Yuqi Cheng , Xinze Cui , Zheng Shao , Chunyan Guo , Jie Gao , Pengquan Zhang , Ying Wu , Caihong Jiang , Dawei Wu , Xin Wang
{"title":"Impact of temperature on firefighter task performance and subjective workload in VR simulations","authors":"Yuqi Cheng , Xinze Cui , Zheng Shao , Chunyan Guo , Jie Gao , Pengquan Zhang , Ying Wu , Caihong Jiang , Dawei Wu , Xin Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104384","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104384","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the impact of elevated temperatures on firefighters' physiological responses, subjective workload, and task performance during emergency scenarios using a virtual reality (VR) system. Thirty firefighters completed VR -based tasks in both room-temperature and high -temperature conditions while wearing both real and virtual firefighting gear, allowing for the evaluation of task load, water-flame distance (WFD), task times, and response time (RT). Results demonstrated that high-temperature environments significantly increased multidimensional workload, particularly in performance and effort. Workload was strongly correlated with reduced WFD (r = 0.87, <em>P</em> < 0.05) and physiological strain, such as increased heart rate and skin temperature (r = 0.79, <em>P</em> < 0.05). Task times were extended by 23 %, and fire extinguishing time (FET) was prolonged by 43 % in high heat, largely due to decrease in fire suppression accuracy and increased workload. However, reaction times for fire detection remained consistent, likely due to instinctual visual cue responses. These findings highlight the necessity of adapting firefighter training protocols to address the heightened cognitive and physiological demands posed by high-temperature environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104384"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143783152","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}
Haoran Jiang , Yong Hu , Yong Jiang , Rong Qiu , Hui Huang
{"title":"Inhibition mechanism of bio-based phytic acid chelate-mediated interfacial assembly of Mn and Ni: Elucidation by experiment of downward flame spread and analysis of thermal degradation with TG-IR-MS","authors":"Haoran Jiang , Yong Hu , Yong Jiang , Rong Qiu , Hui Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104382","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104382","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Due to the increased risk of phosphate depletion, there is an increasing demand for low-phosphorus or bio-based phosphorus flame inhibitors. Therefore, two novel composites with biologically-based phosphorus sources that chelate transition metal ions were synthesized via assembly method, i.e., Mn-PMC and Ni-PMC, the structure and binding states of the composites were examined by SEM, TEM, FTIR, XRD, XPS, BET and TGA. The results indicated that Mn-PMC and Ni-PMC (ⅰ) are nanoscale materials with well dispersed, (ⅱ) have an amorphous structure and have sites that bind to other substances, (ⅲ) contain no halogen elements. Then the combustion inhibition experiments of downward flame spread and TG-IR-MS analysis revealed (ⅰ) that the inhibition efficiency of the two prepared inhibitors was higher than that of commercial phosphate-containing inhibitor ADP. Among them, Ni-PMC had the best suppression effect, and the flame of cellulose sample containing it would automatically extinguish after igniting with a smallest dosage, (ⅱ) two inhibitors reduced the laminar flame velocity and flame temperature. (ⅲ) their flame suppression mechanism was indicated as that the pyrolysis releases inert gas to dilute the free radical concentration. This work is helpful for the development of efficient transition metal fire extinguishing agents to replace traditional phosphorus resources.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104382"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143739431","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":"Fire risk in the context of social development and government control: Evidence from 10 years of multivariate statistics in China","authors":"Meng Duo , Jun Hu , Zhetao Fang , Xuecai Xie","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104383","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104383","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A study of fire risk from fire statistics can provide a global-oriented view for regional fire risk mitigation. Using the fire statistics from 2010 to 2019 in China, a fire risk matrix-based framework was constructed to reflect the regional fire risk level comprehensively, which combined the frequency with the consequence of fires. Under this framework, the regional disparity was observed, and most regions in China are at a medium level of fire risk overall. Furthermore, the regional socio-economic and governmental data were integrated to identify the positive and negative factors that may influence fire risk. The correlation between socio-economic development factors, risk management factors and fire risk were explored, and four statistically significant indicators were identified: population size (−0.20, p < 0.001), per capita GDP (0.35, p < 0.001), income level (0.26, p < 0.001), and employed persons in state-owned agencies and organizations (−0.15, p < 0.01). Based on these four correlation indicators, three typical machine learning methods, namely K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF), the explanatory models for regional fire risk were constructed and the results were validated based on statistical data. The experimental results show that the fire risk can be explained to a certain extent based on the four indicators with correlation, with classification accuracies of 47.31 % (KNN), 53.76 % (SVM) and 54.84 % (RF) on the test set.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104383"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143705545","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}
Bjoern Bingham , Salix Bair , Matthew Claassen , Marit E. Meyer , Claire Fortenberry , W. Patrick Arnott , John G. Watson , Judith C. Chow , Xiaoliang Wang
