Effect of Wind on Horizontal Displacement of Fatal Fall from a Height |
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Authors: | Wu-ting Tsai Ph.D. Chia-I Hu M.S. Chia-Yun Chang L.L.M. |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Engineering Science and Ocean Engineering, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei, 10617 Taiwan;2. Graduate Institute of Interdisciplinary Legal Studies, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei, 10617 Taiwan |
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Abstract: | The horizontal displacement of the human body resulting from fatal fall from a height is an important variable commonly used to inversely determine the cause or identify other forensic aspects of the fall. When examining the horizontal displacement, the wind effect is generally ignored. This technical note reports analytical modeling of the falling process, utilizing previous measurements of wind force acting on the human body, for determining the functional relationship between the wind speed and the horizontal displacement in the falling process. The result reveals that it does not take extremely rare wind conditions to cause a considerable shift of the human body, highlighting the importance to consider wind as a factor in investigations of fatal falls. |
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Keywords: | forensic science fatal fall from a height wind drag crosswind effect mathematical modeling analytical mechanics |
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