FFS Forum: The New API 579 Part 15, Piping Vibration – Interview with Lyle Breaux, Team Lead

For 10 years, the API 579 Committee has been steadily working on a procedure to evaluate vibration in piping systems. That long work is about to pay off as the new Part 15, “Assessment of Piping Vibration,” is near completion. So for this installment of the Fitness-for-Service Forum, I want to share my conversation with the Team Lead of the API 579 Piping Vibration Project Team, Mr. Lyle Breaux.

Over the years, Lyle has pioneered many of the current methods used for piping system vibration assessments. He currently serves as Staff Consultant at Stress Engineering Services, where his consulting practice includes a good bit of vibration work, but also a range of fixed equipment mechanical integrity and fitness-for-service work in upstream, midstream, and downstream oil & gas and chemical plants. I hope you enjoy our exchange.

Greg Garic (GG): Hi Lyle. Thank you for agreeing to talk FFS with us today and provide an update on the soon-to-arrive Part 15 on Piping Vibration with Inspectioneering Journal’s readers. Before we dive into Part 15, can you tell me a little bit about how you got started in engineering? What sparked your interest and what was your path to get to where you are now?

Lyle Breaux (LB): Well, I grew up in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans. I attended public school and was a mediocre student for much of my pre-university life. I really had little to no interest in academics as a kid, and even with math and science I could not see any connection to the real world. Well, that changed abruptly when I took physics in my senior year of high school. It was the first time I found something in academics that I really liked and I was good at it. It changed the trajectory of my life. I asked my high school physics teacher what field would be suited to my newfound interest and talent, and he recommended engineering which, he advised, provided better job prospects than studying pure physics. So, I was an engineering major from the start and I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Louisiana State University (LSU) in the late 90’s. I later completed my master’s degree from Georgia Tech with a specialization in Vibration and Acoustics.