{"title":"Toxic gas and particle emissions from the pyrolysis of spacecraft materials","authors":"Bjoern Bingham , Salix Bair , Matthew Claassen , Marit E. Meyer , Claire Fortenberry , W. Patrick Arnott , John G. Watson , Judith C. Chow , Xiaoliang Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104381","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104381","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fire is an imminent risk in space activities. Toxic gas and particle emissions can quickly reach dangerous levels in sealed environments. To improve smoke detection, protection, and post-fire cleanup, understanding the emissions from the pyrolysis of spacecraft-relevant materials is crucial. This study investigated the pyrolysis of four common spacecraft materials, including Kapton, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), Teflon/Kapton/Teflon (TKT) wire insulation, and Velcro™, to identify, evaluate, and quantify their gaseous and particulate emissions. Kapton emitted high levels of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, PTFE and TKT emitted multiple toxic fluorine-based gases including carbonyl fluoride and hydrogen fluoride, while Velcro™ had the highest PM<sub>2.5</sub> emission factor. Most particles were in the submicron size range, with mode diameter peaked in the 100–200 nm range. The particles were nearly electrically neutral, carrying less than 0.15 net elementary charges per particle. Organic compounds predominated in the particle compositions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104381"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143684942","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}
Stefano Lanzini , Cosimo Peruzzi , Massimo Marro , Livia Grandoni , Thierry Kubwimana , Antoine Mos , Pietro Salizzoni
{"title":"The influence of vehicles on smoke propagation in transversely ventilated tunnels","authors":"Stefano Lanzini , Cosimo Peruzzi , Massimo Marro , Livia Grandoni , Thierry Kubwimana , Antoine Mos , Pietro Salizzoni","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104377","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104377","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We present an experimental study to assess the influence of realistic traffic conditions on the ventilation required to confine the smoke produced by a tunnel fire. The experiments are performed on a reduced-scale tunnel, with hot smoke modeled by a buoyant helium–air release. The tunnel is ventilated by two extraction vents placed on both sides of the source to confine the smoke, and a longitudinal flow is induced by a longitudinal pressure gradient. The traffic condition is simulated by arranging cubic blocks, representing vehicles, of two different sizes inside the tunnel. For each block size and various tunnel configurations (different damper geometries and positions, and the presence or absence of vertical barriers downstream of the vents), experiments are performed with and without longitudinal flow. The presence of vehicles can lead to outcomes that differ from the well-established results in the literature obtained in their absence, i.e., in an empty tunnel. Specifically, the performance of rectangular dampers becomes equivalent to that of squared-centered dampers unless vertical barriers are used. Furthermore, when barriers are employed, the geometry and position of the dampers become irrelevant to ventilation efficiency. Obstacles primarily affect ventilation efficiency when they interact with the buoyant smoke and change its stratification regime.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104377"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143684941","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}
Richard Fürst, Dustin Häßler, Ludwig Stelzner, Sascha Hothan
{"title":"Fire resistance of existing steel structures with aged intumescent coating based on an in situ test method","authors":"Richard Fürst, Dustin Häßler, Ludwig Stelzner, Sascha Hothan","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104380","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104380","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Intumescent coatings are commonly used in civil engineering to increase the fire resistance of steel structures. Exposed to fire, the intumescent coating reacts and forms a thermal protective char around the steel member. Thus, the heating of the steel is significantly slowed down and the fire resistance can be improved. Information regarding the scope of application and the durability of intumescent coatings are given in national approvals or European Technical Assessment documents. Due to the environmental conditions, intumescent coatings are subjected to ageing effects, which can reduce the durability and their thermal protection performance. To predict the durability for several years, during the approval procedure the behaviour of intumescent coatings is predominantly extrapolated based on accelerated artificial ageing. The established German and European assessment procedures to test and assess durability assume a working life of at least 10 years. Additional evidence may be required for longer periods. However, at present there is no method of verifying the thermal performance of existing structural members on site. For this reason, BAM is conducting the research project \"INSIST\" [1] to develop a minimally invasive in situ test method to determine the fire resistance of existing steel structures with applied intumescent coating. The investigation includes the development of a mobile prototype furnace. The paper describes the test setup, the developed prototype furnace, and the results of the performed test programme on uncoated and coated steel specimens. Based on this, recommendations for the test procedure are given.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104380"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143684940","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":"Predicting the transient burning of non-charring materials using physics-informed neural networks","authors":"Mohamad Mahdi Mozafari Parsa, Amir Mahdi Tahsini","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104379","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104379","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper explores the application of Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) for predicting transient burning rates in Non-Charring materials. By integrating physical principles with deep learning models, PINNs provide an efficient solution, requiring significantly fewer data points compared to traditional numerical methods. For instance, solving the problem numerically with 2000 spatial mesh points would require approximately 131 million data points, whereas the PINNs model used in this study reduced the data points to less than 60,000, while maintaining less than 2 % error in predictive accuracy. The results demonstrate that PINNs can effectively capture transient phenomena, such as burning rate overshoot and undershoot caused by abrupt changes in convective heat flux, offering critical insights into the behavior of materials under varying thermal conditions. The study also highlights opportunities for further improvements in model accuracy and stability, particularly in cases with sparse or noisy data. This methodology holds potential for broader applications, including pyrolysis analysis, combustion processes, and fluid dynamics, showcasing the flexibility and computational efficiency of PINNs in addressing complex dynamic problems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104379"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143684535","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}
