{"title":"Statistical variation of the burning rate and extinction characteristics of engineered timber products","authors":"Jacob David , David Morrisset , Richard Emberley","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104275","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104275","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding the burning rate (mass loss rate, MLR) of timber products is essential in characterizing the ignition characteristics, fire size, and extinction phenomena experienced by timber. Key parameters for timber, such as self-extinction criteria, are presented throughout literature. These parameters are often determined using bench-scale experiments in relatively low trial quantities (e.g., <em>n</em> = 3). This study investigates the influence of trial quantity on the observed statistical variation in key burning rate metrics for timber products (e.g., peak MLR, MLR at extinction). Experiments were performed using a conical heater to conduct 100 repeat trials at incident heat fluxes of 20 kW/m<sup>2</sup>, 40 kW/m<sup>2</sup>, and 50 kW/m<sup>2</sup> on 12.7 mm (0.5 in.) thick ACX cross laminated plywood samples. Significant variability was observed in trials conducted at 40 kW/m<sup>2</sup> due to bimodal behavior where 39% of samples experienced self-extinction and the remaining 61% of samples sustained combustion until burnout (i.e., complete pyrolysis of the material). The MLR at extinction for the trials at 40 kW/m<sup>2</sup> displayed nearly double the magnitude compared to trials conducted at 20 kW/m<sup>2</sup> due to the breakdown of the semi-infinite solid condition. The results from this work illustrate the significance of large trial quantities when investigating complex phenomena.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"150 ","pages":"Article 104275"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142592767","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}
Deives J. de Paula , João Paulo C. Rodrigues , Aline L. Camargo , Rúben F.R. Lopes
{"title":"Performance fire tests on building external walls made of sandwich panels","authors":"Deives J. de Paula , João Paulo C. Rodrigues , Aline L. Camargo , Rúben F.R. Lopes","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104273","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104273","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>External walls are part of the construction system where new solutions appear every day. These systems are usually built with new materials that offer greater thermal resistance but with poor fire behaviour. This fire behaviour can be evaluated in large-scale tests, such as the ones prescribed at BS 8414-1, LEPIR II or ISO-13785-1 standards, that consider a typical scenario where the fire outbreaks inside the building and spreads to outside through a window or venting. However, there are situations in which these systems can be affected by external fires, such as forest fires, goods burning next to the external wall, or even sabotage, that are of interest to be evaluated. This paper presents the results of experimental tests for evaluating the behaviour of building external walls made of sandwich panels, of four different insulation materials in the core (mineral wool, polyisocyanurate - PIR, organic polymer and polyurethane - PUR). The tests were carried out according to BS 8414-2 standard, considering the common internal and a new external fire scenario. The external fire scenario was intended to simulate the case of goods or equipment stored next to the wall, outside the building, that catches fire. The walls' performance was checked according to BRE 135 Annex B criteria. In these tests were registered the temperatures in the exposed and unexposed face of the walls and the incident radiant heat flux in the wall surface. The external fire scenario showed that can be more aggressive to the external wall cladding than the internal fire, demonstrating that this condition must be carefully investigated to propose this situation in standards for the future.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"150 ","pages":"Article 104273"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142526792","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}
Aobo Liu , Alexandros G. Venetsanos , Michael A. Delichatsios , Waleed Haddad , Yiannis A. Levendis
{"title":"On gravity-driven liquid nitrogen jets reach and horizontal spread for extinction of ground fires by aerial means","authors":"Aobo Liu , Alexandros G. Venetsanos , Michael A. Delichatsios , Waleed Haddad , Yiannis A. Levendis","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104278","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104278","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper describes experimental and numerical results on the reach and the spread of gravity-driven jets of liquid nitrogen (LN<sub>2</sub>) on the ground for applications to fire extinction by aerial means. A series of experiments released LN<sub>2</sub> jets from different elevations in ambient air to measure their reach and spread distances upon the impingement. A numerical model was developed to simulate the behavior of such jets. Upon validation, the numerical model was used to further predict the LN<sub>2</sub> pool mass and spreading distances under various release configurations. Results showed that the LN<sub>2</sub> survivability is greatly affected by the release height of the cryogen, since the LN<sub>2</sub> quantity reaching the ground decreases as the release height increases. Moreover, releasing larger initial LN<sub>2</sub> quantities and, most importantly using larger nozzle diameters, both the LN<sub>2</sub> pool mass and spreading diameter can be extended. Additional experiments were conducted where cryogen jets were released onto small (∼300 cm<sup>2</sup>) alcohol pool fires; results showed that only limited quantities of the LN<sub>2</sub> evaporated in transit to the fire, and small amounts of the cryogen expediently snuffed the fires. A simplified model also suggested that in fire supression/extinction by LN<sub>2</sub> the fuel cooling mechanism is of secondary importance compared to the mechanism of separating the fuel from oxygen.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"150 ","pages":"Article 104278"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142526795","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}
