Fire Safety Analysis Research Articles

Fire safety research of rubber floor covering in a China ice sports center

AbstractThis article examines the fire safety of rubber flooring used in an ice sports center in China. The fire characteristics and parameters of the rubber floor were determined through material fire tests. Subsequently, a fire safety analysis was conducted using the fire intrinsic safety method. Additionally, numerical simulation was employed to investigate fire and evacuation scenarios, particularly when the safety grade of the floor decoration materials falls below standard requirements. The results indicate that, under specific safety conditions, the ice sports center can utilize B1 grade rubber flooring in the required area while ensuring compliance with fire safety standards.

Fire Safety Analysis Onboard Passenger Ships by using Fire Dynamics Simulations: Case Study of a Turkish Domestic Passenger Ship

Fire Safety Analysis Onboard Passenger Ships by using Fire Dynamics Simulations: Case Study of a Turkish Domestic Passenger Ship

Initial fire safety analysis of shelters in Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps

More than a decade had passed since the initiation of the Syrian refugee camps in Jordan. Many gray literature documents and some academic research had been produced around Zaatari and Azraq camps. However, none of the existing research has tackled the issue of fire safety in the camps extensively, despite the noticeable fire events that occur in them.In this research, two methods are used to discuss the fire risk in the Jordanian Syrian camps of Zaatari and Azraq. The first is field assessment through visual analysis supported by observatory tours and field notes on five aspects of fire risk; ignition, fire development, fire spread within a structure, fire risk between structures, and accessibility of shelters. The second is through fire experiments on shelter materials using a cone calorimeter which aimed at seeing how the original shelter materials and the amendments that the residents make to these materials, react to fire. The results are recommendations and best practices to improve fire safety in these camps and at the same time help camp planners and shelter designers in taking more fire-conscious decisions in the future.

Experimental investigation of mechanical properties of GGBS-FA-SF blended geopolymer concrete at elevated temperatures

Geopolymer has excellent mechanical properties at elevated temperatures, but geopolymer concrete may not be so because of the large difference in thermal properties between geopolymer and aggregate which could lead to substantial thermal stresses when they are in a high temperature environment. In this paper we present an experimental investigation on the mechanical properties of GGBS-FA-SF blended geopolymer concrete with and without steel fibres at elevated temperatures. The influences of exposure temperature, coarse aggregate and steel fibre on the failure mode, compressive strength, elastic modulus, peak strain, and ductility of the geopolymer mortar and geopolymer concrete are examined. Based on the experimentally obtained data, empirical temperature-dependent stress-strain constitutive equations are also proposed, which can be used for the fire safety analysis and design of geopolymer concrete with and without steel fibres.

Enriching BIM models with fire safety equipment using keypoint-based symbol detection in escape plans

In the context of fire safety inspections, Building Information Modeling (BIM) models enriched with Fire Safety Equipment (FSE) components can be used to complete compliance checks and other analyses. However, BIM models often lack the required FSE information. To address this issue, escape plans are a convenient source of data, as they show the position and type of FSE on floor plans. Therefore, this study proposes an automated method to analyze escape plans and extract FSE component information to enrich existing BIM models. The method employs the deep learning model Keypoint R-CNN for symbol detection. Symbol locations are then translated into physical positions within the BIM model. Through a real-building case study, the method demonstrates promising results. Future research may focus on improving the symbol detection performance and the registration between the BIM models and fire escape plans, as well as utilizing the extracted information for actual fire safety analyses.

