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Gate
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 unwelded 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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Dr.
R. Craig Jerner, Ph.D., PE specializes in accident
investigation and metallurgical failure analysis,
with over 30 years experience as a metallurgical
consultant and accident investigator. He has
testified as a metallurgical expert in over 250
depositions and more than 70 court appearances. If you or someone you know should need the services of Dr. Jerner and J.E.I. Metallurgical, please visit our web site at the buttons below, or e-mail Dr. Jerner --- 