Search results for: fire test

Authors: Domingos Viegas, Miguel Almeida, Carmen Rocha, Ilda Novo, Yolanda Luna

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Forest fires along the more than 1200km of the Spanish-Portuguese border are more and more frequent, currently achieving around 2000 fire events per year. Some of these events develop to large international wildfire requiring concerted operations based on shared information between the two countries. The fire event of Valencia de Alcantara (2003) causing several fatalities and more than 13000ha burnt, is a reference example of these international events. Currently, Portugal and Spain have a specific cross-border cooperation protocol on wildfires response for a strip of about 30km (15 km for each side). It is recognized by public authorities the successfulness of this collaboration however it is also assumed that this cooperation should include more functionalities such as the development of a common risk information system for transboundary fire events. Since Portuguese and Spanish authorities use different approaches to determine the fire risk indexes inputs and different methodologies to assess the fire risk, sometimes the conjoint firefighting operations are jeopardized since the information is not harmonized and the understanding of the situation by the civil protection agents from both countries is not unique. Thus, a methodology aiming the harmonization of the fire risk calculation and perception by Portuguese and Spanish Civil protection authorities is hereby presented. The final results are presented as well. The fire risk index used in this work is the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI), which is based on meteorological data. The FWI is limited on its application as it does not take into account other important factors with great effect on the fire appearance and development. The combination of these factors is very complex since, besides the meteorology, it addresses several parameters of different topics, namely: sociology, topography, vegetation and soil cover. Therefore, the meaning of FWI values is different from region to region, according the specific characteristics of each region. In this work, a methodology for FWI calibration based on the number of fire occurrences and on the burnt area in the transboundary regions of Portugal and Spain, in order to assess the fire risk based on calibrated FWI values, is proposed. As previously mentioned, the cooperative firefighting operations require a common perception of the information shared. Therefore, a common classification of the fire risk for the fire events occurred in the transboundary strip is proposed with the objective of harmonizing this type of information. This work is integrated in the ECHO project SpitFire - Spanish-Portuguese Meteorological Information System for Transboundary Operations in Forest Fires, which aims the development of a web platform for the sharing of information and supporting decision tools to be used in international fire events involving Portugal and Spain.

Keywords: data harmonization, FWI, international collaboration, transboundary wildfires

Procedia PDF Downloads 222

Authors: Ki-seok Kwon, Dong-woo Ryu, Heung-Youl Kim

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Although high-strength concrete has many advantages over generic concrete at normal temperatures (around 20℃), it undergoes spalling at high temperatures, which constitutes its structurally fatal drawback. In this study, fire resistance tests were conducted for 3 hours in accordance with ASTM E119 on bearing wall specimens which were 3,000mm x 3,000mm x 300mm in dimensions to investigate the influence the type of admixtures would exert on the fire resistance performance of high-strength concrete. Portland cement, blast furnace slag, fly ash and silica fume were used as admixtures, among which 2 or 3 components were combined to make 7 types of mixtures. In 56MPa specimens, the severity of spalling was in order of SF5 > F25 > S65SF5 > S50. Specimen S50 where an admixture consisting of 2 components was added did not undergo spalling. In 70MPa specimens, the severity of spalling was in order of SF5 > F25SF5 > S45SF5 and the result was similar to that observed in 56MPa specimens. Acknowledgements— This study was conducted by the support of the project, “Development of performance-based fire safety design of the building and improvement of fire safety” (18AUDP-B100356-04) which is under the management of Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement as part of the urban architecture research project for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, for which we extend our deep thanks.

