In fire resistance tests, stone wool’s organic matter undergoes exothermic oxidative reactions sustained by external heat, causing mass transfer in the structure. The previous modelling attempts, lacking the mass transfer physics, fall short in predicting the temperature of high density and high organic content samples. To fill this gap in the fire engineering modelling capability, we include mass

There are currently efforts to inform the public of the fire safety benefits of keeping bedroom doors closed when occupants are sleeping. A closed door can provide a substantial advantage to sleeping occupants of a bedroom in the event of a fire by hindering the spread of heat and toxic gases. The overall benefit in this arrangement is clear when occupants have interconnected smoke alarms inside and

Past studies suggest that people are often reluctant to use occupant evacuation elevators in case of fire. However, existing research is scarce and current knowledge is based on questionnaire studies and laboratory experiments. An unannounced evacuation experiment was therefore performed on the 16th floor of a 35-floor high-rise hotel building. Sixty-seven participants took part and eye-tracking glasses

During wildfire events fire-protective gels can be used as a line of defense to protect structures. The effectiveness of freshly applied gels in delaying ignition and flame growth on structures has been well established. However, in a real-world scenario there is a period between the application of the gel and the arrival of a spot fire or the fire-front. During this period, the gels are often exposed

Emergency incidents and events of fires can be dangerous and required quick and accurate decision-making need quick and correct decision-making. The use of computer vision for fire detection can provide a efficient solution to deal with these situations. These systems handle the usual data, provide an automated solution, and discard non-relevant information without discarding relevant content. Researchers

The paper is focused on the topic of smoke control in a confined, underground cellar area of a historical building, that is undergoing conversion to a restaurant. Similar venues were host to some of the most devastating fires in history. We have investigated the performance of a novel solution, “smart smoke control (SSC)”, and compared its performance with “traditional” smoke venting solution. The

This review aims to provide additional context to the historical narrative of the development of the standard temperature–time heating curve used for the determination of the fire resistance of structural elements. While historical narratives of the development of the standard temperature–time heating curve exist, there are portions of the timeline with missing contributions and contributions deserving

Most previous work concentrated on the one-sided upward flame spread under limited conditions. However, few investigations have studied the effects of limited distance between wall and fuel surface on two-sided upward flame spreading. In this paper, a series of upward flame spread experiments were conducted using 0.65 mm thick, 130 cm tall and 4.0 cm wide flax fabric sheets with various limited distance

Flame merging is deemed to enhance the burning intensity and make the fire more destructive. This paper presents an experimental study on merging behaviors of two same rectangular heptane pool fires with long sides parallel. The pan aspect ratio was set 2–4 and the spacing was changed. The burning rate and flame height were measured. As the spacing decreases, the flame shape was divided into five regions

Concrete structures develop high levels of transient creep strain when exposed to fire, especially when temperatures in a member exceed 500°C. This high-temperature creep strain can dominate the deformation response under severe fire scenarios and needs to be properly accounted for in the fire resistance analysis. Most of the current approaches for fire resistance calculations, including advanced analysis

The dynamical evolution of a multiple fuel package fire leaves thermal signatures. For practical and theoretical reasons, it is important to determine conditions in which one can identify the path the system took by conducting a set of experiments that cover the space of all possible paths. An experimental fire compartment capable of producing repeatable and highly customizable fire-evolution scenarios

Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) are being increasingly deployed in energy storage systems (ESS) due to a high energy density. However, the inherent flammability of current LIBs presents a new challenge to fire protection system design. While bench-scale testing has focused on the hazard of a single battery, or small collection of batteries, the more complex burning behavior of a commercially design module

This scoping review addresses the role of functional limitations on evacuation performance of adults in public buildings. Although this topic has been addressed in evacuation research, no linkage is currently available between functional limitations, the predominant activities affected by them and evacuation performance. This review strives to open a debate on the need to classify the impact of disability

This work describes a deep learning methodology for “emulating” temperature outputs produced by the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), a CFD software. An array of artificial neural networks (ANNs) is trained to predict transient temperatures at specified locations for a transient heat release rate (HRR) input. These locations correspond to the locations of thermocouples used in an experimental burn structure

A cross-region transfer learning method is proposed to identify community (e.g. car parks, public spaces and shopping centers) fire hazards based on text input provided by community members. The key component of the method, which also accounts for data imbalance, is an improved transfer component analysis that is embedded with a local discriminant analysis to transfer non-local rich knowledge to the