Florian Put , Andrea Lucherini , Ruben Van Coile , Bart Merci
{"title":"CFD-based analysis of deviations between thermocouple measurements and local gas temperatures during the cooling phase of compartment fires","authors":"Florian Put , Andrea Lucherini , Ruben Van Coile , Bart Merci","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104276","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104276","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Data from thermocouple (TC) measurements play a pivotal role in fire safety science and engineering studies. It is well-known that there are deviations from the actual local gas temperature and many studies have led to the development of correction factors. The present study focuses on these deviations inside compartments through a systematic series of CFD simulations, performed with Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), version 6.8.0. A canonical cubic box is used as geometry. This allows for the demonstration of the impact of the presence of smoke, with variable optical thickness, on the TC data as retrieved from FDS. Significant differences are observed between TC measurements and local gas temperatures. Corrections as developed for TC measurements in open atmospheres cannot be readily applied in compartment configurations, where smoke properties change both spatially and temporally.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"150 ","pages":"Article 104276"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142526794","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}
Xiuzhi Zheng , Minjuan He , Zheng Li , Guobiao Lou , Guo-Qiang Li
{"title":"Experimental investigation into the effect of transparent fireproof coatings on charring behavior of glued laminated timber exposed to fire","authors":"Xiuzhi Zheng , Minjuan He , Zheng Li , Guobiao Lou , Guo-Qiang Li","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104274","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104274","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As timber structures evolve towards greater heights and longer spans for buildings, there is a pressing need to enhance the fire resistance of timber structures. Considering the charring behavior of timber is crucial to the fire resistance of timber structures, it is a promising way to retard the charring behavior of timber and further enhance the fire resistance by applying transparent fireproof coatings. In this study, a series of fire tests were conducted to investigate the effect of transparent fireproof coatings on the charring behavior of Douglas fir glued laminated timber (Glulam) under small-scale ISO 834 standard fire conditions. Different coating types, coating quantities, exposed time to fire and member sizes were considered in the experiments. The experimental results including temperature profiles, maximum temperature, and charring rates for uncoated and coated Glulam specimens were carefully recorded and analyzed. Then, the effect of transparent fireproof coatings was quantified by the proposed ratio of delayed charring. The main mechanism of the delayed charring in fire was finally discussed. This study demonstrated that two transparent fireproof coatings can both effectively lower the temperature at different depths and delay the charring behavior of timber. The reduction in charring rates increased with the increase of coating quantity and decreased as the fire exposure time progressed. The ratio of delayed charring for two coatings can be over 30 % in the initial stage of fire and over 20 % for 1-h standard fire exposure. This study can provide technical support for enhancing the fire resistance of timber structures using transparent coatings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"150 ","pages":"Article 104274"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142526793","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":"Effect of nano-aluminum hydroxide on the liquid phase properties and fire-fighting foam performance of the mixed surfactants solution","authors":"Qingguo Wang, Weixiang Wang, Xing Zhang, Xu Geng, Yuanyuan Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104277","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104277","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Short-chain fluorocarbon surfactants show synergistic effects with hydrocarbon surfactants in foaming and foam stability. Nano-aluminum hydroxide (nano-ATH) was added as an additive to the short-chain fluorocarbon surfactant mixture solution, which was found to increase the surface tension and viscosity of the surfactant mixture solution, and decrease the foaming properties of the solution, as measured by Wilhelmy method, Waring Blender method and viscometer. By measuring zeta potential experiments, surfactant molecules were found to be adsorbed on nano-ATH through charge gravity, which increased the desorption energy of nano-ATH. Measuring the visco-elastic modulus of the solution by rheometer, it was found that nano-ATH increased the visco-elastic modulus of the surfactant mixture solution, which improved the foam's resistance to the external disturbances. Observed by the image analysis system on the foam, the uniform distribution of nano-ATH in the liquid film reduced the coarsening and coalescence speed of foam. Through the self-developed oil resistance test, nano-ATH enhanced the oil resistance stability and inhibition of fuel vapor diffusion of the foam by about 12 %; through self-developed foam fire extinguishing and anti-burning tests, nano-ATH shortened the fire extinguishing time of the two-phase foam by 25 %, and showed better fire extinguishing and anti-burning performance than the foam.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"150 ","pages":"Article 104277"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142526791","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}
Claudia Moscoso, Jo Skjermo, Hampus Karlsson, Petter Arnesen, Carl-Johan Södersten, Åsa S. Hoem, Gunnar D. Jenssen
