Method and apparatus for expendable tubing-conveyed perforating gun

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are presented for a “disappearing” perforator gun assembly. In a preferred method of perforating a well casing, inserted into the well casing is a tubing conveyed perforator having an outer tubular made from a metallic glass alloy having high strength and low impact resistance. An inner structure is positioned within the outer tubular and holds one or more explosive charges. Upon detonating the explosive charges, the outer tubular is fragmented. The inner structure is preferably also substantially destroyed upon detonation of the one or more explosive charges. For example, the inner structure can be made from a combustible material, corrodible, dissolvable, etc., material. A disintegration-enhancing material is optionally positioned between the outer tubular and the inner structure. Additional embodiments are presented having gun housings which dematerialize upon detonation of the charges.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.