Recently, to simulate microgravity flames in a terrestrial environment, low stretched stagnation-point diffusion flames have aroused wide interest, while the extinction behaviors of varied stretched flames at reduced oxygen concentration were scarcely investigated. This issue was accomplished by an investigation in this paper. Firstly, local and total extinction modes with ‘U’-shape boundaries were

Meta-modeling helps to reduce the computational cost of large-scale stochastic simulations. It, however, brings froth additional uncertainty in the prediction. In this work, we illustrate the use of the Response Surface Method (RSM) and Gaussian Process (GP) regression to approximate the cold-side temperature of a fire barrier in a stochastic compartment fire scenario. The deterministic model is a

Guaranteeing the integrity of tunnel structures during and after fire is key in support of a sound fire safety strategy and for minimizing the risk of disruption in the operation of the tunnel due to restauration works post-fire. Innovations in concrete technology have enabled what is known as Fibre Reinforced Concrete (FRC); where very small fibres are used to substitute traditional reinforcement

In addition to classical compartment fire development stages, smoke explosions can occur for underventilated conditions while the ventilation openings remain the same. Smoke explosions are different from backdrafts, involving changes in ventilation by additional openings. In this study, the burning history of medium-density fibre (MDF) cribs located at three different elevations has been investigated

Fire resistance is one of the most enduring ideas in fire safety design. This paper charts the emergence of fire resistance, and its rise to ubiquity – with a focus on British codes and standards. Beginning as a method for independent testing of ‘fireproofing’ systems, fire resistance was formalised in the USA, and subsequently in the UK. Minimum fire resistance periods were defined that would allow

In this study, a series of experiments were conducted with varying number of pool fires and opening locations (floors with ventilation openings) in a 21-story full-scale office building to study the transport phenomena and stratification of hot smoke in the stairwell. The experiments show that the flame of the pool fire inclines away from the side lobby door as pushed by the side air entrainment. The

Leader-and-follower behaviour is one of the most important behaviours during evacuation, as determining the effect of leader-and-follower behaviour in social networks on crowd evacuation during emergency situations is important for enhancing safety. In this study, four experiments with two social groups involving 81 participants were conducted. Before the experiments, participants were asked to respond

Thin intumescent coating (IC) are nowadays the dominant passive system used to protect structural steel in case of fire. This paper proposes a general procedure for modelling intumescent coating in both simplified and advanced calculation methods, starting from lab-scale test results. The small-scale tests were useful for identifying the parameters that mostly can affect the behaviour of the IC under

Pre-tensioned steel strands as basic elements have been widely used in hybrid string structures, cable suspension roofs and cable-stayed bridges. There is a growing need to evaluate the damage of such structures whenever subjected to fire. The aim of this research is to experimentally and numerically investigate the behaviour of pre-tensioned steel strands considering the effect of creep strains at

The effect of cross-wind on the temperature elevation in the downwind region of rectangular diffusion burners was investigated in wind tunnel experiments. The experimental parameters were the geometry of the diffusion burner (the side length parallel and orthogonal to the cross-wind L1=0.2–0.8m and L2=0.4–2.0m, respectively, and the aspect ratio r=1–10), the heat release rate (Q˙=38.3–383.3 kW), and

As the fire research community develops multi-scale models to predict the spread of wildland fires, there is a need for well-controlled, small-scale experiments which provide benchmark data and fundamental understanding of the effects of key parameters on the combustion of wildland fuels. Here, we implement a unique suite of non-intrusive, quantitative diagnostics that simultaneously measure mass loss

A potentially dangerous fire event that can occur in road tunnels is a gasoline tanker fire, where flammable liquid fuel spills on the tunnel roadbed and catches fire. In the USA typically, the water density required for fixed firefighting systems is based on NFPA 13 and the minimum ventilation is based on smoke back layering. This work calculates the required water density based on the tunnel geometry

This paper presents both experimental and mesoscale modeling results of the direct tensile behaviour of two carbon TRC composites at elevated temperatures ranging from 25 °C to 600 °C. Two reinforcement carbon textiles were manufactured industrially in the factory with different geometries and treatment products to improve the textile/matrix bond. For the numerical approach, the input data of the numerical

As bias and uncertainties inevitably exist on both wildland fire model states and parameters, fire simulations do not always accurately forecast the temporal and spatial progression of wildfires. In this paper, a novel approach is proposed to estimate fire perimeters and fuel adjustment factors simultaneously for FARSITE tool. Fire perimeters estimation is the key to reduce model state bias, while

