proper gusseting

i was talking to my old welding teacher and he said on gussets that it is better to not weld all around it. he said that its best to weld the ends and middle making a triangle. he said that if its fully welded it will warp the plate and make it pretty much useless. to me this makes pretty good sense and after looking and some gusset i have fully welded thay do seem to be warped.

i was wondering if any one agrees or disagrees?

Weld a little, let cool, weld a little, let cool.....

I've wondered about that myself, not only does the metal warp but the more welding you do the weaker the steel may become from the accumulated heat. I wonder if anyone has done some destructive testing of gusseted structures?

proper gussets are not triangle shaped, slight inward curve on the side not getting welded is the proper way.

although that has nothing to do with your question

he aslo said to cut the tips off the ends. i guess to give it more strength. it would probaly be easier than puting a curve on it

While those tips are true, I think in our application, that the advantages are minimal. If you ever see cages that have failed and have gusseting, they fail right where the gusset ends.

a bent tube gusset is the way to go. it allows the gusset to have a small amount of flex and not so much strength that the main tube fails right after the gusset. look for JR's new bronco buildup on Pirate, they discuss this and its history in desert racing.