Real Fire Research Articles

Comparative Study on the Characteristics of Compartment Fire and Travelling Fire for Large-Space Fire Analysis

Fire models typically include standard and parametric types. These models assume that the gases produced by the fire within the compartment are fully mixed, resulting in a uniform temperature distribution. However, in real fires, significant non-uniformity is observed, and some large-compartment fires exhibit localized combustion and move across the floor of the burning room over time. This scenario is known as a “travelling fire”. In this study, the characteristics of the traditional compartment and travelling fires were compared. Combustion experiments were conducted in a medium-sized compartment with a single opening using heptane pools. Throughout these experiments, the heat-release rate and temperature changes were measured to analyze the simultaneous and delayed ignition of the flames. The experimental results showed an approximately 19% difference in the maximum heat-release rate and 50% difference in the time required to reach it. Consequently, the temperature changes within the internal compartment were also delayed and reduced.

Computational analysis of wildland fire resistance for transmission line tower

Finite element (FE) analysis of the transmission towers under a fire event and the accompanying wind is presented. Several key aspects (including temperature-dependent non-linear material properties, geometric non-linearity, member eccentricity due to the single-leg bolted connection, and the temperature-dependent connection behaviour in both the axial and the rotational directions) are considered. A quasi-static analysis is also employed in the FE model using the explicit solver available in Abaqus. The member temperature variation during a realistic fire event is derived analytically based on the fire intensity and the resultant vertical gas temperature distribution so that the effect of the realistic wildland fire can be input as a member temperature profile. First, fire design guidance in terms of the most critical heating and wind pattern, as well as the effect of fire-affected heights are provided based on the case study results. Then, further fire analysis is carried out to investigate the most critical fire scenario and to evaluate the vulnerability of the tower during a realistic fire event. Lastly, an evaluation of a commonly used spray-on thermal insulation and its effectiveness in reducing the member temperature and preserving ultimate strength during a catastrophic wildland fire event are presented. The FE simulations revealed that a 45-degree wind associated with partial side heating leads to a more critical degradation of the overall strength, whereas the effect of fire height is less obvious. In terms of the fire scenario, a longer fire duration associated with a slower wind is more critical for the fire resistance/rating.

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ ВОЗНИКНОВЕНИЯ ПОЖАРА ОТ ВОСПЛАМЕНЕНИЯ И ВЗРЫВА ПАРОВОЗДУШНОЙ СМЕСИ ПРИ ПРОВЕДЕНИИ ГАЗОСВАРОЧНЫХ РАБОТ

Using the example of a real fire that occurred as a result of violations of fire safety requirements during gas welding operations, it is demonstrated how the combined use of instrumental and computational methods makes it possible to determine the cause of the fire. The nature of combustible substances has been determined by fluorescence spectroscopy, gas-liquid chromatography and infrared spectroscopy. Using mathematical calculations, the amount of combustible substances necessary for the formation of an explosive mixture was determined. It is demonstrated how a combination of physical-chemical research methods and computational methods, allows for the determining the causal relationship between gas welding operations and the aforementioned explosion.

Flexural behaviour and shear capacity of RC flat plate sections during fire exposure

PurposeFire safety is a pivotal requirement in building codes. Prescribed design criteria have been the norm to achieve it, which imposes limitations on engineers, including the inability to accommodate new solutions/materials. The shift towards performance-based design offers the potential to address shortcomings of the prescribed design. However, this shift also significantly increases the workload on structural engineers without a corresponding increase in their engineering fees. Simplified design tools are needed to assist engineers in this transition.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is divided into sections investigating equivalent standard fire duration, thermal deformations, flexural behaviour and shear capacity of flat slabs when exposed to fire. The first section conducts a parametric study correlating equivalent and realistic fire durations using the average internal temperature profile (AITP) method, resulting in statistical equations estimating equivalent fire duration. The second section evaluates thermal deformations and flexural behaviour through a parametric study considering various parameters. This section results in statistical equations estimating thermal deformations and flexural behaviour of flat slab sections during fire exposure. The final section focuses on shear capacity, developing simplified heat transfer formulas and statistical equations predicting compression zone depth reduction. The section presents methodologies predicting flat slab sections' one-way and two-way shear capacities during fire exposure.FindingsStructural engineers can use the proposed methods for daily design work without applying complex heat transfer calculations. When the equivalent standard fire duration is utilized, a flat slab’s thermal deformations, flexural behaviour and shear capacity under an actual fire condition can be calculated. As such, the methods would be highly beneficial in assessing the structural integrity of a building during an active fire incident.Originality/valueThe paper provides engineers with the tools required to evaluate the safety of flat slab sections during fire exposure. The methodologies presented in the paper enable engineers to use performance-based design for slab sections by (1) converting any real fire scenario to a standard fire with an equivalent duration, (2) assessing their thermal behaviour, (3) evaluating their flexural behaviour and (4) evaluating their flexural and shear capacities. The paper concludes with a case study example demonstrating the detailed application of the developed methods.