Keywords: high strength concrete, mineral admixture, fire resistance, social disaster

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Dionisios Panagiotaras, Ioannis P. Kokkoris, Dionysios Koulougliotis, Dimitra Lekka, Alexandra Skalioti

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In the summer of 2021, Greece was affected by devastating forest fires in various regions of the country, resulting in human losses, destruction or degradation of the natural environment, infrastructure, livestock and cultivations. The present study concerns a pilot assessment of natural vegetation regeneration in the second, in terms of area, fire-affected region for 2021, at Ancient Olympia area, located in West Peloponnisos (Ilia Prefecture), Greece. A standardised field sampling protocol for assessing natural regeneration was implemented at selected sites where the forest fire had occurred previously (in 2007), and the vegetation (Pinus halepensis forest) had regenerated naturally. The results of the study indicate the loss of the established natural regeneration of Pinus halepensis forest, as well as of the tree-layer in total. Post-fire succession species are recorded to the shrub and the herb layer, with a varying cover. Present findings correspond to the results of field work and analysis one year after the fire, which will form the basis for further research and conclusions on taking action for restoration schemes in areas that have been affected by fire more than once within a 20-year period.

Keywords: forest, pinus halepensis, ancient olympia, post fire vegetation

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Authors: Elmo Thiao Lins Cöuras Ford, Valentina Alessandra Carvalho do Vale, R. M. Nascimento, J. U. L. Mendes

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Now the great majority of the applications of thermal isolation in the strip of drops and averages temperatures (up to 200ºC), it is made being used from aggressive materials to the nature such an as: glass wool, rock wool, polystyrene, EPS among others. Such materials, in spite of the effectiveness in the retention of the flow of heat, possess considerable cost and when discarded they are long years to be to decompose. In that context, trying to adapt the world politics the about of the preservation of the environment, a study began with intention of developing a material composite, with properties of thermal, originating from insulating industrial residues. In this research, the behavior of the composite was analyzed, as submitted the fire. For this, the reaction rehearsals were accomplished to the fire for the composites 2:1; 1:1; 1:2 and for the latex, based in the "con" experiment in agreement with the norm ASTM–E 1334-90. As consequence, in function of the answers of the system, was possible to observe to the acting of each mixture proportion.

Keywords: composite, Latex, reacion to the fire, thermal isolation

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Authors: Loke Mun Sei

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Software testing has become a mandatory process in assuring the software product quality. Hence, test management is needed in order to manage the test activities conducted in the software test life cycle. This paper discusses on the challenges faced in the software test life cycle, and how the test processes and test activities, mainly on test cases creation, test execution, and test reporting is being managed and automated using several test automation tools, i.e. Jira, Robot Framework, and Jenkins.

Keywords: test automation tools, test case, test execution, test reporting

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Authors: Saurabh Shukla, G. N. Pandey

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The fires have become the most serious disasters to forest resources and the human environment. In recent years, due to climate change, human activities and other factors the frequency of forest fires has increased considerably. The monitoring and prevention of forest fires have now become a global concern for forest fire prevention organizations. Currently, the methods for forest fire prevention largely consist of patrols, observation from watch towers. Thus, software like deployment of the wireless sensor network to prevent forest fire is being developed to get a better estimate of the temperature and humidity prospects. Now days, wireless sensor networks are beginning to be deployed at an accelerated pace. It is not unrealistic to expect that in coming years the world will be covered with wireless sensor networks. This new technology has lots of unlimited potentials and can be used for numerous application areas including environmental, medical, military, transportation, entertainment, crisis management, homeland defense, and smart spaces.

Keywords: deployment, sensors, wireless sensor networks, forest fires

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Authors: Megan Alkazoff, Charles Ruffner

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Tallgrass prairies and sand savannas, once covering northern to central Illinois, are ecosystems in need of restoration and conservation in the Midwestern United States. The Nature Conservancy manages five sites containing fragments of remaining tallgrass prairies and sand savannas within the Kankakee Sands using techniques such as prescribed burning and invasive species removal. The objective of this study was to conduct a ten-year resampling of transects established on these five sites during previous studies to assess whether the management tools applied there are helping maintain the tallgrass prairie and sand savannas. During the summer of 2020, permanent transect lines were sampled using a quadrat to determine the % Cover Class of each species rooted in the quadrat. Data gathered was analyzed using linear regression to illustrate the relationship between fire occurrence and species composition on the landscape. The fire frequency had a highly significant effect (P= 0.0025) on the species richness of all sites. The frequency of fire had a non-significant effect (P>0.05) on the Floristic Quality Index, percent C value 4-10, and bare-ground percentage of a site. These results suggest that fire on the landscape, both wild and prescribed, have increased biodiversity on all five sites but has not affected the Floristic Quality Index, percent C value 4-10, and the percentage of bare-ground on the sites.

