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Estimation of Time of Death With a Fourier Series Unsteady‐State Heat Transfer Model
Author(s) -
Smart Jimmy L.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01467.x
Subject(s) - thermal diffusivity , fourier series , series (stratigraphy) , fourier transform , cylinder , heat transfer , mechanics , steady state (chemistry) , fourier analysis , materials science , mathematics , thermodynamics , physics , mathematical analysis , chemistry , geology , paleontology , geometry
The purpose of this study was to return to fundamental principles of heat transfer and derive a suitable model to establish a firm basis for constructing a postmortem human cooling curve. A Fourier Series Model was successfully applied to unsteady heat transfer within a wooden cylinder in controlled laboratory conditions. Wood has similar thermal diffusivity properties as human tissue. By manipulation of the model, sensitivity analyses were performed to observe the impact of changes in values of input variables. Variables of initial temperature of the cylinder and ambient surrounding temperature were shown to be very sensitive and have the most impact upon predictive results of the model. The model was also used to demonstrate the existence of an initial temperature plateau, which is often the subject of controversy in estimating time of death. Finally, it was demonstrated how the Fourier Series Model can be applied to estimate time of death for humans.