Mcan-YOLO: An Improved Forest Fire and Smoke Detection Model Based on YOLOv7

Forest fires pose a significant threat to forest resources and wildlife. To balance accuracy and parameter efficiency in forest fire detection, this study proposes an improved model, Mcan-YOLO, based on YOLOv7. In the Neck section, the asymptotic feature pyramid network (AFPN) was employed to effectively capture multi-scale information, replacing the traditional module. Additionally, the content-aware reassembly of features (CARAFE) replaced the conventional upsampling method, further reducing the number of parameters. The normalization-based attention module (NAM) was integrated after the ELAN-T module to enhance the recognition of various fire smoke features, and the Mish activation function was used to optimize model convergence. A real fire smoke dataset was constructed using the mean structural similarity (MSSIM) algorithm for model training and validation. The experimental results showed that, compared to YOLOv7-tiny, Mcan-YOLO improved precision by 4.6%, recall by 6.5%, and mAP50 by 4.7%, while reducing the number of parameters by 5%. Compared with other mainstream algorithms, Mcan-YOLO achieved better precision with fewer parameters.

Fire Resistance Performance of Constrained H-Shaped Steel Columns with Uneven Vertical Temperature Distributions

Steel columns, which are widely used in building frameworks and spatial structures, are susceptible to capacity degradation during fires, potentially leading to the overall collapse of buildings. Existing research on the fire resistance of steel columns assumes that the temperature loads encountered by steel columns are evenly distributed vertically. However, real-world fire scenarios often feature significant vertical temperature differences. Therefore, this study comprehensively investigated these variations to derive a temperature curve that accurately represents real fire conditions. Subsequently, the fire resistance limits of steel columns were studied using this temperature curve, leading to a revised calculation formula for the critical fire resistance temperatures of steel columns. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) Nonuniform longitudinal temperature distributions are influenced by parameters such as the fire source distance, the heights of ventilation openings, and the distance between a vent and the temperature measurement point. Among them, the fire source distance has the greatest impact, with the maximum longitudinal temperature difference reaching over 500 °C. (2) Variations in the load ratio and longitudinal temperature differences alter the failure positions of steel columns, reducing their critical temperatures by up to 200 °C. (3) The revised critical fire resistance temperature formula is more accurate and safer compared with that outlined in the “Technical Code for Fire Protection of Steel Structures” (GB51249-2017). These findings offer valuable insights for the fire designs of steel columns.

Методика определения кратности, прочности и адгезии защитного покрытия, выполненного на основе сформированного пенококса

Today, the production volumes of intumescent paints comprise a significant part of the entire fire-protection production. At the same time, both uncertified and low-quality products can be often offered within the segment. The main implicit factors of the violation of the intumescent coating quality are the thickness of the layer and the degree of dilution of ready-to-use paint immediately before use. These factors affect the quality of coked foam, i.e., its layer thickness and its density; however, these cannot be detected during the external examination of the paint layer, measuring its thickness and conditional adhesion in accordance with modern standards. The reliability of the results of intumescent coating fire-retardant properties evaluation can only be ensured considering the evaluation of additional parameters of coked foam (strength and homogeneity) applied to protected structures measured in conditions close to real fire conditions. A methodology of express analysis of intumescent coatings on steel structures has been considered; the analysis aims to determine the expansion rate, strength, and adhesion of protective coating produced based on formed coked foam. The methodology is based on the theoretical studies of the effects of intumescent paint parameters (layer thickness, degree of dilution) on coked foam parameters and contains non-standard methods of intumescent fire-protection parameters. The intumescent coating spot heating method at sampling sites has been developed; the efficiency of the penetromety method to determine the coked foam strength has been proved. These methods are simple and do not require using any expensive equipment. The methodology can be applied to evaluate the fire-retardant coating directly at a construction site by the following parameters: coked foam intumescence, homogeneity of its structure, ultimate strength in compression, and shear-breakout. It has been established that high values of the intumescence coefficient do not guarantee the reliability of fire protection. The higher the intumescence coefficient is, the lower the thickness and strength of the coked foam. Considering this interdependence of parameters, it is reasonable to establish, on a regulatory basis, the ultimate values of the coked foam intumescence coefficient.