Keywords: fire, floristic quality assessment, sand savanna, species richness, tallgrass prairie

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Authors: Mingjun Xu, Man Pun Wan

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This study proposed an effective smoke control strategy for the large flat space with a low ceiling to achieve the requirement of perpetual tenability. For the large flat space with a low ceiling, the depth of the smoke reservoir is very shallow, and it is difficult to perpetually constrain the smoke within a limited space. A series of numerical tests were conducted to determine the smoke strategy. A zonal design i.e., the fire zone and two adjacent zones was proposed and validated to be effective in controlling smoke. Once a fire happens in a compartment space, the Engineered Smoke Control (ESC) system will be activated in three zones i.e., the fire zone, in which the fire happened, and two adjacent zones. The smoke can be perpetually constrained within the three smoke zones. To further improve the extraction efficiency, sequential activation of the ESC system within the 3 zones turned out to be more efficient than simultaneous activation. Additionally, the proposed zonal and sequential extraction design can reduce the mechanical extraction flow rate by up to 40.7 % as compared to the conventional method, which is much more economical than that of the conventional method.

Keywords: performance-based design, perpetual tenability, smoke control, fire plume

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Authors: Idris Haruna Muhammad, Okorie Austine Uche

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This paper presents a study on reliability of shear connector exposed to fire situation in accordance with Eurocode 4. The reliability analysis i reliability analysis is based on First Order Second Moment Integration Technique (FOSMIT) using FORM 5. Performance functions for shear connector are derived for normal and under fire condition and their implied safety levels are evaluated. Four (4) design variables which include ultimate tensile strength, diameter of the stud, temperature and span of the steel beam are treated as random variables with their statistical characteristic adopted from literature. Results show that for normal condition the β – value decrease from 7.95 to 5.43 which show it is conservative in safety level for normal condition. Under fire condition, β – value decrease from 2.88 to – 0.32 with corresponding load ratio of 0.2 to 1.2. It was also shown from sensitivity assessment, that the temperature and span of the beam decrease with increase in their β – values while ultimate tensile strength and diameter of the stud increase with increase in their β – values for a given load ratio of 0.2 to 1.2.

Keywords: Composite steel beam, Fire condition, Shear stud, Sensitivity study

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Authors: Sofia Ait Bouazza

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We consider the problem of finding a minimum identifying code in a graph. This problem was initially introduced in 1998 and has been since fundamentally connected to a wide range of applications (fault diagnosis, location detection …). Suppose we have a building into which we need to place fire alarms. Suppose each alarm is designed so that it can detect any fire that starts either in the room in which it is located or in any room that shares a doorway with the room. We want to detect any fire that may occur or use the alarms which are sounding to not only to not only detect any fire but be able to tell exactly where the fire is located in the building. For reasons of cost, we want to use as few alarms as necessary. The first problem involves finding a minimum domination set of a graph. If the alarms are three state alarms capable of distinguishing between a fire in the same room as the alarm and a fire in an adjacent room, we are trying to find a minimum locating domination set. If the alarms are two state alarms that can only sound if there is a fire somewhere nearby, we are looking for a differentiating domination set of a graph. These three areas are the subject of much active research; we primarily focus on the third problem. An identifying code of a graph G is a dominating set C such that every vertex x of G is distinguished from other vertices by the set of vertices in C that are at distance at most r≥1 from x. When only vertices out of the code are asked to be identified, we get the related concept of a locating dominating set. The problem of finding an identifying code (resp a locating dominating code) of minimum size is a NP-hard problem, even when the input graph belongs to a number of specific graph classes. Therefore, we study this problem in some restricted classes of undirected graphs like split graph, line graph and path in a directed graph. Then we present some results on the identifying code by giving an exact value of upper total locating domination and a total 2-identifying code in directed and undirected graph. Moreover we determine exact values of locating dominating code and edge identifying code of thin headless spider and locating dominating code of complete suns.