Uncertainty quantification of unconfined spill fire data by coupling Monte Carlo and artificial neural networks

ABSTRACT Due to the complexity of spill fire, predicting heat release rate (HRR) is a challenging aspect, therefore, identifying key contributors to uncertainty is essential to develop reliable models for fire risk assessment. We propose a framework that couples Artificial-Neural-Network (ANN) and Monte Carlo Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) to quantify the uncertainties of spill fire parameters on peak HRR variance. The ANN spill fire model, trained on experimental spill fire data, shows good agreement with measured HRR values. By coupling with Dakota for Monte Carlo uncertainty propagation, the framework identifies major contributors to peak HRR uncertainty for fixed and continuous unconfined spill fires. This is achieved by investigating two uncertainty sources: data scarcity and input parameters. UQ results indicate that the confidence intervals widen at points where data are scarcer. Sensitivity analysis shows that in the case of fixed quantity spills, the fuel amount and properties parameters contribute to 54.4% and 22.6% of peak HRR variance, respectively. For continuous spills, the discharge rate and fuel properties parameters account for 41.8% and 39.3% of peak HRR variance, respectively. This work can be utilized in developing more advanced predictive ANN models for spill fire scenarios, ultimately enhancing fire probabilistic safety analysis in nuclear power plants.

Influence of Wooden Compartment’s Fuel Moisture Content on Time to Flashover: An Experimental and Numerical Study

Time to flashover is an important fire safety parameter. The present study investigated the effects of fuel moisture content on the time to flashover, crucial in fire safety analysis. Experiments and simulations of an ISO 9750-1 room model at 1/8 scale were performed by varying the wooden compartment boundaries’ moisture content between 5% and 16%. The results showed a linear increase in time to flashover with fuel moisture content. An empirical model to predict the time to flashover according to the moisture content was developed. The experiments showed that increasing the moisture from 6.5% to 14.4% prolonged the flashover time from 4.6 min to 8.75 min. These experimental results are consistent with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling using Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), which also depicts a corresponding increase in the time to flashover. These findings demonstrate the critical role of fuel moisture content in fire safety analysis. The results suggest that a 1/8-scale model can be utilized for cost-effective and easily manageable education and demonstration purposes. This includes helping fire brigades and fire academy students comprehend the significance of fuel moisture content in compartment fire development. Since the FDS modeling is not restricted to a 1/8 scale, the presented results are promising regarding CFD modeling of time to flashover in full-scale compartments.

Experiment and modeling of stochastic ignition and combustion of fuel droplets impacting a hot surface

The ignition dynamic of liquid fuel droplets impacting hot surfaces is critical for fire-safety analysis in engineering systems, as well as for controlling wall-filming effects in IC engines. The scenario of slow fuel-leakage rates poses challenges associated with the stochastic processes of droplet splashing, break-up, turbulent mixing, and combustion. To address this, we conduct controlled experiments of liquid n-heptane droplets impacting a heated surface in the Leidenfrost regime, targeting the individual-droplet-deposition conditions. The experiment encompasses a range of surface temperatures and droplet-deposition rates. The experiments are complemented by theoretical analysis, where we developed a stochastic low-order numerical model, demonstrating good accuracy for predicting ignition probability and overall combustion dynamics. Notably, we observe a broad region of intermittent combustion behavior, with ignition probability varying based on surface temperature and droplet deposition rate. Additionally, we find that the transition to consistent ignition relies heavily on both surface temperature and deposition rate. Experimental and numerical model results shed light on the roles of the complex interplay between droplet breakup, chemical kinetics, and evaporation and mixing time scales, as well as the interaction among subsequent droplet combustion events, in governing the ignition and combustion of impacting droplet trains. The revealed dynamic of droplet/hot-surface ignition and the proposed stochastic model hold promise for advancing predictive capabilities of hot-surface-induced ignition and combustion arising from accidental leaks in flammable-liquid piping and wall-filming, particularly in the stochasticity-dominated individual-droplet-deposition regime.

Critical analysis of fire incidents and self-assessment of fire safety program in a tertiary care hospital of India: an observational study

