AFTE Store - Analysis of the Marking Process Using the Finite Element Method

The restoration of markings is a common method in forensic science. Using a wide range of restoration techniques it is possible to re-visualize obliterated or removed markings such as serial numbers, letter codes and label codes. All restoration techniques rely on the fact that the material around the marking is influenced by the marking process and, therefore, different from not-influenced regions. The influenced material shows different properties in areas such as hardness, tensile strength, magnetism, and chemical properties. The influenced depth is important for the restoration of markings. It depends on different conditions like the mechanical properties of the materials, the geometry of the die stamp, and the depth of the imprint [Katterwe, 2005]. It would be necessary to conduct many metallographic examinations to achieve results for the influenced depth for different combinations of materials, die stamps and depth of imprints. To reduce the number of experiments, the goal of this study was to show if it is possible to perform a numeric simulation of the marking process. The simulation is superior to the metallographic examinations because it is easily adapted to different combinations of mechanical properties of the material, geometry of the die stamp and the depth of the imprint. This study concludes that a simulation of the marking process is possible and that the results of the simulation can be transferred to metallographic examinations. This paper proves that simulating the marking process in a metallic material is a promising method for the understanding of the forensic restoration of erased markings.