Keywords: identiying codes, locating dominating set, split graphs, thin headless spider

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Authors: Mohammed Sulaiman, Hexu Liu, Mohamed Binalhaj, William W. Liou, Osama Abudayyeh

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Emerging technologies such as camera-equipped unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly being applied in building fire rescue to provide real-time visualization and 3D reconstruction of the entire fireground. However, flight planning of camera-equipped UAVs is usually a manual process, which is not sufficient to fulfill the needs of emergency management. This research proposes a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based approach to automatic flight planning of camera-equipped UAVs for building fire emergency response. In this research, Haversine formula and lawn mowing patterns are employed to automate flight planning based on geometrical and spatial information from GIS. The resulting flight mission satisfies the requirements of 3D reconstruction purposes of the fireground, in consideration of flight execution safety and visibility of camera frames. The proposed approach is implemented within a GIS environment through an application programming interface. A case study is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The result shows that flight mission can be generated in a timely manner for application to fire emergency response.

Keywords: GIS, camera-equipped UAVs, automatic flight planning, fire emergency response

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Authors: H. Yilmaz Atay

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Huntite and hydromagnesite minerals have been used as additive materials to achieve incombustible material due to their inflammability property. Those fire retardants materials can help to extinguish in the early stages of fire. Thus dispersion of the flame can be prevented even if the fire started. Huntite and hydromagnesite minerals are known to impart fire-proofing of the polymer composites. However, the additives used in the applications led to deterioration in the mechanical properties due to the usage of high amount of the powders in the composites. In this study, by enriching huntite and hydromagnesite, it was aimed to use purer minerals to reinforce the polymer composites. Thus, predictably, using purer mineral will lead to use lower amount of mineral powders. By this manner, the minerals free from impurities by various processes were added to the polymer matrix with different loading level and grades. Different types of samples were manufactured, and subsequently characterized by XRD, SEM-EDS, XRF and flame-retardant tests. Tensile strength and elongation at break values were determined according to loading levels and grades. Besides, a comparison on the properties of the polymer composites produced by using of minerals with and without impurities was performed. As a result of the work, it was concluded that it is required to use beneficiated minerals to provide better fire-proofing behaviors in the polymer composites.

Keywords: flame retardant, huntite and hydromagnesite, mechanical property, polymer composites

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Authors: Ju-young Hwang, Hyo-Gyoung Kwak, Hong Jae Yim

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This paper introduces a numerical analysis method for reinforced-concrete (RC) structures exposed to fire and compares the result with experimental results. The proposed analysis method for RC structure under the high temperature consists of two procedures. First step is to decide the temperature distribution across the section through the heat transfer analysis by using the time-temperature curve. After determination of the temperature distribution, the nonlinear analysis is followed. By considering material and geometrical non-linearity with the temperature distribution, nonlinear analysis predicts the behavior of RC structure under the fire by the exposed time. The proposed method is validated by the comparison with the experimental results. Finally, Prediction model to describe the status of after-cooling concrete can also be introduced based on the results of additional experiment. The product of this study is expected to be embedded for smart structure monitoring system against fire in u-City.