Background: Self-assessment of fire safety provides valuable insights for framing a robust fire safety program for hospitals by identifying gaps and taking corrective measures. The study was performed to (i) critically analyse fire incidents which occurred in the hospital and (ii) assess fire safety program of the hospital. Methods: A critical analysis of 3 fire incidents which occurred in hospital was performed. Further review of records regarding all fire incident reports was performed for last 4.5 years and analysed for cause, site, timing, triggering factor and firefighting. For the second objective, fire safety mechanisms in hospital were compared with national accreditation board of hospital checklist and national building code 2016 part 4 “fire and life safety” guideline. Results: It was found that a total of 44 incidents of fire occurred over a period of four and a half years from January 2019 to July 2023, of which 42 were minor, confined fires while two were major and non confined fires. Electrical cause was found in 48.84% of fire incidents, 37% occurred in external areas, 41% in the morning shift hours and in 51.16% incidents clean agent was used for extinguishing the fire. In 93.18% incidents, trained hospital security extinguished the fire. Average reporting time was 1.23 minutes and mean time taken to act and extinguish the fire completely was 10 minutes. Conclusions: Critical analysis of fire safety using records of fire incidents and comparison with guidelines helps hospitals in self assessment of their fire safety plans and guides in filling lacunae.

РАСЧЕТ ЭЛЕМЕНТОВ ЖЕЛЕЗОБЕТОННЫХ КОНСТРУКЦИЙ НА ОГНЕСТОЙКОСТЬ И ОГНЕСОХРАННОСТЬ В ПРОГРАММНОМ КОМПЛЕКСЕ СТАРКОН.

RCDiagra software as a part of the domestic STARKON software is presented. The software is designed to perform fire resistance and fire safety analysis of reinforced concrete beams and columns. The strength analysis is based on the nonlinear deformation theory and enables to take into account non-stationary thermal effects changing the concrete and reinforcement properties. To determine the ultimate strength, elastic modulus for concrete and reinforcement, ultimate relative deformations, a thermal analysis is performed in accordance with SP 468.1325800.2019 and MDS 21-2.2000. The thermal engineering analysis solve the problem of determining the temperature field in the beam cross-section under non-stationary thermal action, depending on the boundary conditions and thermophysical parameters of the material. It is assumed that the coefficients of thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity of concrete depend on the current temperature at the crosssection points.

A SaaS Concept-Based Shopping Center Fire Risk Assessment Model for the Safety Management Applications

This paper proposes a solution to the problem of software absence for the quantitative fire safety analysis of complex objects, which is suitable not only for highly qualified scientists and experts but also for fire safety engineers and inspectors and is compatible with mobile devices. Existing software solutions for quantitative fire safety analysis are desktop-based, and all require a high level of competence of users. We propose a solution by combining the formalism of typical probabilistic structural–logical (TPSL) models, the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) concept, and end-to-end encryption. Using TPSL models allows the development of cloud-based applications with a simple request-based application programming interface and intuitively understandable user interface to assess the level of safety of complex objects. As a result, we could use such mobile device-ready applications both for developing mobile device applications and developing mobile-device-friendly website-based services to carry out safety control inspections or level of safety management.

Development of an agent-based indoor evacuation model for local fire risks analysis

Evidence suggests that in the event of a fire accident, a certain number of building occupants escape through smoke-filled environments. Consequently, evaluating the corresponding evacuation performance under such life-threatening conditions is important for advancing fire safety analyses. This study aimed to develop a fire-integrated evacuation model to consider the effects of spreading fire hazards (i.e., radiation, temperature, toxic gas, visibility) on evacuees in a room fire evacuation scenario. Furthermore, a novel quantitative approach was introduced to evaluate evacuees’ local fire risks and stress levels according to their egress paths. The escape characteristics at various stages of fire development were studied as well. The results demonstrate that evacuation performance varies considerably depending on the severity of evacuees’ confronted fire hazard conditions, which emphasizes the importance of minimizing the pre-evacuation time in fire evacuation emergencies.

Artificial Intelligence tool for fire safety design (IFETool): Demonstration in large open spaces

Fire modelling is a common practice in building fire safety analysis, but it is costly. This work develops an AI software, Intelligent Fire Engineering Tool (IFETool), to speed up the fire safety analysis and quickly identify design limits. A big numerical atrium-fire database is firstly formed by considering key building and fire parameters. Then, a deep learning model is trained to predict the evolution of tenable smoke visibility, temperature and CO concentration with an accuracy of 97%. The tenability descending profile is further processed to assess the available safe egress time (ASET) and the fire safety of the atriums that have complex roof shapes and slab extensions. This AI design software is able to make a quick assessment of the proposed atrium fire engineering design and give valuable suggestions for potential improvement. Finally, the operation guidelines of IFETool are provided for common design tasks of atrium fire safety.

