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Gate
Hinge Welding Failure
Metallurgical failure
analysis was requested after a custom, hand fabricated
dumpster gate hinge mechanism failed and fell on and
injured a workman. The subject gate and hinge was
fabricated by a small welding shop. The gate is
shown in Photograph A. One of the failed gate hinge
poles is shown in Photograph B.
Photograph A: Overall view of subject gate
hinge pin welded to gate frame.
Photograph B:
Overall view of gate hinge
mounting pole in trash dumpster bay.
A close-up view
of a typical un-welded hinge pin is shown
in Photograph C. Two of the failed hinges are shown in
Photograph D and E.
Photograph C:
Close-up view of typical
welded hinge pin. Note the hinge pin is
deformed. Note also that no weld failure occurred.
Photograph D:
Close-up view of failed and
wallowed out female hinge pin receiver. Note
that no weld failure occurred.
Photograph E:
Close-up view of failed fence
pin receiver. Note that no weld failure occurred.
No metallurgical
testing was conducted. Visual examination confirmed
that the subject trash dumpster gate hinges were not
defectively welded. It is clearly evident that
the welds did not fail and that failure and dropping
of the gate was the result of overloading the gate
hinges. Failure of the subject hinge pins were
the result of defective design by the architectural
design group and project structural engineer.
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