Fire Safety Journal最新文献

{"title":"Strategies for fire-fighting in underventilated compartments: Reducing the likelihood and severity of a potential backdraught","authors":"A.H. Majdalani ,&nbsp;R. Carvel ,&nbsp;I. Calderón ,&nbsp;W. Jahn","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104365","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104365","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fires in underventilated compartments remain an unresolved problem for fire brigades. While some brigades have specific guidance in place regarding procedures for approaching and fighting such fires, this guidance is, for the most part, based on anecdotal evidence, having been instigated following historical incidents involving fire-fighter injuries or fatalities.</div><div>As fire-fighters open a door or window to an under-ventilated compartment fire, there is a risk of a sudden fire development that may come in the form of a rapid flare up or backdraught. A programme of reduced scale fire experiments was designed to obtain deeper insight into this phenomenon. The results of these experiments are presented showing the conditions under which changes in the ventilation conditions of an underventilated compartment were beneficial for firefighting activities and under which conditions this was detrimental.</div><div>This paper provides further scientific understanding of the fire dynamics in underventilated compartments when changes in ventilation conditions occur. The use of ventilation tactics, preceded by strict safety precautions and comprehensive tactical considerations, appears to be a practical solution that reduces the likelihood and severity of a potential backdraught. The results presented could be used to develop simple guidance, which may be used in fire brigade practice, to decide when and how to intervene in this kind of fires.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104365"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143563565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"CFD simulation of the BS 8414 test for cladding applications","authors":"Zhaozhi Wang,&nbsp;Fuchen Jia,&nbsp;Edwin R. Galea,&nbsp;John Ewer","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104366","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104366","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A numerical BS 8414 model has been developed using surface ignition temperature, cone calorimeter data and a heat release rate curve from a wood crib, for simulating cladding fires. The model predicts burning rates of combustible materials, temperature profiles, burn-through of materials, burning locations and activation states of functional intumescent cavity barriers. The model is validated using seven DCLG BS 8414 tests, by correctly reproducing pass/fail results and failure mechanisms; producing comparable fire flames and reasonable agreement of temperature profiles, which are essential to the pass/fail criteria; and producing reasonable burning/burnt locations for the cladding system. The model has also been used to investigate factors affecting fire spread including cavity size, state of fire barriers, reduction of core material mass by for example dripping and the consistency of the HRR behaviour of the wood crib fire source. The limitations of the BS 8414 model are discussed including the uncertainty of surface ignition temperature; the approach to the activation of intumescent cavity barriers; the uncertainties in HRRs of the wood crib fire and the material properties. To improve the repeatability of the BS 8414 test, it is suggested that a gas burner is used rather than a wood crib fire.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104366"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143509609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Numerical investigation on the inhibition effect of HBr in stoichiometric hydrogen/air mixtures on head-on flame quenching (HoQ)","authors":"Chunkan Yu,&nbsp;Robert Schießl","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104354","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104354","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the effect of the flame retardant hydrogen bromide (HBr) on premixed hydrogen/air flames undergoing head-on quenching at an inert cold wall. Numerical simulations with full spatio-temporal resolution and detailed treatment of chemical reactions and molecular transport are employed to study this configuration. The simulations reveal how the addition of HBr affects the species profiles and the heat release rate in the flame, particularly at the quenching time, defined as the point of maximum heat loss to the wall. It is found that the accumulation of HO<span><math><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> and H<span><math><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span>O<span><math><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> at the wall, which is significant for pure hydrogen/oxygen flames, becomes much weaker in the presence of HBr. Instead, with HBr the near-wall accumulation of Br and Br<span><math><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> becomes more pronounced. Further investigation shows that the recombination reaction <span><math><mrow><mtext>Br+Br+M</mtext><mo>→</mo><msub><mrow><mtext>Br</mtext></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub><mo>+</mo><mtext>M</mtext></mrow></math></span> is the dominant exothermic reaction contributing to the heat release rate at the wall. Moreover, heat losses from the flame to the wall have been compared for different fuels. For stoichiometric H<span><math><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> air, the wall heat loss (and therefore the thermal stress exerted onto the wall by the flame) is around two times higher than that for a conventional fuel like, e.g. methane. However, when 2% HBr are added to the combusting mixture, the heat loss is similar to methane. HBr addition can therefore efficiently reduce the thermal load for walls exposed to hydrogen combustion down to the levels of the conventional fuel CH<span><math><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>4</mn></mrow></msub></math></span>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104354"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143471206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Study