Cooling rates of dummies under various degrees of air humidity, wind speed and air temperature
Master Thesis
2013
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
Henssge observed that even a slight but permanent air movement accelerates cooling of a naked body significantly. However in those experimental studies the rate of air movement was not quantified. Today Henssge’s Nomogram method of thermometric thanatochronometry (mathematic estimation of the post-mortem interval using body temperature measurements) is used the world over and utilises various corrective factors for naked and clothed bodies in still/moving air. The purpose of this research was to correlate measured air flow rates (wind speed) and measured relative air humidity levels (RH) with post-mortem cooling rate in order to formulate appropriate corrective factors to be used with Henssge’s Nomogram. The effect of air flow rates and air humidity on the post-mortem cooling curve was studied within a range of air temperatures using gel-based models (Cooling Dummies) as substitutes for human bodies.
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Includes bibliographical references.
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Mfolozi, S. 2013. Cooling rates of dummies under various degrees of air humidity, wind speed and air temperature. University of Cape Town.