Forensic Engineering
Forensic engineering is the application of engineering principles or
techniques to the investigation of materials, products, structures or
components that fail or do not perform as intended. In
particular, forensic engineering can involve providing solutions to
forensic problems by the application of engineering science. A
criminal aspect may be involved in the investigation but often the
problems are related to negligence, breach of contract, or providing
information needed in the redesign of a product to eliminate future
failures. Forensic engineering may include investigation of the
physical causes of accidents or other sources of claims and litigation
(for example, patent disputes). It involves the preparation of
technical engineering reports, and may require giving testimony and
providing advice to assist in the resolution of disputes affecting life
or property.
Current projects in the area of forensic engineering are:
- characterizing the saw marks in bone to aid in identification of
weapons used in dismemberment;
- characterizing the sharpness of weapons to aid in determining the
force involved in crimes involving stabbing.
These projects are in collaboration with Professor Guy Rutty of the
Forensic Pathology Unit of the Leicester Medical School.
Previous projects have involved using environmental scanning electron
microscope to perform detailed analysis
of failure surfaces (from e.g. fatigue) or to establish the nature of
contaminants by energy dispersive X-ray analysis.
Some recent forensic related papers:
P. A. Saville, S. V. Hainsworth and G. N. Rutty, Cutting crime: the
analysis of the “uniqueness” of saw marks on bone, International
Journal of Legal Medicine, doi:10.1007/s00414-006-0120-z
Peter R. Lewis and Sarah Hainsworth, Fuel line failure from stress
corrosion cracking, Engineering Failure Analysis, (2006) 13 946-962, doi:10.1016/j.engfailanal.2005.04.010
P.R. Lewis and S.V. Hainsworth, “Critical Seal Failure in
Microtechnology Facility” ANTEC 2005, Proceedings of the 63rd Annual
Technical Conference & Exhibition, Boston, MA, May 1---5.
Society of Plastics Engineers, pp. 3452-3459
Author: Sarah
Hainsworth, last updated 20/2/2007.
Disclaimer: Any opinions and
views
expressed in this page are the authors and not those of the University.
