Its a few decades since the aluminum alloy drill pipe has been applied in the oil industry with most experience coming from Russia and other counties of former Soviet Union.

The aluminum alloy drill pipe can be used in extended-reach drilling and  horizontal drilling with its strength-weight ratio is lower than drill pipe made of super-high strength steel. But its advantage is that it has light weight, high strength weight ratio, super high anti-corrosion property and enhanced anti-fatigue ability. Its wall thickness is usually thicker than steel drill pipe, however, its yield strength is relatively lower.

The aluminum alloy drill pipe body is made of aluminum alloy. Because of light weight, the aluminum alloy drill pipe needs lower upgrading power, quicker speed of pipe tripping and more drilling ability of rigs. Its advantage in mechanical properties is high tenacity, perfect flexibility, and small friction with the wall when upgrading .The aluminum drill pipe body and joints both enjoy longevity and low expenses for maintenance.  It needs lower drilling power and drilling pumps power because the flow resistance of annular space is quite small.

With good flexibility, the aluminum alloy drill pipe has good anti-fatigue properties, therefore, its fatigue life is longer than the attrition life, which leads to a comparatively smaller damage to the pipe when it is rotating through the dogleg of the wells. So it is more favorable to be used in the bending wells, in the gradient wells or the horizontally extended directional wells.