Combined use of fly ash and silica to prevent the long-term strength retrogression of oil well cement set and cured at HPHT conditions

The long-term strength retrogression of silica-enriched oil well cement poses a significant threat to wellbore integrity in deep and ultra-deep wells, which is a major obstacle for deep petroleum and geothermal energy development. Previous attempts to address this problem has been unsatisfactory because they can only reduce the strength decline rate. This study presents a new solution to this problem by incorporating fly ash to the traditional silica-cement systems. The influences of fly ash and silica on the strength retrogression behavior of oil well cement systems directly set and cured under the condition of 200°C and 50 MPa are investigated. Test results indicate that the slurries containing only silica or fly ash experience severe strength retrogression from 2 to 30 d curing, while the slurries containing both fly ash and silica experience strength enhancement from 2 to 90 d. The strength test results are corroborated by further evidences from permeability tests as well as microstructure analysis of set cement. Composition of set cement evaluated by quantitative X-ray diffraction analyses with partial or no known crystal structure(PONKCS) method and thermogravimetry analyses revealed that the conversion of amorphous C-(A)-S-H to crystalline phases is the primary cause of long-term strength retrogression.The addition of fly ash can reduce the initial amount of C-(A)-S-H in the set cement, and its combined use with silica can prevent the crystallization of C-(A)-S-H, which is believed to be the working mechanism of this new admixture in improving long-term strength stability of oil well cement systems.

Homogeneous Plastic Flow of Fully Amorphous and Partially Crystallized Zr_(41.2)Ti_(13.8)Cu_(12.5)Ni_(10)Be_(22.5) Bulk Metallic Glass

The homogeneous plastic flow of fully amorphous and partially crystallized Zr(41.2)Ti(13.8)Cu(12.5)Ni(10)Be(22.5) bulk metallic glass (Vitl) has been investigated by compression tests at high temperatures in supercooled liquid region. Experimental results show that at sufficiently low strain rates, the supercooled liquid of the fully amorphous alloy reveals Newtonian flow with a linear relationship between the flow stress and strain rate. As the strain rate is increased, a transition from linear Newtonian to nonlinear flow is detected, which can be explained by the transition state theory. Over the entire strain rate interval investigated, however, only nonlinear flow is present in the partially crystallized alloy, and the flow stress for each strain rate is much higher. It is found that the strain rate-stress relationship for the partially crystaltized alloy at the given temperature of 646 K also obeys the sinh law derived from the transition state theory, similar to that of the initial homogeneous amorphous alloy. Thus, it is proposed that the flow behavior of the nanocrystalline/amorphous composite at 646 K is mainly controlled by the viscous flow of the remaining supercooled liquid.

Temperature of Prograde Metamorphism, Decompressional Partial Melting and Subsequent Melt Fractional Crystallization in the Weihai Migmatitic Gneisses,Sulu UHP Terrane:Constraints from Ti-in-Zircon Thermometer

In order to constrain temperature during subduction and subsequent exhumation of fel- sic continental crust, we carried out a Ti-in-zircon thermometer coupled with zircon internal structure and U-Pb age on migmatitic gneisses from the Weihai region in the Sulu ultra-high pres- sure （UHP） metamorphic terrane, eastern China. The Weihai migmatitic gneisses are composed of in- tercalated compositional layers of melanosome and plagioclase （Pl）-rich lencosome and K-feldspar （Kfs）-rich pegmatite veins. Four stages of zircon growth were recognized in the Weihai migmatitic gneisses. They successively recorded informations of protolith, prograde metamorphism, decompres- sional partial melting during early stage exhumation and subsequent fractional crystallization of pri- mary melt during later stage cooling exhumation. The inherited cores in zircon from the melanosome and the Pl-rich leucosome suggest that the pro- tolith of the migmatitic gneiss is Mid- Neoproterozoic （-780 Ma） magmatic rock. Metamorphic zircons with concordant ages ranging from 243 to 256 Ma occur as over- growth mantles on the protolith magmatic zir- con cores. The estimated growth temperatures （625-717 ＂C） of the metamorphic zircons have a negative correlation with their ages, indicating a progressive metamorphism in HP eciogite-facies condition during subduction. Zircon recrystal- lized rims （228-2 Ma） in the PI-rich ieucosome layers provide the lower limit of the decompress-sional partial melting time during exhumation. The ages from 228^-2 to 219~2 Ma recorded in the Pl-rich leucosome and the Kfs-rich pegmatite vein, respectively, suggest the duration of the fractional crystallization of primary melt during exhumation. The calculated growth temperatures of the zircon rims from the Pl-rich leucosome range from 858 to 739 , and the temperatures of new growth zircon grains （219±2 Ma） in Kfs-rich vein are between 769 and 529 . The estimated temperatures have a positive correlation with ages from the Pl-rich leucosome to the Kfs-rich pegmatite vein, strongly indi- cating that a process of fractional crystallization of the partial melt during exhumation.

Enhanced micro/nano-tribological performance in partially crystallized 60NiTi film

The microstructure,mechanical and micro/nano-tribological properties of the 60NiTi film annealed at different temperature were investigated.The results reveal that annealing as-deposited 60NiTi film at 300,375,and 600℃ for 1 h leads to structural relaxation,partial crystallization and full crystallization,respectively.Compared with the structurally relaxed structure,the partially crystallized structure exhibits increased hardness but decreased elastic modulus.This is because that the elastic modulus is reduced by Voigt model while the hardness is improved by composite effect.Due to the highest hardness and ratio of hardness to elastic modulus(H/E),the partially crystallized 60NiTi film has the lowest penetration depth and residual depth(i.e.,groove depth).Besides,the results also reveal that ductile plowing is the dominant wear mechanism for all the annealed 60NiTi films.Under the condition of the ductile plowing,coefficient of friction and wear resistance are related to penetration depth and residual depth,respectively.Therefore,the partially crystallized 60NiTi film shows the best tribological performance at the micro/nano-scale.The current work not only highlights the important roles of hardness and H/E in improving the micro/nano-tribological properties but also concludes an efficient and simple method for simultaneously increasing hardness and H/E.