Optimization of fire safety measures at the agribusiness protection facility with a mass stay of people

This article is a logical continuation of previously published materials on the topic “Analysis of fire safety at the objects of protection of the agro-industrial complex with a mass stay of people”. The conducted studies have established that a necessary condition for ensuring fire safety is the fulfillment of the fire safety requirements provided for by the technical regulations adopted in accordance with the Federal Law "On Technical Regulation", and sufficient - so that, moreover, the fire risk does not exceed acceptable values.

Passive Fire Safety Analysis In Educational Buildings

Tüm binalarda olduğu gibi eğitim binalarının tasarımında da pasif yangın güvenlik sistemlerinin iyi tasarlanması ile mekanik sistemlere ihtiyaç azalır. Binanın maliyeti düşer ve yangın güvenliği daha iyi sağlanmış olur. Pasif güvenlik önlemleri yeterli ise yangının genişlemesi yavaş olur, insanların tahliyesi kolaylaşır ve yangının verdiği zarar az olur. Bu araştırma yangın yönetmeliğinin okul binası tasarımında ve yapımında pasif yangın güvenlik önlemlerine nasıl etki ettiğinin analiz edilmesini amaçlamaktadır. Çalışma bölgesi olarak ülkenin az gelişmiş şehirlerinden biri olan Tokat seçilmiştir. Çalışma da yöntem olarak; Ulusal yangın yönetmeliğinin yürürlüğe girdiği tarih olan 2002 yılından önce projelendirilen ve inşa edilen 4 adet eğitim binası ile 2007 yılından sonra projelendirilen ve inşa edilen 4 adet eğitim binası Ulusal Yangın Yönetmeliği, ABD Yangın Yönetmeliği (NFPA) ve İngiltere Yangın Yönetmeliği (BS) hükümleri arasından belirlenen 20 kritere göre mimari projeleri üzerinden, bina yerinde yapılan incelemeler ve proje müellifleri ile yapılan görüşmeler ışığında analiz edilmiş ve sonuçlar değerlendirilmiştir.

Analysis of fire safety at agricultural facilities with mass stay of people and their protection

This article presents the results of the analysis of fire safety at one of the objects with a mass stay of people (the cafe building), which revealed significant violations. This analysis can be used as the basis for measures to bring this and similar objects in compliance with fire safety requirements.

A Sociotechnical Systems Framework for Performance-Based Design for Fire Safety

The fundamental construct for performance-based design for fire safety in use today has not significantly changed since the early 1990s. While the current construct has seen some success, performance-based design for fire safety is not as broadly accepted as performance-based design approaches in other building-related engineering disciplines. To advance performance-based design for fire safety, it is proposed to move towards a sociotechnical systems approach. This means changing the starting point from a focus on fire safety objectives as a unique property of buildings, infrastructure, or operations, and considering fire safety as one of several sociotechnical objectives. It also means focusing fire safety analysis and design on system attributes which can be controlled through design, and less on variables for which control is unlikely or not possible. As part of this, consideration of fire safety systems performance should be considered in terms of a ‘fail-safe’ perspective, in which there is less focus on all possible events that could occur, and more on preventing those which could result in unacceptable performance. Evaluation of building fire safety as a sociotechnical systems problem would also need to consider the interactions of all components that contribute to safety over the lifetime of the system, including in-use safety system management and system performance over time.

