This past winter I was working on a piping job for an aeronautics
facility. Modifications were being made to the facility and I
was in charge of performing an ASME B31.3 Process Piping analysis
and a stress analysis of the piping supports. The pipe system
comes out of the ground and runs into the test facility on "H"
supports constructed from wide flange members. Since the initial
construction, other pipe and conduit was hung from the pipe supports.
In addition to piping loads, Glenn requires that a 3 inch thick
ice load and 100 mph wind load be applied to piping located outdoors.
I ran the piping analysis using a program called CAESAR in which
a piping model is built and forces on the supports are given as
well as pipe stresses and deflections per a B31.3 analysis. From
the CAESAR output, I analyzed the stresses in the pipe supports
by hand. The first time I ran the analysis I was very happy that
the pipe supports were just under allowable stresses calculated
per the American Institute of Steel Construction Steel Construction
manual. I reported my results (piping and support stresses) and
gave the "ok" for construction to commence. However,
I forgot to add a very important force into my calculations, I
neglected the force the pipe would place on the supports due to
thermal expansion. When I re-evaluated the pipe supports at worst
case load (ice and wind loading) some of the supports exceeded
allowable stresses.
I was terrified, construction was slated to start in two weeks
and I had made a serious error in my calculations. As I thought
about my situation I realized that I could hide the miscalculation
and most likely get away with it. Under normal loading conditions,
the supports would be within allowable stresses and I thought
to myself, when would Cleveland ever get a 3 inch ice storm?
At this point, I understood that I was involved in a moral dilemma.
I made this finding in the evening and my boss had already gone
home. So as I went home that night I knew what I had to do but
was not sure about the consequences. It sounds silly now, but
I was fully prepared to lose my job over the mistake because I
did not want the piping system failing and then people coming
back to me and asking what happened or even worse, the system
failing and hurting somebody.
The next morning, I sat down with my boss and explained the situation
to him and he was understanding. We called up the guy overseeing
the whole job, he said make the necessary changes and that was
it. I remember sitting in ME 100 talking about engineering ethics
and I never thought that I would ever be in a moral dilemma situation.
Because of the situation I was involved in and being a new engineer
I am quite certain now that all engineers come across ethical
choices that need to be made. I urge everybody listening to consider
that your job is never worth hiding something that could have
the potential to hurt somebody or cause damage of personal property.
David Althausen
Mechanical Engineer
ZIN Technologies
3000 Aerospace Parkway
Brook Park, OH 44142
phone: (216) 433 - 2654
fax: (216) 433-8628
http://www.zin-tech.com