Influence of fire severity and concrete properties on the thermo‐hygral behavior of concrete during fire exposure

AbstractSince the world is transitioning toward performance based design, the study of thermo‐hygral behavior of concrete when subjected to real fire becomes crucial. Fire accidents have revealed that nominal fire curves cannot be applied because of varying severity of real fire. In 2008, traveling fire concept was developed in which severity is dependent on heat release rate and fire size. This study explores the effect of fire severity and other concrete properties like strength, aggregate type, and relative humidity. The proposed model has been developed by combining the principles of mechanics and thermodynamics and upon validation with the experimental results, a reasonable agreement has been observed. It can be concluded that severity of fire is directly related to thermo‐hygral behavior of concrete. On the other hand, this study also highlights the influence of type of aggregate and moisture content in addition to the traditional variables like volume fraction of solid and permeability. On studying the influence of type of aggregate, it can be concluded that recycled aggregate concrete performed better than conventional concrete. The integration of proposed model in the performance based design is a leap toward development of resilient structure subjected to dynamic fire conditions.

Assessing Delayed Collapse Risks in Load-Bearing Reinforced Concrete Walls Exposed to Parametric Fires: A Numerical Investigation

This study delves into the thermo-mechanical analysis of structures exposed to fire, focusing on the evolution of gas temperatures, thermal distribution in structural members, and mechanical behavior during fire scenarios. Traditional prescriptive approaches assume a monotonically increasing temperature, while contemporary performance-based designs incorporate both heating and cooling phases for a more realistic fire resistance assessment. The critical aspect of this research is the modeling of the fire's cooling phase, which, though not commonly practiced in design offices, is essential for evaluating the risk of delayed structural collapse. Utilizing the finite element program SAFIR, numerical simulations were conducted on reinforced concrete walls to investigate their behavior during and post-cooling phase. The findings indicate potential failure not only during the cooling phase but also after the fire has subsided and temperatures have returned to ambient levels. This highlights delayed temperature increases in the core of the element and the consequent loss of concrete strength during cooling as key mechanisms of failure. A parametric study was undertaken, examining various fire scenarios, wall geometries, load levels, wall heights, adjacency, and boundary conditions. The results underscore that short-duration fires pose the most significant risk for delayed failure, particularly for simply supported walls. Additionally, the study scrutinizes the mechanical properties of materials across the heating and cooling phases. This investigation underscores the necessity of incorporating cooling phase analyses in fire resistance evaluations to mitigate the risk of delayed collapses. The insights gained aim to inform safer structural designs and enhance fire safety protocols, emphasizing the importance of realistic fire modeling in performance-based design methodologies.

A Study on the Improvement of Safety and Efficiency of Clean Rooms in Semiconductor Factories Through Real Fire Experiments

A Study on the Improvement of Safety and Efficiency of Clean Rooms in Semiconductor Factories Through Real Fire Experiments

