Rollcage issues

[John Wright]

I think in this case a more thorough expert analysis is in order before making uneducated statements as to cause of failure. JMO

Did anyone put a fillet weld gage on those jonts to determine if the welder used enough filler when tig'ing the joint up? Did anyone determine if the fillet weld size was engineered or did someone use a rule of thumb to size the welds? Did anyone use an electron microscope to see if the heat affected zone was too large or too small indicating that the welding procedure may have been at fault(heat input joules per in = amps x volts x 60 /travel speed measured in in/min). Did the fracture surface get examined by that same microscope to see if there are any indications that the material failed due to fatigue over a period of time or from multiple impacts during the wreck, or maybe if it just sheared in one quick impact? Could it be that the weld had incusions or incomplete penetration at the root? Did anyone see any assembly pics of the cage and notice if the joints were fit up properly without large gaps? Did anyone pull the material ASTM and heat numbers from the material purchased to build the cage to see if the correct filler material was specified for welding these joints? I could go on but......I see lots of assumptions from just peering at a few pics posted online. I'm sorry but I just don't see how anyone can tell any of this from a few pictures.