A detailed understanding of flame radiation is useful in numerous fire applications, and can be improved through experiments and modelling: the work presented here is a contribution to both aspects. Data were gathered for kerosene pool fires (30–250 cm wide), in order to characterise the flame geometry and emission. It was shown that the average visible flame can be well approximated by a conical shape

At elevated temperatures, the mechanical properties of high strength steel (HSS) reported in the literature have an observable scatter. They differ from design code values that are mainly based on experiments on mild steel. In this paper, the mechanical properties of S700 MC at elevated temperatures were investigated with steady state and transient state tensile tests. The reduction factors of yield

The knowledge of the behavior of coal undergoing oxidation under various conditions is important for the prevention and control of mine fires. The aim of the work was to investigate carbon oxides, ethane, propane, propylene and ethylene emissions from coal oxidation using an air stream of varying oxygen content. The experiment included the heating of coal in the temperature range of 30–210 °C at atmosphere

The mechanical properties of high strength structural steel (HSSS) at elevated temperatures are the basis for fire-resistant design of HSSS members and structures. Previous studies on the mechanical properties of HSSS at elevated temperatures were mainly conducted on QT (Quenched and Tempered) HSSS, while few studies were conducted on TMCP (Thermo-Mechanical Controlled Process) HSSS. In order to identify

Previous studies of concrete-encased concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns have demonstrated their enhanced fire performance due to the passive protection of the outer encasement. To facilitate the design and application of concrete-encased CFST structures, the fire performance of full-scale reinforced concrete beam to concrete-encased CFST column joints subjected to full-range fire including heating

The effect of ambient pressure on flame spread and insulation dripping of copper-cored, LDPE-insulated wires exposed to opposed airflows was investigated to increase understanding of electrical wire fire hazards in spacecraft environments. Utilized wire samples consisted of 0.64 mm-diameter copper cores surrounded by 4 mm-outer diameter LDPE insulation sheaths. The wire characteristics were selected

Spandrel panels are a common feature of many buildings around the world. Their presence is often cited as a measure to prevent vertical fire spread from storey-to-storey. With a focus on the UK's building regulatory system, this paper charts the introduction of the spandrel panel into local building regulations. It is shown how research activities in the mid twentieth century led to a suggestion that

This paper describes the impact and consequences of a dynamic domain expansion in a smoke simulation performed in the software ARTSS. This software is developed with the aim to conduct real-time or even prognosis computations by using GPUs as the main computational architecture. Further runtime acceleration is proposed by means of a dynamic extension of the computational domain. This approach is based

This paper has analyzed the ambient pressure on the effect of the efficiency of the mechanical smoke extraction system in tunnel fires. These were simulated by Large Eddy Simulation (LES) with Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). The simulation results indicate that it is not the instance that the higher the exhaust rate, the better the smoke exhaust efficiency of the exhaust vent. There is a critical exhaust

This paper describes a series of four full-scale furnace tests conducted on unprotected concrete-filled steel tubular columns with and without reinforcement bars. Three of the columns were subjected to compression and horizontal loads, considering the end restraints provided by the adjacent cooler frame members and the forced displacement caused by thermal elongation of the heated beam during fire

Novel aerosol particles were developed and utilised to prevent SCC in underground goafs. The ultrafine aerosol particles (UAPs) were synthesised by grinding ammonium dihydrogen phosphate, magnesium chloride, zinc borate, talcum powder, calcium stearate, sericite, bentonite, and silica to a an equivalent spherical diameter of less than 100 μm in the ratio of 144:36:8:5:5:6:4:2. Loading of 1–5% aerosol

In structures where columns are not continuous along the height of a building the loads are usually transferred via transfer beams. As a result, these beams are subject to larger shear forces and bending moments in comparison to standard beams. Transfer beams are typical in modern construction, especially high-rise building; commonly arising to achieve architectural features. Nonetheless, the research

This paper reported the preparation, fire suppression efficiency, and suppression mechanism of a new suppression powder. In present work, the new suppressant was designed for combining the ability of terminating the chain reactions into the powder extinguishing agent. The trifluoroacetyl group (COCF3) was grafted onto the silicon dioxide (SiO2), and called the compound SiO2–F. Several tests for characterizing