Characteristics of concurrent flame spread over convex charring materials

In real forest fire scenarios, there are a large number of convex and concave terrains at the junction of flat land and slopes. In this paper, a typical charring material, kraft paper, is selected as the experimental sample, and the variation law of key characteristic parameters of flame spread over convex solid surface are investigated. The experimental results show that all the flame spread processes have obvious deceleration behaviors, and the influence mechanism of flame tangent angle on the flame spread deceleration of convex surfaces is revealed. The characteristic length of the pyrolysis zone shows a tendency of increasing and then decreasing with time. The variation curves of radiant heat flux present two peaks. Combining with the characteristic length, the reason for the occurrence of two peaks is explained. The exponential relationship between the instantaneous mass loss rate and the characteristic length of the pyrolysis zone is obtained. Based on the range of power exponents, the heat transfer controlling mechanism in the pyrolysis zone is classified into three categories for all the working conditions. Moreover, a piecewise power-law relationship between the dimensionless maximum flame height and the dimensionless heat release rate is established. The results of this study will fill the research gap of flame spread of solid materials with curved surfaces, and will be of great academic value for the improvement and development of theories on building and forest fire safety.

Metaheuristic algorithms for calibration of two-dimensional wildfire spread prediction model

Wildfires are complex phenomena with harmful consequences, ranging from environmental and property destruction to loss of human lives. In this sense, predicting wildfire behaviour is essential to mitigate its impacts and consequences. The Rothermel model is the most used fire rate of spread prediction model. However, input parameter uncertainty is a significant source of prediction error. In this paper, we propose the calibration of the input parameters of the fire propagation model by metaheuristic algorithms under a two-stage framework. The fire spread model consists on the Rothermel model in a two-dimensional approach for surface fires. The proposed calibration is performed in two stages iteratively repeated over time: (i) the calibration of the fire spread model’s input parameters and (ii) the wildfire spread prediction using the calibrated input parameters. The calibration was performed by the genetic algorithm, differential evolution, and simulated annealing, which calibrates the surface-area-to-volume ratio, fuel bed depth, live fuel moisture and dead fuel moisture. The symmetric difference between the real and predicted fire map shapes was defined as the fitness function of all three metaheuristic algorithms. For validation, simulations were done on two prescribed fires. The results for the real and estimated fire behaviour were then compared and revealed that all the tested metaheuristic algorithms produce a better fit to the real fire’s perimeter when compared to the uncalibrated Rothermel model. From the results, differential evolution provided the majority of best results when compared to genetic algorithm and simulated annealing algorithms in each scenario.

Satellite Remote Sensing False Forest Fire Hotspot Excavating Based on Time-Series Features

Satellite remote sensing has become an important means of forest fire monitoring because it has the advantages of wide coverage, few ground constraints and high dynamics. When utilizing satellites for forest fire hotspot monitoring, two types of ground hotspots, agricultural and other fire hotspots can be ruled out through ground object features. False forest fire hotspots within forested areas must be excluded for a more accurate distinction between forest fires and non-forest fires. This study utilizes spatio-temporal data along with time-series classification to excavate false forest fire hotspots exhibiting temporal characteristics within forested areas and construct a dataset of such false forest fire hotspots, thereby achieving a more realistic forest fire dataset. Taking Hunan Province as the research object, this study takes the satellite ground hotspots in the forests of Hunan Province as the suspected forest fire hotspot dataset and excludes the satellite ground hotspots in the forests such as fixed heat sources, periodic heat sources and recurring heat sources which are excavated. The validity of these methods and results was then analyzed. False forest fire hotspots, from satellite ground hotspots extracted from 2019 to 2023 Himawari-8/9 satellite images, closely resemble the official release of actual forest fires data and the accuracy rate in the actual forest fire monitoring is 95.12%. This validates that the method employed in this study can improve the accuracy of satellite-based forest fire monitoring.

Graph recurrent neural networks-integrated real-time prediction of key displacements for fire-induced collapse early warning of steel frames

This study proposes the FRAME-Net, which can extract spatial-temporal features of discrete structures like planar steel frames, for early warning systems of fire-induced building collapse. FRAME-Net, based on graph neural networks and recurrent neural networks, seamlessly integrates feature extraction techniques, advanced graph convolution operations, and an enhanced graph long short-term memory mechanism, resolving the critical issue that the actual state of burning buildings, e.g., fire scenario, load case, material properties, etc., cannot be identified accurately and rapidly. The temperatures of steel components and easy-to-measure displacements are inputs, and hard-to-measure displacements at the top and interior of steel frames under fire can be predicted in real time. Numerical examples indicate that the trained agent accurately predicts the hard-to-measure displacements for the trained steel frame under completely unknown datasets, showcasing its potential in real-world unknown fire scenarios. Besides, the trained intelligent agent can be directly applied to untrained steel frames with different topological forms without re-training, which significantly reduces computational costs and is beneficial for swift emergency responses. Subsequently, satisfactory results predicted by the trained agent without re-training for the steel frame under the real fire test further underscores the promising generalization capability of the trained agent to adapt to unknown fire scenarios in real-world steel frames. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed framework to facilitate the implementation of the early-warning systems of fire-induced collapse is proved by comparing the predicted and actual remaining building collapse time, thereby assisting in reducing casualties during the rescue process and contributing to smart firefighting advancements.

