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Long Span Steel Girders in Sony's Metreon Center

A multi-story building in San Francisco, Sony's Metreon Center, was to be constructed on top of an existing subterranean ballroom. Building construction was delayed due to differing opinions among various parties concerning remediation of the ballroom's very large, built-up, long-span steel girders. These girders came under scrutiny because they contained splice joints welded with flux cored electrodes. APTECH used a fitness-for-service approach to confirm the fracture resistance of the existing steel work. The fracture resistance was evaluated using inspection records, design load conditions, and material properties. APTECH's evaluation showed that the existing structure had sufficient fracture resistance to support the new structure. This rigorous approach, employing sound, well-established engineering principles, led to all parties agreeing to proceed with construction of the new building.

Satish Almaula		Plant failure and root cause analysis; process and design engineering analysis; process technology development and testing; plant engineering, operations, maintenance and safety management; plant and process control system management.

Michael Cronin, P.E.		Stress analysis, design evaluation, engineering mechanics

Steve Paterson		Metallurgy, welding, boiler pressure part and machinery failure analysis.

Geoffrey Egan, Ph.D.		Engineering mechanics, welding engineering, stress and fatigue analysis, risk analysis, nondestructive examination, project management.

Eric Sullivan, P.E.		Metallurgy, welding, failure analysis, fire and explosion investigations, equipment, piping.