Assessing life safety by comparing the available safe egress time (ASET) and the required safe egress time (RSET) is a prominent task in performance-based fire safety design. The calculation of a safety margin by subtracting RSET from ASET is a straightforward concept and is easy to understand. However, when the concept was developed, fire and evacuation models only provided punctual information derived

The 9th International Seminar on Fire and Explosion Hazards (ISFEH9) was held from 21 to April 26, 2019 in St. Petersburg, Russia. In this editorial note, we introduce the virtual special issue of the Fire Safety Journal with the extended and modified versions of the selected papers presented at the Seminar. We also take this opportunity to highlight statistics of the conference and to express thanks

Immediate response to fire incidents is critical for emergency management as delays in arrival at the scene can have significant consequences in terms of injury, destruction and death. Yet, increasing urban interface in cities presents a challenge when developing and implementing effective emergency response mechanisms. Therefore, the major concerns of planners is adequately covering all service areas

This paper presents an experimental study of the behavior of intumescent coatings exposed to localized fires. The main objective is to assess the extent to which thermal properties of intumescent coatings obtained under uniform heating can be applied for localized fire exposures. The experiments used two types of specimens representing protected steel beams and columns. Localized pool fires were placed

Youth misuse of fire is a multifaceted, complex and dangerous phenomenon that is difficult to predict and detect. Reduction relies heavily on prevention programs operated by, or in conjunction with, fire services. Youth Justice Conferencing with firefighter involvement is a tertiary prevention program implemented in New South Wales, Australia, by Juvenile Justice New South Wales and Fire and Rescue

To construct a reliable and reasonable method for the evaluation of the safety of hybrid rockets, the safety distance for blast wave is estimated. Physical phenomena leading to the blast of hybrid rocket propellants are identified and modeled. Currently, fuel fragmentation and dust explosion are recognized as key processes that cause blast waves. A correlation is developed to evaluate the amount of

Cold-formed Light gauge Steel Frame (LSF) floor-ceiling systems are commonly made with non-combustible fire protective membrane to protect the steel floor joists in fire. Thermal improvements to the fire protective membrane delay the heat transfer to structural elements and provide enhanced fire resistance level. Hence, this study addresses the thermal performance of different fire resistant board

To understand time gaps during bus evacuation to conduct high-quality risk analysis of tunnel fires, this study collected time gaps from the Hsuehshan tunnel fire in Taiwan, experimental bus evacuations, and observed bus alighting. Based on the analysis of Hsuehshan tunnel fire, two situations were manifested: one wherein the bus passengers alighted normally as if it was a usual bus experience with

Creeping fire spread under opposed airflow is a classic fundamental fire research problem involving heat transfer, fluid dynamics, chemical kinetics, and is strongly dependent on environmental factors. Persistent research over the last 50 years has established a solid framework for different fire-spread processes, but new fire phenomena and recent developments continue to challenge our current understanding

The accuracy of the gray gas (GG) assumption for modeling the radiative transfer in fire simulations is studied for a closed compartment, an open environment, and a compartment with an opening. The liquid fuels used for each case are ethanol, heptane and methanol, respectively. Three different GG formulations, implemented on the solver Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), are tested and compared to experimental

The data that is currently used when designing egress systems for stadia and other high-occupancy buildings was collected decades ago and might not be applicable in today's society. A systematic analysis of crowd movement was performed to investigate egress flows at a large stadium in the UK following four different event types (i.e., a football game, a rugby game, a concert featuring a male singer/songwriter

Experiments were carried out in the Idealized-Firebrand Ignition Test (I-FIT), a bench scale apparatus specifically designed to test the ignition of forest fuel layers from a representative firebrand. A cylindrical heater was used to model the firebrand, which allowed to control the incident radiative heat flux on the specimen, from the critical heat flux up to 25 kW/m2, for five different porosities

Buoyant, turbulent diffusion flames anchored on a slot burner in the presence of an isothermal, low-temperature (333 K) wall have been numerically simulated. A laminar smoke point based subgrid (flamelet) radiation model has been applied toward estimation of overall radiant fractions and radiant power distributions of the ethylene fires. The model uses a turbulent micro-scale strain rate and an enthalpy

The reliability of fire (point) detection systems in office buildings, in Victoria, Australia, was determined through fault tree analysis. Following the literature review and collected data from surveys, a quantitative analysis was undertaken. Fault tree analysis was used as a deductive analysis of the likelihood of the failure of fire (point) detection system in office buildings through mapping the

