In recent years, due to global warming, we have witnessed an increase in the occurrence of extreme forest fire events, with corresponding rise in human fatalities and damage costs. In 2017, in Portugal alone, more than 100 people lost their lives due to forest fires. This tragedy also hit other regions such as California, Greece or Australia. These losses tend to increase, and human means are becoming scarce to fight such a threat. Novel solutions must be developed to protect people, goods and infrastructures against the fire. Over the years, multiple solutions have been conceived, using fire-resistant fabrics such as glass fibres. The fire shelter, which today is one vital part of the emergency protection equipment of firefighters, is one example of this. It uses a glass fibre fabric with an outside aluminium layer to reflect incident radiant heat. Similar solutions are employed in the protection of houses and vehicles. Despite being effective, even such products are known to degrade when exposed to extreme temperatures for extended periods of time. Furthermore, when the outside exposed layer increases its temperature above a certain level, the inside surface temperature may also surpass the required safety levels. This work focuses on the testing of active barriers for protection against forest fires, which combine said fire-resistant fiberglass fabrics with a water sprinkler system for the cooling of the fire exposed surface. Several lab experiments were made in order to assess the performance of the system as a function of the fabric type and characteristics, as well as the water-cooling method. Two fire barrier prototypes were tested in a full-scale field experiment. The experimental results are analysed, and, in the end, the best solution found and its use in systems for active wildfire protection is discussed.

中文翻译：

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结合防火玻璃纤维织物和洒水系统的主动屏障，用于防止森林火灾

近年来，由于全球变暖，我们目睹了极端森林火灾事件的发生率增加，人员伤亡和损失成本也相应增加。2017 年，仅在葡萄牙，就有 100 多人因森林火灾丧生。这场悲剧还袭击了其他地区，如加利福尼亚、希腊或澳大利亚。这些损失往往会增加，而对抗这种威胁的人力资源变得稀缺。必须开发新的解决方案来保护人员、货物和基础设施免受火灾影响。多年来，已经构思了多种解决方案，使用玻璃纤维等防火织物。防火避难所今天是消防员应急保护设备的重要组成部分，就是一个例子。它使用带有外部铝层的玻璃纤维织物来反射入射辐射热。类似的解决方案用于保护房屋和车辆。尽管有效，但众所周知，即使此类产品长时间暴露在极端温度下也会降解。此外，当外露层的温度升高到一定水平以上时，内表面温度也可能超过所需的安全水平。这项工作的重点是测试用于防止森林火灾的主动屏障，该屏障将所述耐火玻璃纤维织物与喷水系统相结合，用于冷却火灾暴露表面。为了根据织物类型和特性以及水冷方法来评估系统的性能，进行了多次实验室实验。在全尺寸现场实验中测试了两个防火屏障原型。对实验结果进行了分析，最后讨论了找到的最佳解决方案及其在主动野火保护系统中的应用。