Machine learning-driven real-time identification of large-space building fires and forecast of temperature development

In firefighting, real-time knowledge of fire dynamics is crucial yet often unavailable. The building geometry and measured gas temperatures are integrated to ascertain fire states and predict temperature evolution, utilizing a machine learning framework that combines long short-term memory networks and transfer learning. The model is pre-trained on datasets with 1000 samples from parametric fire models and 200 from field simulations, enabling real-time predictions with on-site data. Numerical simulations in portal frame buildings demonstrate over 95% accuracy in identifying fire states and 90% in predicting gas temperatures. A method using correlation coefficients and standard deviations effectively detects damaged thermocouples with over 96% accuracy, given a damage ratio below 30%. Validation in two real fire scenarios showed more than 92% accuracy in locating fires and over 89% in forecasting gas temperatures 20 min ahead, which costs 2.14 s and 1.83 s, respectively. The machine learning framework also exhibits robustness to changes in ventilation conditions by making temperature predictions using reliability theory. The proposed framework provides clear information about the state and development of the fire to firefighters and is useful for promoting smart firefighting.

Understanding the association between global forest fire products and hydrometeorological variables

Climate change and anthropogenic activities have influenced the frequency and magnitude of forest fires both globally and regionally. While skilful short- to extended-range prediction of forest fires is essential for effective mitigation in local communities, it is also important to identify the implications of forest fires on different sectors, including water resources and sustainable development. Limited studies have investigated the association between forest fires and hydrometeorological variables at the regional scale in developing countries due to the lack of necessary datasets, which can now be leveraged using the newly hosted global reanalysis of fire danger indices (referred to as fire indices). The current study presents a comprehensive analysis of the spatio-temporal variations of eight fire indices across India, as well as their association with hydro-meteorological variables, such as precipitation, temperature, and the streamflow of a major river basin (Mahanadi) in India. The accuracy of these indices in capturing real fire events and the potential benefit of incorporating fire indices into long-term hydrologic simulations are also explored. The results show that fire indices can accurately yield fire seasons (i.e., post-monsoon and summer) in India. Furthermore, forest fires are found to be strongly associated with hydro-meteorological variables, typically resulting in low streamflow regimes. Fire indices can also capture actual fire events, maintaining high scalar accuracy. Finally, an improvement in uncalibrated hydrologic model simulations is observed when simulated streamflow is post-processed using the fire indices as predictors. Overall, the current study has valuable implications for fire indices forecasting and hydrologic simulations in ungauged basins.

Adaptive dynamic fire danger evaluation of logistics warehouses with fusion of evidential reasoning and smart optimization

Considering the background that the current fire risk assessment methods often rely on subjective assessments based on professional knowledge and experience, they are usually limited to the special fire scene. Given the lack of effective tools for assessing fire risks in logistics warehouses across varying scenes, this paper aims to propose a multi-source data-driven, adaptive dynamic fire danger evaluation method. The method is established based on the fusion strategy of evidential reasoning and artificial fish swarm algorithm. According to the method, rules of danger evaluation levels related to each attribute of fire factors can be generated automatically without necessary of professional knowledges and experiences. The lightweight multi-source data at this moment can be fused to evaluate current fire danger level directly, which does not require training on extensive datasets in advance. Finally, multi-source data including temperature and CO concentration in two fire scenes of one logistics warehouse at different times are utilized to support the ability of the method. The results show that the estimated fire source location according to the center of domain with the evaluated highest danger level matches well with the real fire source location. In conclusion, the main contribution of the research is that the reasonable dynamic danger level of the logistics warehouse fire with time variation can be evaluated automatically. The method has an excellent generality, which is not limited to the specific fire scene. The danger zone of the logistics warehouse under sudden fires can be determined adaptively, which can support the fire prevention and fire safety countermeasures of logistics warehouses.