on the suppression of hydrogen-air explosions by ultrafine water mist containing KCl, K2CO3, or NaCl","authors":"Xiangdi Zhao ,&nbsp;Jiangyue Zhao ,&nbsp;Xiaolong Zhu ,&nbsp;Wei Xu ,&nbsp;Guangwen Zhang ,&nbsp;Chun Wang ,&nbsp;Xishi Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104356","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104356","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hydrogen explosions pose significant risks in industrial applications due to their highly reactive and flammable nature. While most existing studies have focused on water mist (WM) with additives to suppress deflagrations in hydrocarbon combustion, research on hydrogen explosions remains limited. This work aims to address these gaps by investigating the effects of different WM concentrations (600 g/m³-2400 g/m³), alkali metal salt additives (KCl, K₂CO₃, NaCl), and alkali metal salt concentrations (2.5%, 5%, and 7.5%) on hydrogen explosions across varying hydrogen concentrations (20%–40%) in a vented vessel. Key findings reveal that 5% KCl mist exhibits a better suppression efficiency. Increased mist concentration effectively reduces both flame propagation velocity and explosion pressure. When the hydrogen concentrations are 20% and 35%, with a 5% KCl mist concentration of 2400 g/m³, the maximum explosion overpressure decreased by 60.48% and 40.02% respectively, compared to no suppressant. The suppression mechanism was inferred to involve a combination of physical effects (heat absorption and dilution) and chemical interactions (formation of KOH). These results provide valuable insights into optimizing explosion suppression strategies for hydrogen explosions in the process industry.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104356"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143487646","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Strength of thin-walled steel beams under non-uniform temperature: Analytical and machine learning models","authors":"Carlos Couto ,&nbsp;Thomas Gernay","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104357","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104357","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The resistance of thin-walled steel beams in fire is governed by a complex interaction between the buckling of the plates and the lateral-torsional buckling (LTB) of the member, combined with the temperature-induced reduction of steel properties. Besides, in many applications, steel beams are subjected to non-uniform thermal exposure which creates temperature gradients in the section. There is a lack of analytical design methods to capture the effects of temperature gradients on the structural response, which leads to overly conservative assumptions thwarting optimization efforts. This paper describes a study on the strength of thin-walled steel beams subjected to constant bending moment in the major-axis and thermal gradients through analytical and Machine Learning (ML) methods. A parametric heat transfer analysis is conducted to characterize the thermal gradients that develop under three-sided fire exposure. Nonlinear finite element simulations with shells are then used to generate the resistance dataset. Results show that the use of the Eurocode model with a uniform temperature taken as the hot flange temperature severely underestimate the moment strength with an <span><math><mrow><msup><mi>R</mi><mn>2</mn></msup></mrow></math></span> of 0.61. The ML models, trained using physically defined features, are far superior to the Eurocode methods in predictive capacity. The ML-based models can be used to improve existing design methods for non-uniform temperature distributions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104357"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143478840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ship fire and explosion accident statistical analysis based on fault tree and Bayesian network","authors":"Wenling Guan,&nbsp;Chenxiang Zhang,&nbsp;Chengjie Dong,&nbsp;Yueshuang Xia","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104358","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104358","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To identify the potential causal factors of ship fire and explosion (F&amp;E) accidents and develop effective prevention strategies, this study conducted a statistical analysis of 271 investigation reports on ship F&amp;E accidents and identified 46 basic events. By combining Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Bayesian Networks (BN), six key causal factors were recognized: fuel leakage, wooden structures, plastics and rubber, main engine hot surfaces, short circuits, and line faults. This study also revealed two main and two secondary accident paths. The two main accident paths are as follows: one is for fuel or lubricant leakage contact with high-temperature surfaces (e.g., main engine, exhaust system, and turbocharger) to start a fire; the other is for short circuits or line faults to ignite surrounding combustible materials (e.g., wooden structures, plastics, and rubber). Finally, this study proposes measures to prevent ship F&amp;E accidents in the following three aspects: strengthening the management of combustible materials, paying attention to ignition source control, and improving accident path monitoring.