Past and new methods

FOREWORD FORENSIC  SERVICES WHAT TO EXPECT? WHY US? METHODS TAXONOMY CRITICAL PATH MANIPULATION CONCURRENT  DELAY DELAY MITIGATE & CONSTRUCTIVE ACCELERATION PACING DRB C & E MATRIX LIBRARY PM SERVICES TCM PM CENTRAL ACE PLANNING  CENTRAL COST  ENGINEERING FACILITIES  MANAGEMENT PM TOOLS & TECHNIQUES PRAXIS

Forensic engineering has a much lower profile than forensic science: its work is normally associated with civil courts and with many cases not appearing before any court at all. The current strands of forensic engineering can be traced from company laboratories that traditionally have dealt with in-service failures, fire investigators and ad hoc background investigations into high profile accidents, such as the collapse of the Tay Bridge.

In terms of today's forensic engineering, there is an increased emphasis on investigating the cause of failure of consumer project. This is because firms are being sued more frequently about allegedly defective practices and products. There is also a continuing need for the investigation of delays, disruptions, fires, explosions, air and rail crashes and other important accidents or possible crimes.

Past Methods

The principal methods used in early forensic engineering included:

  • Analysis of scattered record keeping
  • Contemporarily witnessed pictures
  • Careful analysis of the service record of the component
  • Review of the loads carried
  • Record of temperatures suffered
  • Weather reports
  • Analysis of the microstructure of the material used
  • Assessment of witness evidence.

Present Methods

All of these are still required but the task of the forensic engineer has been aided by the introduction of certain key concepts and methods including:

Time impact Analysis (TIA)

Retrospective contract development analysis

Project Management Software

Fracture mechanics - the analysis of loads applied to bodies containing cracks

Scanning electron microscopes - fracture surfaces can be analysed at magnifications of thousands to determine modes of failure, as well as the chemical composition of key components of the microstructure

Finite element analysis - the determination by numerical mathematics of stresses, temperatures at all positions within a body, rather than the analytical solution of simplified shapes

Computational fluid dynamics - this uses numerical mathematics to determine effects of fluids (gases or solids) on components or structures

Impact dynamics or the use of numerical and analytical codes and models to determine the behavior of structures when hit by fast-moving projectiles.