Quantitative matching of forensic evidence fragments using fracture surface topography and statistical learning
Date
2024-09-08
Authors
Thompson, Geoffrey Z.
Dawood, Bishoy
Yu, Tianyu
Lograsso, Barbara K.
Vanderkolk, John D.
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Nature Research
Abstract
The complex jagged trajectory of fractured surfaces of two pieces of forensic evidence is used to recognize a “match” by using comparative microscopy and tactile pattern analysis. The material intrinsic properties and microstructures, as well as the exposure history of external forces on a fragment of forensic evidence have the premise of uniqueness at a relevant microscopic length scale (about 2–3 grains for cleavage fracture), wherein the statistics of the fracture surface become non-self-affine. We utilize these unique features to quantitatively describe the microscopic aspects of fracture surfaces for forensic comparisons, employing spectral analysis of the topography mapped by three-dimensional microscopy. Multivariate statistical learning tools are used to classify articles and result in near-perfect identification of a “match” and “non-match” among candidate forensic specimens. The framework has the potential for forensic application across a broad range of fractured materials and toolmarks, of diverse texture and mechanical properties.
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article
Comments
This article is published as Thompson, Geoffrey Z., Bishoy Dawood, Tianyu Yu, Barbara K. Lograsso, John D. Vanderkolk, Ranjan Maitra, William Q. Meeker, and Ashraf F. Bastawros. "Quantitative matching of forensic evidence fragments using fracture surface topography and statistical learning." Nature Communications 15, no. 1 (2024): 7852. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51594-1.
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© The Author(s) 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)