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104358"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143478841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Experimental study of the combined effects of CO2 and obstacles on the explosive behavior of syngas","authors":"Mingzhao Wang ,&nbsp;Xiaoping Wen ,&nbsp;Zhihan Yuan ,&nbsp;Haoxin Deng ,&nbsp;Jun Song ,&nbsp;Guoyan Chen ,&nbsp;Fahui Wang ,&nbsp;Rongkun Pan","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104355","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104355","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article experimentally investigates the explosion behaviors of syngas, focusing on the combined effects of obstacles and CO₂ on flame front evolution, flame front velocity (FFV), overpressure, and maximum overpressure (P_max). Results demonstrate that CO₂ prolongs the flame propagation time, with increasing concentration delaying the onset time of the tulip flame (t_tulip). A secondary tulip phenomenon is observed at α(H₂) = 30 % and α(CO₂) = 20 %. For pipes with obstacles, increasing CO₂ concentration reduces the impact of the obstacles on flame propagation, slows the flame front velocity, and causes the flame front to exhibit different shapes after passing through the obstacle. As α(H₂) increases, the overpressure also rises substantially, with P_max increasing up to 3.74 times compared to the scenario without obstacles. When α(CO₂) reaches 15 %–20 %, the P_max without obstacles surpasses that with obstacles, suggesting that at higher α(CO₂), the obstacles have a minimal impact on the gas explosion, with α(CO₂) becoming the dominant factor.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104355"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143453308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dangerous damage of RC structural members caused by thermal spalling of concrete during fire in an enclosed car park of residential building","authors":"Robert Kowalski ,&nbsp;Michał Głowacki ,&nbsp;Julia Wróblewska ,&nbsp;Małgorzata Senatorska-Dobrowolska ,&nbsp;Piotr Smardz","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104352","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104352","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents a description of structural damage caused by a fire in an underground car park of a six-storey residential building. It also describes how the damaged members were repaired. It was found that the fire had reached the fully developed stage over a large area of the car park, which resulted in considerable extent of damage: (1) approximately 210 m² of the ceiling slab were completely destroyed - it was necessary to demolish the slab and replace it with a new one, (2) one of the walls constituting the main load-bearing structure of the building was in a state very close to actual destruction, (3) several columns required significant strengthening. The main cause of the resulting damage was the unusually intense thermal spalling of the concrete.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"152 ","pages":"Article 104352"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143394895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A numerical model for predicting the smoldering behavior of bio-based insulation materials: Model theory and validation","authors":"Patrick Sudhoff ,&nbsp;Ulrich Krause","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104351","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104351","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Bio-based insulation materials are prone to self-sustained smoldering after ignition. While empirical studies highlight key factors influencing smoldering initiation and spread, a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms remains incomplete. This study introduces a smoldering model for bio-based insulation materials, integrating flow, heat, and moisture transfer with a 3-step reaction model.</div><div>Material parameter quantification is demonstrated using wood fiber insulation as a reference, with methodologies applicable to other materials. Experimental setups for fluid mechanical, thermal, and moisture transport properties are described, supplemented by data from literature.</div><div>The modeling framework couples flow, heat, and moisture transport mechanisms with reaction rates dependent on temperature and concentration. A diffusion-limiting approach accounts for particle-surface transport constraints. Implementation is performed using COMSOL Multiphysics ® 6.</div><div>Validation tests in a 1.5 m tube furnace with controlled heating zones and inflow conditions demonstrate the model's ability to accurately predict smoldering velocity. Further optimization is required to improve ignition time predictions. While some inhomogeneity effects are not fully captured, the model provides a solid foundation for further refinement and scaling to component levels.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"152 ","pages":"Article 104351"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143446092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The influence of small mass loss rate peaks on the rate of spread of predictive flame spread simulations: A theoretical study","authors":"Tássia L.S. Quaresma ,&nbsp;Tristan Hehnen ,&nbsp;Lukas Arnold","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104344","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104344","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Peaks in the mass loss rate (MLR) curve derived from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) are commonly used to infer the pyrolysis rates of solid fuels. While the main peaks are often modelled, smaller MLR fluctuations are typically neglected, leading to discrepancies between models and experiments. The impact of these small fluctuations on key simulation predictions, however, remains unclear. This study systematically explores a specific scenario in which a small MLR fluctuation significantly affects the predicted rate of spread (ROS) of a simplified flame spread simulation. The MaCFP-recommended pyrolysis model for poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is adapted to incorporate a small MLR peak accounting for 0.5<!--> <!-->% to 2<!--> <!-->% of the sample’s total mass. Results from sensitivity analyses show that the peak position has the greatest impact on the ROS, followed by the peak mass fraction, while the peak width has negligible effect. Adding a small peak at lower temperatures increased the ROS by up to 6<!--> <!-->% to 13<!--> <!-->%, depending on the peak’s mass fraction, whereas peaks at higher temperatures had little to no effect. These results indicate that fluctuations at lower temperatures, w.r.t. the main peak, could significantly enhance the predicted spread rates and should be considered in flame spread simulations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"152 ","pages":"Article 104344"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143143030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}