Experience

General Summary

Summary

Consultant in plastic piping systems design, installation, prototype component development and testing.  Major portion of 38-year professional career involved management of over one hundred technical projects, ranging in size from several hundred dollars to several million dollars, at Southwest Research Institute. Major strength is in failure analysis of structures of  various materials including polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), steel, fiberglass, nitrile rubber and concrete. Stress analyst with experience in both analytical and experimental stress analysis.  Design and analysis of pipe joining techniques for steel, aluminum, and plastic pipe.  Three patents for tools for repair of polyethylene gas pipe. Extensive field work for customers including projects on oil drilling and production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana swamps, pipe lay barges, gypsum plants, refineries, mines, paper mills, nuclear power plants, sea trials on nuclear submarines, and pipelines in Montana, Washington and Alaska.  

1997 - Present

PE Pipe Development - Completed a project for the Gas Research Institute (now Gas Technology) on the use of PE gas pipe on bridges.  Gas utilities were required to switch to steel when a PE gas line crossed a bridge.  The installation of transition fittings and long term maintenance of the steel pipe were expensive.  California, Texas and New York were the first states to obtain waivers to use PE pipe on bridges.  This project documented the waiver procedures used by these states and detailed general design guidelines for installing PE pipe on various types of bridges.

Failure Analysis and Expert Witness Services - Provided failure analysis and expert witness services involving PE pipe and fittings for Chevron, Texas Utilities and City of Vernon, CA.  

Performed failure analysis on large PVC fitting failure for Dominion Semiconductor.  This was a classic break before leak failure in an 8" Tee.   A fatigue crack grew to a critical flaw size the failed catastrophically in a chilling water line.

Failure analysis of failed 6-inch electrofusion fitting for local contractor.  (It should be noted that with rare exception, PE failures are due to poor installation practice or third party damage.)

General Consulting on Plastic Pipe - Code interpretations for various customers.  Conduct seminars sponsored by the Plastics Pipe Institute in various cities,  on PE pipe applications.  Conducted 3 day seminar in Saudi Arabia for Saudi Projacs October 2000.  

General Civil Engineering - Designed an aircraft hanger in Georgetown, TX.   .  Designed small concrete foundation for historic building that was moved in San Antonio.  Inspected large concrete domed structure for City of Brownwood, TX that had cracks in the dome. Helped day care center through TNRCC (state agency)  permitting process to convert private water well to public water well and designed pump facility  Performed. pro bono, a study of Guadalupe River stream flow records for Southeast Trinity Groundwater Conservation District to explain water loss during a drought, over 75 mile length of river between Kerrville, TX and Canyon Lake. 

1987 - 1997

Performed many interesting failure analyses on varied structures such as a large PVC fittings, polyethylene gas line blowout, a 12-inch diameter rubber elbow, a fiberglass-to steel joint on a boom truck with a 90-foot lift, laminated steel/rubber flexible spherical joint and a stopple that blew out on a 30-inch steam line.

Designed and built a testing laboratory for the Gas Research Institute (GRI), now Gas Technology Institute) for the study of polyethylene gas distribution pipe joining and repair methods.  Conducted the only highly instrumented full scale test for rapid crack propagation in large diameter (16-inch) polyethylene pipe. Extensive studies of electrofusion joining were conducted that proved to the gas industry that EF is a viable, safe fusion method.  Repair methods for large diameter pipe and a technique for shutting off gas from a blowing hole were developed.  Patent 5,920,976 has been issued for a method of plugging a hole in a PE gas main without squeeze off and   patent a second for a second repair method is pending.   In addition, ASTM codes and standards have been changed to reflect new fusion testing techniques and evaluation methods that resulted from these studies.

         Considerable experience testing pipe and fittings made from PVC and FRP.

        Designed and analyzed joining techniques for steel, aluminum, and plastic pipe.  Performed full scale experimental stress analysis on 48-inch diameter steel pipe, joints of offshore structures and aircraft hanger structures (large enough to hold 3 Boeing 747s with no column support).

        Active on ASTM F17 Plastic Pipe Committee, AGA Plastic Materials Committee, and the Plastic Pipe Institute.

