Sofronas, A.

Consulting Engineer, Houston, Texas

Tony Sofronas, D. Eng, was the worldwide lead mechanical engineer for ExxonMobil Chemicals before retiring. He now owns Engineered Products, which provides consulting and engineering seminars on machinery and pressure vessels. Dr. Sofronas has authored two engineering books and numerous technical articles on analytical methods.

Case 66: Fiberglass mixing tank flexing vibration

Sofronas, A., Consulting Engineer

The design of fiberglass and polymer tanks had many problems in the 1980s. Most of these problems were resolved with experience, new materials and manufacturing techniques, along with new national con..

Case 65: Taking risks and making high-level presentations

Sofronas, A., Consulting Engineer

Tips on how to communicate with managers

Case 64: Averages can be misleading on service life data

Sofronas, A., Consulting Engineer

Take care when making important decisions on data

Case 63: Analyzing off resonance amplitudes

Sofronas, A., Consulting Engineer

It is important to know the amplitudes of vibration away from resonance

Case 62: Useful shaft stress equations to remember

Sofronas, A., Consulting Engineer

Committing several equations to memory can be useful

Case 61: Pressure loss in a reactor

Sofronas, A., Consulting Engineer

Much information is available from a simple analysis

Case 60: Socket-weld failures

Sofronas, A., Consulting Engineer

A risk analysis can determine which critical welds to repair

Case 59: Heat-up rates and thermal cracking

Sofronas, A., Consulting Engineer

A good analysis is usually better than speculation

Case history 58: Piston pin plug wear

Sofronas, A., Consulting Engineer

A wear analysis can help when failure data are meager

Case 57: Troubleshooting the cause of sudden impacts

Sofronas, A., Consulting Engineer

Finding the cause can be elusive but calculations help