{"title":"Analysis of spatial and design factors for users' acceptance of rescue rooms in road tunnels: An exploratory study using Virtual Reality","authors":"Claudia Moscoso, Jo Skjermo, Hampus Karlsson, Petter Arnesen, Carl-Johan Södersten, Åsa S. Hoem, Gunnar D. Jenssen","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104272","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104272","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In emergency fire situations in road tunnels in which vehicles cannot exit the tunnel, evacuation on foot might be the only alternative. In such scenarios, self-rescue using rescue rooms might provide provisional safe shelter to people trapped in tunnel emergencies. Yet, a stay in a rescue room with unsatisfactory design might contribute to higher levels of distress to the users. The present study examines five different designs of rescue rooms via virtual reality, to study how the different design and spatial factors might affect users' acceptance of such rooms. Thirty-seven people participated in the study, in which both objective (Eye-tracking and heart rate measurement) and subjective data was collected. The results suggest that two factors (i.e. lighting and use of separate areas) increased the feelings of safety and users' acceptance of the rescue rooms. In particular, a container room with blue lighting and separate area for injured people was the favourite among the study participants. The outcomes of this study show that design and spatial factors are crucial if rescue rooms are to be implemented and used in road tunnels.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"150 ","pages":"Article 104272"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142446042","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 waypoint based approach to visibility in performance based fire safety design","authors":"Kristian Börger , Alexander Belt , Lukas Arnold","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104269","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104269","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In performance based fire safety design, ensuring safe egress, e.g. by visibility of safety signs, is a crucial safety goal. Compliance with the building requirements is often demonstrated by simulations of smoke spread. Numerical models like the Fire Dynamics Simulator generally compute visibility as a local quantity using the light extinction coefficient, without the consideration of the actual light path to a safety sign. Here, visibility maps are introduced, providing an approach for post-processing fire simulation data. They indicate safe areas along egress routes, with respect to visibility. At each location, the available visibility is calculated using Jin’s empirical relation, as an integrated value of the extinction coefficient along the line of sight to the closest exit sign. The required visibility results from the distance between those points. Additional parameters like view angle or visual obstructions are considered. The presented method allows for temporal visibility assessment, e.g. in an ASET-RSET analysis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"150 ","pages":"Article 104269"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142526790","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 computational study of the deposition of firebrands between two side-by-side blocks","authors":"Aditya Mankame, Patrick Damiani, Babak Shotorban","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104270","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104270","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The deposition of firebrands between two blocks, representing neighboring simplified structures, was investigated by large-eddy simulation and Lagrangian tracking of firebrands. Fire Dynamics Simulator was modified and implemented for simulations. The computational configuration resembled the previous wind-tunnel measurement setup including two blocks and the firebrand generator apparatus, aka NIST Dragon (Suzuki and Manzello 2021). Different wind speeds and frictional coefficients between the sliding firebrands and the ground were considered. Simulations revealed several flow effects influencing the motion of firebrands on the ground, such as re-circulation flow in the wake of the dragon, a crossflow upwind of the blocks, and twin re-circulation regions on leeward and windward sides of the blocks. At lower wind speeds, firebrands were accumulated somewhere between the dragon and the blocks, consistent with observations in the previous measurements. At higher wind speeds, the firebrands tended to accumulate momentarily before the crossflow region and then accelerate through the gap between the blocks. Some accumulated in the leeward corner of the blocks. Firebrands displayed much more dispersion in the streamwise direction compared to the spanwise direction because the normal component of the Reynolds stress was greater in the streamwise direction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"150 ","pages":"Article 104270"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142442887","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":"Computational analysis of flame spreads over alcohol fuel at sub-flash temperatures using multi-step chemistry","authors":"Conghui Shan , Chonglv Cheng , Baopeng Xu , Jennifer X. Wen","doi":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104271","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104271","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although flame spread over liquid fuel has been extensively investigated, there still exist some unresolved issues on its controlling mechanisms. In addition, state-of-art models have not addressed all the potentially important processes such as detailed chemistry, limiting the prediction accuracy. In the present study, our previously developed fully coupled three-dimensional numerical approach is extended with a multi-step chemistry. The improved model is then used to investigate flame spreads under different fuel temperatures and pool depths, aiming to reveal fine details of the underlying gas and liquid flow features.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50445,"journal":{"name":"Fire Safety Journal","volume":"150 ","pages":"Article 104271"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142420978","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}