[TowerTalk] Failed HDX572 Raising fixture Leg and base

[Jim Lux]

On 8/10/15 7:28 AM, Jim Thomson wrote:
> Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2015 16:57:11 -0600
> From: EZ Rhino <EZRhino at fastmovers.biz>
> To: Towertalk Reflector <towertalk at contesting.com>
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Failed HDX572 Raising fixture Leg and base
>
> Likely you actually broke the tab long, long ago.  It was only hanging by a thread, and that gave the separated parts time to rust.  This recent lowering was what finally did it in.  Definitely call UST tomorrow and see what you can do; Any company worth their salt should stand behind that since it is clearly poor welding.
>
> Chris
> KF7p
>
> ## Obviously this was a fubar welding job.   Question is, why didn’t UST X ray the welds for the base ?    Ok, I can see not X raying every weld on each tower section, but at least do the critical welds, like the base,
> and where the plates are for the pulleys.

I'll hazard a guess that they don't have the equipment or training to do 
the X-ray-ing.


They, like many manufacturers, probably rely on training, visual 
inspection, and occasional destructive analysis (i.e. cut the weld in 
half and look at it).

I don't recall any of the welding shops I used to deal with having this 
capability, although I'm sure one could contract it out, or find one 
that did.

We used to proof test safety critical components at 2x design load, but 
given the overdesign and structural redundancy, I suspect that we could 
have had a totally broken weld (or a weld that was completely missed) 
and not had a failure.