Keywords: RC structures, heat transfer analysis, nonlinear analysis, after-cooling concrete model

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Authors: Gabrielle Peck, Ryan Hayes

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This research presents the design and creation of a drone gas analyser, aimed at addressing the need for independent data collection and analysis of gas emissions during large-scale fires, particularly wasteland fires. The analyser drone, comprising a lightweight gas analysis system attached to a remote-controlled drone, enables the real-time assessment of smoke toxicity and the monitoring of gases released into the atmosphere during such incidents. The key components of the analyser unit included two gas line inlets connected to glass wool filters, a pump with regulated flow controlled by a mass flow controller, and electrochemical cells for detecting nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide, and oxygen levels. Additionally, a non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) analyser is employed to monitor carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and hydrocarbon concentrations. Thermocouples can be attached to the analyser to monitor temperature, as well as McCaffrey probes combined with pressure transducers to monitor air velocity and wind direction. These additions allow for monitoring of the large fire and can be used for predictions of fire spread. The innovative system not only provides crucial data for assessing smoke toxicity but also contributes to fire prediction and management. The remote-controlled drone's mobility allows for safe and efficient data collection in proximity to the fire source, reducing the need for human exposure to hazardous conditions. The data obtained from the gas analyser unit facilitates informed decision-making by emergency responders, aiding in the protection of both human health and the environment. This abstract highlights the successful development of a drone gas analyser, illustrating its potential for enhancing smoke toxicity analysis and fire prediction capabilities. The integration of this technology into fire management strategies offers a promising solution for addressing the challenges associated with wildfires and other large-scale fire incidents. The project's methodology and results contribute to the growing body of knowledge in the field of environmental monitoring and safety, emphasizing the practical utility of drones for critical applications.

Keywords: fire prediction, drone, smoke toxicity, analyser, fire management

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Authors: Avinash Chaudhary, Akhilesh Gupta, Surendra Kumar, Ravi Kumar

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This paper presents the numerical study on Jatropha oil pool fire in a compartment. A fire experiment with jatropha oil was conducted in a compartment of size 4 m x 4 m x m to study the fire development and temperature distribution. Fuel is burned in the center of the compartment in a pool diameter of 0.5 m with an initial fuel depth of 0.045 m. Corner temperature in the compartment, doorway temperature and hot gas layer temperature at various locations are measured. Numerical simulations were carried out using Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) software at grid size of 0.05 m, 0.12 m and for performing simulation heat release rate of jatropha oil measured using mass loss method were inputted into FDS. Experimental results shows that like other fuel fires, the whole combustion process can be divided into four stages: initial stage, growth stage, steady profile or developed phase and decay stage. The fire behavior shows two zone profile where upper zone consists of mainly hot gases while lower zone is relatively at colder side. In this study, predicted temperatures from simulation are in good agreement in upper zone of compartment. Near the interface of hot and cold zone, deviations were reported between the simulated and experimental results which is probably due to the difference between the predictions of smoke layer height by FDS. Also, changing the grid size from 0.12 m to 0.05 m does not show any effect in temperatures at upper zone while in lower zone, grid size of 0.05 m showed satisfactory agreement with experimental results. Numerical results showed that calculated temperatures at various locations matched well with the experimental results. On the whole, an effective method is provided with reasonable results to study the burning characteristics of jatropha oil with numerical simulations.

Keywords: jatropha oil, compartment fire, heat release rate, FDS (fire dynamics simulator), numerical simulation

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Authors: Assel E. Molzhigitova, Amankeldi K. Sadanov, Elvira T. Ismailova, Kulyash A. Iskandarova, Olga N. Shemshura, Ainur I. Seitbattalova

