May 14, 2013

Presentation: The application of fracture mechanics to the design of oil field equipment is becoming more important with the development of High Pressure/ High Temperature (HPHT) wells. Two of the challenges will be developing the necessary fracture mechanics data for oilfield alloys and accounting for environmental effects.  The Rising Step Load Test has been used successfully for developing KIC, KISCC and KIHE data for high-strength aerospace alloys and is currently being investigated for its applicability to precipitation hardened (PH) nickel alloys for oil and gas production.

Speaker: Paul Maxwell is the Houston-based Regional Metallurgist for Carpenter Technology. He holds a BS in Materials Science from Lehigh University and MS in Metallurgy from the Colorado School of Mines. Paul joined Carpenter in 1988 and since then has held various technical and manufacturing positions.