for the safe
handling and use of explosives at the well site.
Human error frequently causes industrial accidents, and
much design effort is expended to reduce the frequency
of these errors.