In South Africa alone, there are more than 5000 informal settlement fires a year, where a single incident can leave up to 10000 people homeless. The government and local authorities of countries with informal settlements, that extend over large areas, have no tools to simulate fires to identify high risk areas, or to quantify the magnitude of an incident to which they may need to respond. It is with

This study investigates the ignition by flaming firebrands of two decking slabs used in French dwellings located in Wildland–Urban Interface. The first decking slab was made of pine and the second one was a thermoplastic composed of polypropylene and calcium carbonate. Flaming firebrands were produced by heating and igniting wood chips of different shapes (square, longitudinal and rectangular) with

This study presents an evacuation experiment to test individual behavior in an interactive virtual environment. A total of 68 test scenarios were established, and 122 participants were recruited to take part in all the test scenarios. The results show that individual attributes, such as sex, education background, age, and evacuation experience, have a correlation with the participants’ ability of escaping

Cable bridges such as cable-stayed bridges and suspension bridges are supported by members such as cables, reinforced girders, and pylons. Fires on the bridge can cause structural degradation in members, which can pose a severe danger to the bridge. However, in most countermeasure standards for structures, no information regarding the installation of firefighting facilities on cable bridges is available

In current fire probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs) for nuclear power plants in the United States, fires due to transient combustibles are one of the top contributors to calculated plant risk. This does not comport with industry experience on the severity of transient fires. A two-phase project was developed to improve the realism of modeling transient fires in PRAs. In the summer of 2018, a large

Evacuees within fire-affected buildings may have to escape through smoke-filled corridors without the aid of lighting, with a high probability of failing to escape. It is thus of vital importance to enhance evacuation safety procedures. It is equally necessary to study changes in walking speeds in situations of fire escapes in order to accurately estimate time required to escape. This paper focuses

This paper documents the development of solid propellant aerosol generators (SPAGs) as alternative fire suppression systems. SPAGs mainly consist of an igniter, a solid propellant (SP), a cooling system and an outlet. The main focus of this study is on the SP as the research item. Such SP consists of oxidant, fuel and additives. This research work aimed to investigate the application of the aerosol

Ultra-fine dry chemicals, as an effective fire suppressant, may have higher fire extinguishing efficiency and the ability to inhibit pool fires re-ignition after oil-repellent treatment. Thus, we used two surfactants, i.e. POTS (1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltrimethoxysilane) and OBS (Sodium perfluorononyloxybenzenesulfonate) to modify fine sodium bicarbonate and studied the effect of POTS/OBS compound

In conventional evacuation modeling, evacuation crowds are regarded as consisting of pedestrians with almost homogeneous walking abilities. However, there are many people who are slow-footed, especially people, and usually evacuation crowds consist of a mixture of diverse speed of pedestrians. Not only are slow-speed pedestrians themselves slow, but the mixture of slow-speed and average pedestrians

This paper presents symmetric modeling of the thermal actions in a structural fire experiment on a 12.8 m long composite floor beam in a compartment. A quarter of the fire compartment was modeled in FDS and a portion of about 1/160 of the composite beam was modeled in ANSYS. The FDS symmetry model gave consistent results with the FDS model of the entire compartment, the differences between the predicted

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models are powerful research tools for studying fire dynamics. However, their application to wildland fire scenarios requires evaluation against relevant experimental data. To progress our current understanding of the fidelity of a CFD approach to simulating wildland fire dynamics, a dataset from an experimental fire was used as a test case. First, implications of

Key cost components forming the total cost of fire used in a selection of previous international studies have been identified and compared, with a future focus of revisiting the Canadian context. The potential influence of several factors on the selection and categorization of cost components was considered along with novel contributions to analysis approaches. End-user priorities (e.g. fire service

Small-scale experiments were performed in a custom-made laboratory rig to study the in-situ burning (ISB) behaviour for oils that were chemically confined using herders. The burning efficiency, the global mass burning rate and the regression rate are all reported. Two commercially available herding agents (ThickSlick 6535 and OP40) were used to thicken two crude oils (Alaska North Slope (ANS) and Grane)

A methodology is presented herein for the determination of flame extinction in fire simulations by utilizing the flame extinction propensity obtained from the counterflow flame experiments or calculations. The methodology leverages the fact that the flame extinction in hydrocarbon fires tends to occur at critical temperatures corresponding to the strain rates acting on the flames, under the condition