The demand for lithium-ion battery powered road vehicles continues to increase around the world. As more of these become operational across the globe, their involvement in traffic accidents and incidents is likely to rise. This can damage the lithium-ion battery and subsequently pose a threat to occupants and responders as well as those involved in vehicle recovery and salvage operations. The project

Thermal response of the honeycomb sandwich structure was evaluated using the steady-state method at different temperatures ranging from 100°C to 400°C. The results showed that effective thermal conductivity decreases when the temperature set is over 300°C, and the critical temperature is about 310°C. As a result, a set of experiments was conducted to observe the inner structure of the sandwich in a

Tunnels are nowadays key elements in transport networks worldwide. To achieve a safe and efficient operation, a proper integration and design of Mechanical, Electrical and Intelligent Transportation Systems is required. Among these systems, tunnel ventilation is one of the most critical ones from the Fire Life Safety perspective, being smoke control to maintain safe conditions during self-evacuation

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are widely used as energy storage devices. However, a disadvantage of these batteries is their tendency to ignite and burn, thereby creating a fire hazard. Ignition of LIBs can be triggered by abuse conditions (mechanical, electrical or thermal abuse) or internal short circuit. In addition, ignition could also be triggered by self-heating when LIBs are stacked during storage

Temperature and temperature consistency have an important effect on the effective performance and thermal safety of lithium-ion batteries. Huge temperature inconsistency can lead to the behavior of overcharge and overdischarge so that it improves the risk of fire and thermal runaway. Temperature rise and heat generation rate during discharging under adiabatic condition are measured by experiments.

Fire spread occurs via radiation, flame contact, and firebrands. While firebrand showers are known to be a cause of spot fires which ignite fuels far from the main fire front, in the case of short distance spot fires, radiation from the main fire may play a role for firebrand induced ignition processes. Many past investigations have focused on singular effects on fire spread, and little is known about

In this study, a 100 m2 steel tank was used to simulate transformer oil fires, with an aim of investigating the burning characteristics of a large-scale pool fire. To recover a real thermal state of transformer oil in operation, a heating system was employed to raise the initial fuel temperature. In total, three fire-extinguishing tests were performed using two delivery methods, i.e., a hand-held fire

Stringent fire safety regulations have limited the use of green biocomposites in practical applications due to vulnerability of their constituents to heat and fire. To counter this weakness, several flame-retardant treatments and techniques have been introduced, such as halogenated and non-halogenated flame-retardants, nano fillers, layered silicates, copolymerization, grafting, and synergistic use

Many thermal events have been reported during storage and transport of large numbers of Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), raising industry concerns and research interests in its mechanisms. Apart from electrochemical failure, self-heating ignition, driven by poor heat transfer could also be a possible cause of fire in large-scale ensembles of LIBs. The classical theories and models of self-heating ignition

Australia has the most significant wildfire problem in Oceania, with in excess of 50,000 wildfires per annum on average, and an average of 500,000 km2 of land burnt by wildfires annually across the nation. Each year a number of these wildfires also affect the built environment at the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Each year in Australia, 84 dwellings are destroyed by wildfires on average, albeit historically

Based on evidence from previous studies, fire mortality rates among older adults on a local level seem to be related two dimensions; population vulnerability and societal protection. In this paper, we investigate the magnitude of the impacts of variation along these two dimensions on the rate of fatal fires involving at least one older adult (65 + years) in Swedish municipalities. Our empirical strategy

Preventing thermal runaway propagation is critical to improve the fire safety of electric vehicles. Experiments are conducted on the designed battery modules to study the effects of aerogel, liquid cooling plate, and their combination on the prevention mechanism of thermal runaway propagation. The characteristics of temperature, voltage, mass loss, and venting during the thermal runaway propagation

Battery explosion incidents hinder the development and application of Li-ion batteries. This paper describes the use of nondestructive computed tomography (CT) to analyze cylindrical Li-ion battery samples that underwent thermal runaway and exploded. Unlike destructive analysis methods, which can lead to a loss of battery structural information, CT scan allows direct observation of a battery’s internal

Fuel load is a crucial parameter for evaluating design fires for buildings. However, the availability of fuel load data is currently hindered by the lack of an efficient on-site data collection method. This research develops a new methodology for fuel load surveys that can facilitate the collection, storage, and analysis of fuel load data for a variety of building occupancies. The new survey method

