The front and rear doors of a Pontiac SunFire
were violently ripped from the vehicle during a two
vehicle accident. The subject vehicle is shown in
Photograph A.
Photograph A Overall view of the
subject
Pontiac SunFire.
Both driver side doors were ripped, as a unit,
from the vehicle intact (see Photograph B).
Photograph B Overall view of front and
rear
driver's side doors which were ripped, as a
unit, from the subject vehicle.
The subject car was slowly (less than 30 MPH)
rounding a 90 degree curve when it was struck by
another vehicle. The force of the impact tore the
drive side front and rear doors from the vehicle.
Several people were killed in the accident. The
integrity of the door hinge welds was questioned. A
close-up view of the front driver's side door hinge
is shown in Photograph C.
Photograph C Close-up view of
failed front
door hinge bolts.
Visual examination suggested that the door hinge
welds may have failed without significant
deformation, i.e., may have failed to withstand
“normal” collision forces. An investigation into the
metallurgical and mechanical quality of the hinge welds was initiated. The matter
was resolved before any
destructive testing and metallurgical failure analysis could be conducted.