Fire Safety and Risk Analysis in Shipyard

Son yıllarda gemi inşa ve onarım sektöründe gerçekleşen hızlı büyüme ile bu alanda istihdam edilen kişi sayısı da hızla artmaktadır. İnsan faktörü olan her çalışma kolunda olduğu gibi bu sektörde de yangın ve patlamalar iş gücüne paralel olarak artmaktadır. Tersanelerde meydana gelecek olası yangınların önüne geçilmesi, can kaybı, yaralanma ve işgücü kaybını önlemek veya en aza indirmek amacıyla yeni politikalar geliştirme zorunluluğu doğmaktadır. Tersanelerde istihdam edilen çalışanlar, gemi onarımı, gemi inşası, gemi sökümü ve ilgili iş faaliyetleri sırasında meydana gelen yangın ve patlamalardan dolayı yüksek yaralanma ve ölüm riski ile karşı karşıyadırlar. Kaynak, taşlama ve oksijenle metal kesme gibi tersane istihdamıyla ilgili temel işlemler birçok yangının başlaması için kaynak oluşturur. Ayrıca gemilerde ve tersanelerde bulunan yanıcı parlayıcı yakıtlar, kargolar, ahşap yapılar, inşaat malzemeleri ve çöpler de dâhil olmak üzere birçok yanıcı kaynak bulunmaktadır. Kapalı alanlarda kullanılan kesme torçları atmosferi oksijen açısından zengin hale getirip normalde yangına dayanıklı malzemelerin dahi kolayca yanmasına neden olabilir. Yangınlar meydana geldiğinde çalışanlar, çoğunlukla kaçışı zorlaştırabilecek veya imkânsız kılacak, yanıcı gazlar, zehirli dumanlar veya oksijeni tükenmiş havaya sahip kapalı alanlarda çalışmaktadırlar. Bu nedenle tersane çalışanları, yanıklara, ölüme, patlamalara, zehirli gazlara, dumanlara ve oksijen eksikliğinden boğulmaya neden olabilecek yangın riski altında çalışırlar. Ayrıca, tersanelerdeki yangınlarla mücadelede çalışanlar da özel risk altındadır. Risk analiz yöntemleri bu politikalardan birisi olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Önceden yapılacak risk analizleri ile tersanelerde meydana gelebilecek bu gibi durumların neler olabileceği ortaya konularak yangınların ve patlamaların önüne geçmek mümkündür. Yangın güvenliği açısından bakıldığında yangınların birçoğunun insan kaynaklı faktörler sonucu çıktığı görülmektedir. Önceden hangi önlemler ile ne çeşit olayların engellenebileceği bilindiğinde bu faktöre bağlı olaylar en aza indirilebilmektedir. Bu çalışmada öncelikle yangın güvenliği ile ilgili temel bilgilere yer verilmiş, Türkiye’ de tersane sektörü ile ilgili veriler paylaşılmış ve Fine-Kinney risk analiz yöntemi kullanılarak özel bir tersanenin yangın risk analizi yapılmıştır. Bu sayede olası riskler belirlenerek; Yangına müdahale edecek ekiplerin ve karar vericilerin önceden bu riskleri göz önünde bulundurarak önlemler alması, olası can ve mal kaybını önlenmesi amaçlanmıştır.

Analysis of Fire Safety in Office Buildings Applying Fire Safety Evaluation System

Analysis of Fire Safety in Office Buildings Applying Fire Safety Evaluation System

Sequential Design of Multi-Fidelity Computer Experiments: Maximizing the Rate of Stepwise Uncertainty Reduction

This article deals with the sequential design of experiments for (deterministic or stochastic) multi-fidelity numerical simulators, that is, simulators that offer control over the accuracy of simulation of the physical phenomenon or system under study. Accurate simulations usually entail a high computational effort, while coarse simulations are obtained at a lower cost. The cost can be measured, for example, by the run time of the simulator or the financial cost of the computing resources. In this setting, simulation results obtained at several levels of fidelity can be combined in order to estimate quantities of interest (the optimal value of the output, the probability that the output exceeds a given threshold, etc.) in an efficient manner. We propose a new Bayesian sequential strategy called maximal rate of stepwise uncertainty reduction (MR-SUR), that selects additional simulations to be performed by maximizing the ratio between the expected reduction of uncertainty and the cost of simulation. This generic strategy unifies several existing methods, and provides a principled approach to develop new ones. We assess its performance on several examples, including a computationally intensive problem of fire safety analysis where the quantity of interest is the probability of exceeding a tenability threshold during a building fire.