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Fire blight is a very harmful for commercial apple and pear production quarantine bacterial disease. To date, several different methods have been proposed for disease control, including the use of copperbased preparations and antibiotics, which are not always reliable or effective. The use of bacteria as biocontrol agents is one of the most promising and eco-friendly alternative methods. Bacteria with protective activity against the causal agent of fire blight are often present among the epiphytic microorganisms of the phyllosphere of host plants. Therefore, the main objective of our study was screening of local epiphytic bacteria as possible antagonists against Erwinia amylovora, the causal agent of fire blight. Samples of infected organs of apple and pear trees (shoots, leaves, fruits) were collected from the industrial horticulture areas in various agro-ecological zones of Kazakhstan. Epiphytic microorganisms were isolated by standard and modified methods on specific nutrient media. The primary screening of selected microorganisms under laboratory conditions to determine the ability to suppress the growth of Erwinia amylovora was performed by agar-diffusion-test. Among 142 bacteria isolated from the fire blight host plants, 5 isolates, belonging to the genera Bacillus, Lactobacillus, Pseudomonas, Paenibacillus and Pantoea showed higher antagonistic activity against the pathogen. The diameters of inhibition zone have been depended on the species and ranged from 10 mm to 48 mm. The maximum diameter of inhibition zone (48 mm) was exhibited by B. amyloliquefaciens. Less inhibitory effect was showed by Pantoea agglomerans PA1 (19 mm). The study of inhibitory effect of Lactobacillus species against E. amylovora showed that among 7 isolates tested only one (Lactobacillus plantarum 17M) demonstrated inhibitory zone (30 mm). In summary, this study was devoted to detect the beneficial epiphytic bacteria from plants organs of pear and apple trees due to fire blight control in Kazakhstan. Results obtained from the in vitro experiments showed that the most efficient bacterial isolates are Lactobacillus plantarum 17M, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens MB40, and Pantoea agglomerans PA1. These antagonists are suitable for development as biocontrol agents for fire blight control. Their efficacies will be evaluated additionally, in biological tests under in vitro and field conditions during our further study.

Keywords: antagonists, epiphytic bacteria, Erwinia amylovora, fire blight

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Authors: Siva K. Bathina, Sudheer Siddapureddy

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Pool fires are formed when the flammable liquid accidentally spills on the ground or water and ignites. Pool fire is a kind of buoyancy-driven and diffusion flame. There have been many pool fire accidents caused during processing, handling and storing of liquid fuels in chemical and oil industries. Such kind of accidents causes enormous damage to property as well as the loss of lives. Pool fires are complex in nature due to the strong interaction among the combustion, heat and mass transfers and pyrolysis at the fuel surface. Moreover, the experimental study of such large complex fires involves fire safety issues and difficulties in performing experiments. In the present work, large eddy simulations are performed to study such complex fire scenarios using fire dynamic simulator. A 1 m diesel pool fire is considered for the studied cases, and diesel is chosen as it is most commonly involved fuel in fire accidents. Fire simulations are performed by specifying two different boundary conditions: one the fuel is in liquid state and pyrolysis model is invoked, and the other by assuming the fuel is initially in a vapor state and thereby prescribing the mass loss rate. A domain of size 11.2 m × 11.2 m × 7.28 m with uniform structured grid is chosen for the numerical simulations. Grid sensitivity analysis is performed, and a non-dimensional grid size of 12 corresponding to 8 cm grid size is considered. Flame properties like mass burning rate, irradiance, and time-averaged axial flame temperature profile are predicted. The predicted steady-state mass burning rate is 40 g/s and is within the uncertainty limits of the previously reported experimental data (39.4 g/s). Though the profile of the irradiance at a distance from the fire along the height is somewhat in line with the experimental data and the location of the maximum value of irradiance is shifted to a higher location. This may be due to the lack of sophisticated models for the species transportation along with combustion and radiation in the continuous zone. Furthermore, the axial temperatures are not predicted well (for any of the boundary conditions) in any of the zones. The present study shows that the existing models are not sufficient enough for modeling blended fuels like diesel. The predictions are strongly dependent on the experimental values of the soot yield. Future experiments are necessary for generalizing the soot yield for different fires.

Keywords: burning rate, fire accidents, fire dynamic simulator, pyrolysis

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Authors: Martin Blaha, Ladislav Potužák, Daniel Holesz

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This paper focused on application support for technical control of artillery units – PVNPG-14M, especially on interpolation issue. Artillery units of the Army of the Czech Republic, reflecting the current global security neighborhood, can be used outside the Czech Republic. The paper presents principles, evolution and calculation in the process of complete preparation. The paper presents expertise using of application of current artillery communication and information system and suggests the perspective future system. The paper also presents problems in process of complete preparing of fire especially problems in permanently information (firing table) and calculated values. The paper presents problems of current artillery communication and information system and suggests requirements of the future system.