Quantitative assessment of the extent of damage to timber structures during the full course of a real fire using the energy equivalence method

In this study, an innovative method, the Energy Equivalence Method (EEM), is proposed in the context of the Performance-Based Fire Engineering (PBFE) framework for quantitatively assessing the degree of damage of timber structures during the full process of a real fire. To verify the validity of the method, glued laminated timber (GLT) specimens and GLT columns were selected as the subjects of fire action, and a series of equivalent fire experiments were conducted by using a parametric fire model (referred to as the DNI fire model), which is currently used in Germany, to simulate real fire scenarios. By comparing the equivalence of charring depth (CD), pyrolysis zone temperature, and residual load-carrying capacity of the test specimens after the action of the DNI fire and its equivalent standard fire, the validity of the EEM in quantifying the degree of damage to timber members after the DNI fire was fully verified. Subsequently, based on the fire experimental data, accurate thermal and structural models were developed, and these models were utilized to further validate the effectiveness of the EEM in quantifying the extent of damage to timber members under the action of a DNI fire over an arbitrary time period. The results of the study show that the proposed EEM not only can be used to assess the extent of structural damage during fire action and the residual load carrying capacity of the structure after fire action, but also promotes the transition from standard fire safety design to the PBFE design.

Влияние режима пожара на огнестойкость несущих строительных конструкций машинных залов ГРЭС

Machine rooms of a state district power plant (GRES) are sizeable. Heat impact on the structures of the building in the case of a real fire can significantly differ from the impact in the case of a standard fire. Therefore, the calculation of fire resistance of building structures should be conducted not only in conditions of a standard fire but of a real fire as well. The objective of the study is the theoretical evaluation of the actual limits of fire resistance of load-bearing building structures of the machine room of the main building of the Nizhneturinskaya GRES in conditions of standard and real fire regimes. Numerical experiments to calculate the heating of load-bearing building structures in the case of a standard fire and the case of the most hazardous scenario of the real fire development have been conducted in the framework of the study. A field 3-dimensional model to calculate fire hazardous factors and a non-stationary thermal conductivity equation have been applied. The obtained results have been analyzed. The field model adapted to the space-planning solutions of the machine room has been described. The most hazardous scenario of the development of real fire in case of combustion of the turbine oil spill in the sector of the machine room with the lowest height of ceiling has been chosen. The temperature fields in the gaseous environment of the machine room at different moments are presented. It has been detected that the heating of reinforced concrete structures of the machine room ceiling is significantly uneven due to the 3-dimensional gas dynamic pattern of fire. Dependencies of temperatures of the frame of reinforced concrete load-bearing structures of the ceiling on the time of standard and real fires in the most heated section of the ceiling have been obtained. It has been determined that the maximum temperature of the frame in the case of the standard fire is lower than in the case of real fire. Due to the features of the 3-dimensional thermal gas dynamic pattern of fire in machine rooms of the GRES, the fire resistance of load-bearing building structures in these premises must be determined in both conditions of standard fire and real fire, considering the most hazardous scenario of its development.

КОМПЛЕКСНЫЙ ПОДХОД В ИССЛЕДОВАНИИ ОГНЕТУШАЩИХ ПОРОШКОВЫХ СРЕДСТВ ПРИ ЭКСПЕРТИЗЕ ПОЖАРОВ

The article discusses the possibility of using a set of instrumental methods, such as morphological analysis, elemental analysis, X-ray phase analysis, infrared spectroscopy, ion chromatography or capillary electrophoresis to study the chemical composition of fire extinguishing powders during fire-technical examinations. Examples of the use of these methods in the investigation of real fires are given. It is described in detail how studies of fire extinguishing agents are carried out to answer questions related to establishing their composition, as well as identifying the compliance of the fire extinguishing powder submitted for study with technical documentation. It is shown that in order to obtain complete information about the chemical composition of the fire extinguishing agent, it is necessary to use a set of methods, since each of the considered methods provides additional information during the study.