The conditions under which auto-extinction of timber can occur are of particular importance for mass timber structures where elements of structural timber are exposed, or become exposed, during a fire. Using experiments on 95 mm cubes of timber, the sensitivity of auto-extinction to sample orientation, and an imposed flow across the surface of the sample was investigated. It was found that the variation

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

CEN and NFPA have expanded the application of water mist in open environments from light solid combustible fire hazards to several in the higher hazard categories. A previous analysis and test evaluation showed that such application expansion is feasible, provided that the water mist spray meets droplet size and application density requirements for the intended fire challenge. However, this evaluation

Upward flame spread is the most rapid and hazardous of the different modes of flame spread. Moreover, studies on the effects of ambient parameters on flame spread are very important for fire safety on spacecraft systems. Therefore, the effects of pressure (0 kPa to 70 kPa), oxygen mole fraction (0.30 to 0.90) and sample width (0.3 cm to 2 cm) on upward flame spread over thin papers were studied. A

Residential fires pose threats to living environments, generating costs to health and property. Understanding the roles of human behavior and social organization in determining fire occurrence is important for developing strategies to manage fire risk. This paper tests the impact of daylight saving time (DST) transitions on dwelling fire occurrence. DST transitions affect sleep patterns, impairing

The fire accidents caused by the thermal runaway of lithium-ion battery has extremely impeded the development of electric vehicles. With the purpose of evaluating the fire hazards of the electric vehicle, a full-scale thermal runaway test of the real lithium-ion battery pack is conducted in this work. The experimental process can be divided into three stages according to the combustion behavior. (1)

This paper discusses application of a new methodology that facilitates fuel load surveys in buildings. The methodology consists of four steps comprising digital inventory, data organization, item matching through computer vision, and fuel load estimation, and is programmed into a digitized surveying application. The present paper applies the methodology to three office buildings and provides the results

The frequent accidents of power lithium-ion battery have become the major reason to hinder the development of electric vehicles. In this paper, the thermal runaway process for a 32650 battery is analyzed based on 300°C oven heating experiment in adiabatic rate calorimeter, the rise of temperature, the drop of voltage and the leakage of electrolyte are observed before exploding, which could be used

This review is focused on video flame and smoke based fire detection algorithms for both indoor and outdoor environments. It analyzes and discusses them in a taxonomical manner for the last two decades. These are mainly based on handcraft features with or without classifiers and deep learning approaches. The separate treatment is provided for detecting flames and smoke. Their static and dynamic characteristics

In order to investigate the thermal runaway mechanism of 18650 lithium ion batteries and the related hazards, an experimental platform for lithium ion battery fire and explosion is designed and built. The effects of different arrangements, including vertical 2 × 2 and vertical 4 × 1, and initial pressure (96 kPa and 61 kPa) on lithium ion battery thermal runaway are studied in this paper. Compared

Research on the performance of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Fire Service is challenged by the ability to repeatedly and feasibly test new designs, interventions and wear trials in realistic conditions that appropriately simulate end use environments. To support firefighter PPE research and firefighter PPE acclimation/training, a multidisciplinary team has developed a low cost, easily

The article Analysis of Changing Residential Fire Dynamics and Its Implications on Firefighter Operational Timeframes, written by Stephen Kerber, was originally published electronically on the publisher’s internet portal (currently SpringerLink) on December 8, 2011, without open access.

The article Analysis of One and Two-Story Single Family Home Fire Dynamics and the Impact of Firefighter Horizontal Ventilation, written by Stephen Kerber, was originally published electronically on the publisher’s internet portal (currently SpringerLink) on August 29, 2012, without open access.

Roof assemblies are known to be vulnerable to firebrands in urban and wildland-urban interface fires. In the 2016 urban fire in Japan (Itoigawa-City Fire), at least 10 structures were ignited by firebrand showers and three of these structures were ignited by firebrand penetration under roof tiles. In this study, the vulnerabilities of Japanese-style roof tile assemblies to firebrand exposures were

Air curtain is an effective means to stop the propagation of smoke in buildings to provide smoke-free area for safe egress of occupants in case of fires. To understand its effectiveness of smoke confinement in tunnel fires, full-scale tests were conducted in a tunnel of 140 m long and with varying heights of 5.0 m to 5.9 m and varying widths of 5.8 m to 10.8 m. A 20 cm-wide air curtain spanning entire

Thermal-runaway propagation in battery systems can escalate the battery fire hazard and pose a severe threat to global users. In this work, the thermal-runaway propagation over 18650 cylindrical lithium-ion battery was tested in the linear-arranged module with a 3-mm gap. State of charge (SOCs) from 30% to 100%, ambient temperatures from 20°C to 70°C, and three tab-connection methods were investigated

