Mathematical Methods for Accident Reconstruction: A Forensic Engineering Perspective [Hardcover]

This book?demonstrates the application of mathematics to modeling accident reconstructions involving a range of moving vehicles, including automobiles, small and large trucks, bicycles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, and construction equipment such as hoists and cranes.

Harold Franck graduated from West Virginia Institute of Technology and West Virginia University with Bachelors and Masters degrees in Electrical Engineering. For twenty years he taught engineering at West Virginia Institute of Technology. He started performing forensic investigations in the early 1980s and subsequently retired from teaching in 1990. While teaching he also performed consulting services for the automotive industry and the Federal government for the Kanawha and Ohio River Lock Systems as well as the Chemical Industry. He also performed forensic engineering consulting during his teaching career. In 1990 he retired from academics and has devoted his career to forensic engineering investigations.

Darren Franck graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Civil Engineering and Georgia Tech with a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has conducted forensic engineering services in the forensic field since 1999 concerning structural distress, accident reconstruction, equipment failure, and biomechanics. Along with this work, both authors have conducted numerous instrumented tests on a variety of forensic subjects and topics and have a well equipped laboratory facility.

Authors. Preface. Acknowledgments. Symbols and Units. 1 Introduction. 2 Basic Principles. 3 Evidence Gathering. 4 Energy Methods. 5 Momentum Methods. 6 Vehicle Specifications. 7 Vehicle Performance Characteristics. 8 Bicycles, Motorcycles, and Pedestrians. 9 Geometrical Characteristics of Highways. 10 Train Accidents. 11 Commercial and OffRoad Vehicles. 12 Visibility, Perception, and Reaction. 13 Computer Metl#7