Junsung Kim , Hyeongjin Ahn , Jiwon Park , Jeonghyun Song , Minsung Choi , Warn Gyu Park , Cheolung Cheong , Gyungmin Choi , Yeseul Park
{"title":"Effect of discharged pressure for fire extinguishing agent performance (HFC-125) considering fire accident in the aviation","authors":"Junsung Kim , Hyeongjin Ahn , Jiwon Park , Jeonghyun Song , Minsung Choi , Warn Gyu Park , Cheolung Cheong , Gyungmin Choi , Yeseul Park","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104378","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104378","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>HFC-125 (fire extinguishing agent) affects the charged pressure inside the vessel depending on the ambient temperature. Aviation fire extinguishing systems are exposed to ambient temperatures ranging from −50 °C to 200 °C. In this study, experiments were conducted at changing charged pressure, high ambient temperature, and low ambient temperature under the assumption that the pressure inside the vessel changes depending on the ambient temperature. The charged pressure range is 3.61 MPa–4.90 MPa. It was confirmed that as the charged pressure increased, the discharge time decreased from 2.19 s to 1.67 s and pressure recovery occurred. The charged pressure range where pressure recovery occurs was predicted to be 2.63 MPa–5.12 MPa. The pressure recovery showed the largest pressure difference at 4.21 MPa of charged pressure. In the high temperature experiments, the ambient temperatures were 56 °C and 76 °C, and chalked flow occurred above 56 °C. This means that the discharge rate is constant above 56 °C. In low temperature experiments, HFC-125 was lowered to below −30 °C and discharged at −14 °C and −18.8 °C. The low temperature experiment results showed that pressure recovery did not occur at low temperatures due to unsaturation of dissolved nitrogen. Additionally, oscillations also occurred, resulting in discontinuous discharge rate.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104378"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143684534","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":"Development of real-scale transformer fire test technology and evaluation of a solid aerosol-based fire suppression system","authors":"Jong-Geon Lee , Hyun-Ho Choi","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104376","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104376","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Transformer fires pose significant risks to both infrastructure and human safety, and various technologies have been researched to mitigate these hazards. However, research on real-scale transformer fires remains limited due to a lack of failure data and the complexity of accurately simulating such fires. In this study, real-scale transformer fire simulation technology was further developed, and solid aerosol-based fire suppression systems were evaluated. The analysis included identifying the sources of transformer fires, studying their propagation patterns, and categorizing fire types. A testbed was constructed to simulate various fire conditions using the investigation results and a real-scale 154 kV transformer. The testbed was designed to simulate different types of transformer fires, including bushing, top, bottom, and wall fires, closely imposing real-case scenarios. Utilizing the constructed facility, fire scenarios caused by bushing insulation breakdowns were simulated, and the size of the fire source was analyzed to replicate actual fire conditions as accurately as possible. Additionally, the performance of the environmentally friendly and efficient solid aerosol-based fire suppression system was evaluated. The results demonstrated that, unlike conventional fire suppression methods, the solid aerosol system could effectively suppress transformer fires in partially opened environment with 3.2 % of opening ratio, successfully extinguishing the fire within approximately 2 min after ignition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104376"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143643175","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}
Geir P. Novik , Marianne Bolsønes , Ragnhild Ueland , Dennis Christensen
{"title":"Characteristics of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) formed in 2-propanol","authors":"Geir P. Novik , Marianne Bolsønes , Ragnhild Ueland , Dennis Christensen","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104370","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104370","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There have been several reports of explosions occurring as a result of handling aged 2-propanol. Several of these explosions have resulted in injuries. In some of these incidents, the formation of an explosive substance most commonly named TATP (triacetone triperoxide; 3,3,6,6,9,9-hexamethyl-1,2,4,5,7,8-hexoxonane) has been identified. Upon standing in the presence of air, it is known that 2-propanol under certain circumstances is inclined to form TATP; however, few studies have been carried out to determine its properties. Following a recent explosion in Norway involving 2-propanol, a noticeably large amount of a substance with a crystalline structure was discovered at the site of the accident. This substance was identified as TATP. The substance was analysed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS), and its sensitivity to friction was studied using the standardised BAM friction test. The study shows that TATP can be formed naturally in 2-propanol in the presence of air, and that its characteristics are similar to that of the traditionally laboratory synthesised substance. This implies that handling ageing 2-propanol containers could be associated with severe danger, as TATP formed in 2-propanol is found to be highly sensitive to external stimuli.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"153 ","pages":"Article 104370"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143636650","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}