Ballistics Forensically Applied

Forensic Ballistics

Forensic ballistics is the application of ballistics for forensic purposes. The basis is formed by wound ballistics. Two main mechanisms of injury are differentiated: the crush-mechanism resulting in the permanent cavity and the stretch-mechanism resulting in the temporary cavity. The missile-tissue interactions such as yawing, deformation, fragmentation, and bone contact are explained here and...

Forensically relevant SNP classes.

Forensic samples that contain too little template DNA or are too degraded require alternate genetic marker analyses or approaches to what is currently used for routine casework. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) offer promise to support forensic DNA analyses because of an abundance of potential markers, amenability to automation, and potential reduction in required fragment length to only ...

Ballistics: A Study of the Expert Witness

Internal ballistics of a pneumatic potato cannon

Basic laws of thermodynamics and mechanics are used to analyse an air gun. Such devices are often employed in outdoor physics demonstrations to launch potatoes using compressed gas that is here assumed to expand reversibly and adiabatically. Reasonable agreement is found with reported muzzle speeds for such homebuilt cannons. The treatment is accessible to undergraduate students who have taken ...

Wound ballistics: contemporary and future research.

Wound ballistics research has contributed much to the understanding of the pathophysiology of missile injury that now exists. From this store of knowledge treatment regimes have evolved which have greatly improved the lot of the soldier wounded in war. However, research must keep pace with changes that are taking place in weapons research and development so that the particular needs of the Army...