CAVING

Pieces of rock that came from the wellbore but that were not removed directly by the action of
the drill bit. Caving’s can be convex, concave, splinters, Tabular, Angular, shards, chunks and
various shapes of rock, usually spalling from shale sections that have become unstable. The
shape of the caving can indicate why the rock failure occurred. By shape of caving we can
identify which type of caving. On bases of shape of caving we mainly classify caving into two
types mechanical caving and differential caving. Main Causes of caving is hole instability.

Causes of Wellbore Instability:

Wellbore instability manifests itself in different ways like hole pack off, excessive reaming,
overpull, torque and drag, sometimes leading to stuck pipe that may require plugging and side
tracking. Wellbore instability is usually caused by a combination of factors which may
be broadly classified as being either controllable or uncontrollable (natural) in origin. These
factors are shown in table

Uncontrollable (Natural) Factors Controllable Factors

Naturally Fractured or Faulted Formations Insufficient Mud Density.
Tectonically Stressed Formations Well Inclination and Azimuth
High In-situ Stresses Transient Pore Pressures
Mobile Formations Physical/chemical Rock-Fluid Interaction
Unconsolidated Formations Drill String Vibrations
Naturally Over-Pressured Shale Collapse Erosion
Induced Over-Pressured Shale Collapse Temperature
Wetting shake causing sloughing
Insufficient YP

Caving is recognized by the following characteristics:

1. Cannot circulate.
2. Cannot move the pipe (sometimes the pipe can be moved down words but not up.
3. Cannot rotate the pipe.

Solution:
1. Increase mud weight to balance formation pressure if possible.
2. Use drilling fluid that will not wet or hydrate the shales and at the same time stabilize shales
such as Kcl-Polymer Mud.
3. Increase the carrying capacity of the drilling fluid by increasing YP.
Caving Analysis:
Its key parameter to manage Wellbore instability in warning of wellbore instability. Caving
cause by excessive stresses, symptoms of excessive stresses
• Large amount of blocky caving’s on shale shaker: more after wiper trip, borehole failure
due to stress changes in massive shales
• Hole enlargement
• Erratic directional control

Type of caving’s:
1. Tabular
2. Angular
3. Splintered