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1964 - 1987

        Extensive experience in testing large model and prototype structures including pressure vessels, piping, offshore platforms, heat exchangers, submarine components, and tensile specimens (requiring up to 11 million pounds load to fail). Specialist in problems of residual stress, fatigue, and fast fracture, having investigated the effect of fabrication processes on models and prototype structural components.  Failure analysis of various structures including concrete, steel, fiberglass, nitrile rubber and polyethylene.  Extensive field work for customers including projects on oil drilling and production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana swamps, pipe lay barges, gypsum plants, refineries, mines, paper mills, nuclear power plants, sea trials on nuclear submarines, and pipelines in Montana, Washington and Alaska.

1961 - 1964

        Performed stress analyses of liquid fuel and solid fuel rocket engine components.
        Engaged in Ground Water Hydrology studies for Department of Water Resources, State of California

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Recent Accomplishments

Plastic Pipe

        Invented a repair method for large diameter PE pipe (>6-inches) that utilizes spin friction fusion (Patent6,004,412).

Invented a technique for shutting off gas from a blowing hole using an internal seal (Patents 5,920,976 and 5,954,095)

Conducted an extensive study of electrofusion of PE pipe.  Reports and Video Tapes produced on this program are available from Gas Technology Institute.

Changed ASTM codes and standards to reflect new fusion testing techniques and evaluation methods that resulted from the electrofusion studies including a coupling strength test and very simple fusion evaluation test (FET).

Conducted a series of sidewall fusion tests of small diameter PE pipe to evaluate procedures established by the Plastics Pipe Institute that will work on all grades and brands of PE pipe used for gas distribution.

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Aluminum Pipe

        Convinced the military that a joint design would have to be abandoned, after initial tests on a new reusable aluminum piping system for the US Army exposed serious problems. Was instrumental in formulating a new design and specifying the fabrication procedures for the new joint while working with Reynolds Aluminum, Victaulic and the Army.  Developed test procedures that more realistically modeled loads applied to the pipe joint in the field. This pipe is laid on top of the ground and operates at 750-psig.  The new system was successfully deployed for the first time in operation Desert Storm.

Steel Pipe

        Designed a test frame for Alyeska Pipeline Service Company that modeled loads on a buried pipeline. Over twenty tests were conducted on pipe sections 60-feet long and 48-inches in diameter with combined loads of bending, axial load and internal pressure. Pipe with simulated corrosion areas were tested to destruction on the frame work that had a capacity of 6000-ft-lbs bending and 4-million pounds axial compression load. Customer commented that the presentation of combined loadings on a buried pipe was the first they had seen that was easy to understand.  Witnessed repair of corroded pipe on the Trans Alaskan Pipeline at sites between the Brooks Range and Prudhoe Bay.

Education

M.S. in Civil Engineering, Texas Tech University, 1961
B.S. in Civil Engineering, Texas Tech University, 1959

Society Memberships

Associate Member, AGA Plastic Materials Committee
Member ASTM F17 Plastic Pipe Committee
Member Plastic Pipe Institute

 Registered Professional Engineer in Texas.

Professional Chronology

SGA Consulting Services 1997 - present
Southwest Research Institute; research engineer 1964-68, senior research engineer, 1968-89, principal engineer 1989-97.
Stress Analyst, Aerojet General Corporation, Liquid Rocket Plant, 1962-64
Assistant Civil Engineer, Department of Water Resources, State of California 1961-62
Teaching Fellow, Department of Civil Engineering, Texas Tech University 1959-61

Recent Presentations

PPI Seminar on Applications of HDPE Pipe, Yerevan, Armenia, with Keith Mole of McElroy Manufacturing, sponsored by US Energy Agency and US Agency for International Development.  February 9-11, 2004, Presented to the Yerevan gas company engineers.

PPI Seminar on Applications of HDPE Pipe, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, October 21 - 23, 2000

S. C. Grigory, “Overview of Polyethylene (PE), Engineering Properties, Joining, Underground Installation (Buried), Slip Lining, Form Reform,  Pipe Bursting and Splitting,  Design of PE Pipe Systems,  Connections,   Horizontal Drilling”

PPI Seminar on Applications of HDPE Pipe, Dallas Texas, June 2000; Orlando, FL, September 2000; Newport Beach, CA, January 2001; Denver, CO, March 2001.