Inventors:
Bairu Liu - Katy TX, US
Chau Vu - Houston TX, US
Ramon R. Garza - Pearland TX, US
John C. Welch - Spring TX, US
Vu Thieu - Houston TX, US
Anil K. Sadana - Houston TX, US
Assignee:
Baker Hughes Incorporated - Houston TX
International Classification:
E21B 33/12, B29C 61/06
Abstract:
An in situ method deploy and/or plasticize a shape-memory material in order to change the material's physical dimensions and/or mechanical properties, including a method for deploying a shape-memory polymer having a deformed or compressed shape in an environment at a first temperature, the shape memory polymer having a first glass transition temperature which is greater than the first temperature. The method also includes decreasing the glass transition temperature of shape memory polymer from the first glass transition temperature to a second glass transition temperature which is less than or equal to the first temperature; and expanding the shape memory polymer to deploy the shape memory polymer in a deployed shape.