Keywords: Fire for Effect, Application, Fire Control, Interpolation method, Software development.

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Authors: Abraham O. Olaniyi, Oluyemi Oke, Atilade Otunla

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The structural performance of bridges decreases progressively throughout their service life due to many contributing factors (fatigue, carbonation, fire incidents etc.). Around the world, numerous bridges have attained their estimated service life and many have approached this limit. The structural integrity assessment of the burnt composite bridge located at CH57+450, Koita village along Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja road, Nigeria, is presented as a case study and shall be forthwith referred to as the 'Koita bridge' in this paper. From the technical evaluation, the residual compressive strength of the concrete piers was found to be below 16.0 N/mm2. This value is very low compared to the expected design value of 30.0 N/mm2. The pier capping beam at pier location 1 has a very low residual compressive strength. The cover to the reinforcement of certain capping beams has an outline of reinforcement which signifies poor concrete cover and the mean compressive strength is also less than 20.0 N/mm2. The steel girder indicated black colouration as a result of the fire incident without any significant structural defect like buckling or warping of the steel section. This paper reviews the structural integrity assessment and repair methodology of the Koita bridge; a composite bridge damaged by fire, highlighting the various challenges of limited obtainable guidance documents about the bridge. The objectives are to increase the understanding of processes and versatile equipment required to test and assess a fire-damaged bridge in order to improve the quality of structural appraisal and rehabilitation; thus, eliminating the prejudice associated with current visual inspection techniques.

Keywords: assessment, bridge, rehabilitation, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 332

Authors: Naser Kazemi Eilaki, Carolyn Ahmer, Ilona Heldal, Bjarne Christian Hagen

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Older people and people with disabilities are recognized as at-risk groups when it comes to egress and travel from hazard zone to safe places. One's disability can negatively influence her or his escape time, and this becomes even more important when people from this target group live alone. This research deals with the fire safety of mentioned people's buildings by means of probabilistic methods. For this purpose, fire safety is addressed by modeling the egress of our target group from a hazardous zone to a safe zone. A common type of detached house with a prevalent plan has been chosen for safety analysis, and a limit state function has been developed according to the time-line evacuation model, which is based on a two-zone and smoke development model. An analytical computer model (B-Risk) is used to consider smoke development. Since most of the involved parameters in the fire development model pose uncertainty, an appropriate probability distribution function has been considered for each one of the variables with indeterministic nature. To achieve safety and reliability for the at-risk groups, the fire safety index method has been chosen to define the probability of failure (causalities) and safety index (beta index). An improved harmony search meta-heuristic optimization algorithm has been used to define the beta index. Sensitivity analysis has been done to define the most important and effective parameters for the fire safety of the at-risk group. Results showed an area of openings and intervals to egress exits are more important in buildings, and the safety of people would improve with increasing dimensions of occupant space (building). Fire growth is more critical compared to other parameters in the home without a detector and fire distinguishing system, but in a home equipped with these facilities, it is less important. Type of disabilities has a great effect on the safety level of people who live in the same home layout, and people with visual impairment encounter more risk of capturing compared to visual and movement disabilities.

Keywords: fire safety, at-risk groups, zone model, egress time, uncertainty

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Authors: J. R. Wang, Y. Chiang, W. S. Hsu, S. H. Chen, J. H. Yang, S. W. Chen, C. Shih, Y. F. Chang, Y. H. Huang, B. R. Shen

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In this research, the RASCAL code was used to simulate and analyze the postulated UF₆ fire accident which may occur in the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research (INER). There are four main steps in this research. In the first step, the UF₆ data of INER were collected. In the second step, the RASCAL analysis methodology and model was established by using these data. Third, this RASCAL model was used to perform the simulation and analysis of the postulated UF₆ fire accident. Three cases were simulated and analyzed in this step. Finally, the analysis results of RASCAL were compared with the hazardous levels of the chemicals. According to the compared results of three cases, Case 3 has the maximum danger in human health.

