how to repair

[qkingston]

So this is the underside of the chassis, the front suspension turret strap. Clearly a rip/fracture in the metal (no other obvious damage to the rest of the turret/chassis). How best to repair? Clean it out and weld it up or plate over? Any suggestions appreciated

Rgds

David

[tr graham]

Clean it vee it and weld it

graham

[Fireman049]

+1 as per graham.

Tom.

[Ukmax]

Cut through (follow) the crack with a 1mm cutting disc to remove any rust or paint etc. that may be lurking, before creating a shallow "V" . Be sure to make a smooth continuous  weld of equal width, extending approximately  3 mm each side of crack and with a bead height of around 2.5 mm.  I would TIG weld such a crack but if you use MIG be sure to get good equal penetration along length and extend the weld 5mm or so past the crack end.

David

[RogerH]

On many aerospace cracks like this the end of the crack would have a nice tidy hole drilled. 3/16" or so.

That way if the end of the crack is not welded (welded properly) the crack will not propagate further.

Ask yourself a question - where is the end of the crack.?

Roger

[Ukmax]

Good point Roger, I am familiar with the procedure of drilling a hole to prevent propagation of a crack and it works very well, especially in thin material, especially aluminium but I think when you cut the crack like this one with a disc, the end of the crack is where you decide to cut to but I did mean to say extend the cut and the weld 5mm or so past the end of the crack.

Further study of the photo seems to reveal that the crack wanders a little at the end, in that case I would drill a larger hole to take out "wandering" and crater fill that before completing the weld.

David