77% of fatal fires in Spain take place in residential buildings, and more than 60% of deaths are people over 65 years old. The collection of fire loss data in Spain is poorly regulated and it does not have homogeneity. This makes it extremely difficult to study the fire problem and the effectiveness of different safety strategies in general, and more specifically with relation to vulnerable groups

Cotton is the most widely used natural textile fiber for human beings, and fire safety during transportation, storage, and manufacturing is of great significance. This work investigated the smoldering burning of a high-density cotton bale (36 L and 225 kg/m3) tightened by thin steel wire ropes under the concurrent wind. Without wind, the creeping smoldering spread showed two stages: (I) the relatively

Thermal runaway of lithium-ion batteries is particularly dangerous in systems where runaway can propagate through many cells. To understand thermal runaway propagation in these systems, it is important to understand the differences between failure characteristics of the initial cell that fails due to an abuse event and subsequent cells that fail due to thermal runaway propagation. This work compares

The original version of this article unfortunately contained an error in the Acknowledgement section.

In hospitals, the evacuation of those with severe movement impairments can be highly problematic for the patients, for the staff and for other evacuees. It is critical to understand the performance of horizontal and vertical evacuation procedures, including the means by which people with reduced mobility can be assisted during stair descent. Microsimulation modelling provides a useful tool to assess

Research into workplace injuries traditionally focuses upon discrete injury events, such as falls, violence, contact with machinery and other traumatic events. By comparison, research literature on work-related injury events involving fire is sparse, despite the fact that fires can produce particularly severe injuries and involve multiple victims. Comparatively little is consequently known about the

Characterizing propagation of a thermal runaway hazard in cell arrays and modules is critical to understanding fire hazards in energy storage systems. In this paper, the thermal runaway propagation of a pouch cell array has been examined by developing a 1D finite difference model. The results are compared with experimental data. First, the thermal runaway reactions found in the literature are reviewed

An issue when using stochastic egress models is how many simulations are required to accurately represent the modelled scenario? Engineers are mostly interested in a representative Total Evacuation Time (TET). However, the convergence of the TET may not ensure that the full range of evacuation dynamics has been adequately represented. The average total egress curve (AC) has been suggested as an improved

The topic of tunnel fire attracted considerable attention in past two decades. The popularity of this topic is mainly attributed to the widespread construction of long-span tunnels and their incident fire safety issues, as well as the frequent occurrence of catastrophic tunnel fires. To date, a number of research papers have been published focusing on specific aspects of tunnel fires such as fire dynamics

When lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are located at high altitude and low pressure,the characteristics of thermal runaway (TR) and its propagation are different,such as time to TR, the toxicity of TR gases, TR propagation time, mass loss rate, etc. In this article, the author summarized a series of relevant literatures and proposed an instrument that can be used to analyse the TR behavior at different

An infrared image-based feedback control system for intelligent fire monitor was proposed in this paper, whose aims are to realize automatic aiming of the fire site and continuous fire tracking in the process of fire extinguishing through adjusting of the yaw angle of the fire monitor. Firstly, infrared camera was used to capture images of the fire site, and under high temperatures, the fire would

The nail penetration experiment has become one of the commonly used methods to study the short circuit in lithium-ion battery safety. A series of penetration tests using the stainless steel nail on 18,650 lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries under different conditions are conducted in this work. The effects of the states of charge (SOC), penetration positions, penetration depths, penetration

The quantification of thermal action is important to the analysis of structural-fire performance of bridges. This study evaluates the parameters for the localized fire model adopted in SFPE Handbook for application to the fire scenario of a tanker truck burning beneath a bridge. Modification is applied first to the flame length and then to the distribution of gauge heat flux using the simulation results

Fire in buildings pose a significant threat to occupants, first responders as well as the structural system. Rapid spread of fire and smoke in buildings can hinder the process of evacuation resulting in loss of human life. Such situations call for a reliable egress system that provides safe evacuation of occupants in minimal time. Updating the occupants and first responders with much-needed situational

Modern day energy codes are driving the design and multi-layered configuration of exterior wall systems with a significant emphasis on achieving high performance insulation towards improving energy performance of building envelopes. Use of highly insulating polyisocyanurate (PIR) based materials enhanced with eco-friendly lamellar inorganic fillers reinforces energy performance requirements, environmental