A Framework or Methodology for Forensic Investigation
Colin R. Gagg · Forensic engineering · 2020
Publicly available literature, with a focus on failure analysis, usually deliberates on the technical aspects of failure, with the deep underlying reasons for failure often neglected, as demonstrated by the Challenger space shuttle accident of 1986. In addition to material evidence, a successful forensic failure investigation may often be dependent on gathering relevant background information. A coroner will undertake an autopsy where an unnatural death has occurred, whereas the forensic engineer will examine parts, assemblies or structures that have been overtaken by premature failure. Fault tree analysis and Cause-and-effect diagrams can help simplify very complex failures as both methods show the inter-relationship of many different possible causes producing a single symptom – thus providing an ideal framework for undertaking a failure investigation. The unexpected failure caused the engineer to drive his right hand into an adjacent block wall, causing severe damage to both tendon and bone.