Keywords: RASCAL, UF₆, safety, hydrogen fluoride

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Authors: Efil Yusrianto, Noraini Marsi, Noraniah Kassim, Izzati Abdul Manaf, Hafizuddin Hakim Shariff

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Today, municipal solid waste (MSW), noise pollution, and attack fire are three ongoing issues for inhabitants of urban including in Malaysia. To solve these issues, eco-friendly autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) containing recycled ceramic and gypsum waste (CGW) as a partial replacement for sand with different ratios (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25% wt) has been prepared. The performance of samples, such as the physical, mechanical, sound absorption coefficient, and direct fire resistance, has been investigated. All samples showed normal color behavior, i.e., grey and free crack. The compressive strength was increased in the range of 6.10% to 29.88%. The maximum value of compressive strength was 2.13MPa for 15% wt of CGW. The positive effect of CGW on the compressive strength of AAC has also been confirmed by crystalline phase and microstructure analysis. The acoustic performances, such as sound absorption coefficients of samples at low frequencies (500Hz), are higher than the reference sample (RS). AAC-CGW samples are categorized as AAC material classes B and C. The fire resistance results showed the physical surface of the samples had a free crack and was not burned during the direct fire at 950ºC for 300s. The results showed that CGW succeeded in enhancing the performance of fresh AAC, such as compressive strength, crystalline phase, sound absorption coefficient, and fire resistance of samples.

Keywords: physical, mechanical, acoustic, direct fire resistance performance, autoclaved aerated concrete, recycled ceramic-gypsum waste

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Authors: Nikhil Verma, Akshay Kant Mishra, Rishabh Rastogi, Bikarama Prasad Yadav

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Emerging fire incidents are the protuberant contributor out turning into life loss, property damage and importantly firefighters. It insinuates that a firefighting and rescue operation of the existing equipment or apparatus and their proficiency is limited, particularly in annihilating firefighting environments. The proposed methodology will help in developing a technology which can be useful in minimizing the risks and losses due to fire. In this paper, design and development of combat mini vehicle comprising of multi-purpose nozzle system is proposed which can target diverse fires simultaneously at distinct time and location. Basically, the system is semi-automated type protection system which can be manoeuvred by controller. Designing of robust vehicle based on semi-automated protection type system is consummated using SolidWorks platform. Concept of developing a robust vehicle will help to fight fires in multiple directions reducing the time required to douse multiple fires.

Keywords: fire douse vehicle, multiple fires, multi-purpose nozzle, semi-automated system

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Authors: Mohammad F. Fauzi, Nurul H. Shahba M. Shahrun, Nurul W. Hamzah, Mohd Noah A. Rahman, Afzaal H. Seyal

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In this paper, we proposed a simulation system using Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) that will be distributed around the forest for early forest fire detection and to locate the areas affected. In Brunei Darussalam, approximately 78% of the nation is covered by forest. Since the forest is Brunei’s most precious natural assets, it is very important to protect and conserve our forest. The hot climate in Brunei Darussalam can lead to forest fires which can be a fatal threat to the preservation of our forest. The process consists of getting data from the sensors, analyzing the data and producing an alert. The key factors that we are going to analyze are the surrounding temperature, wind speed and wind direction, humidity of the air and soil.

Keywords: forest fire monitor, humidity, wind direction, wireless sensor network

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Authors: Xufei Liu, Shouxiang Lu, Kim Meow Liew

Abstract:

Because a relatively small fire could potentially cause damage by smoke corrosion far exceed thermal fire damage, it has been realized that the corrosion of metal exposed to smoke atmospheres is a significant fire hazard, except for toxicity or evacuation considerations. For the burning materials in an actual fire may often be the mixture of combustible matters, a quantitative study on the corrosivity of smoke produced by the combustion of mixture is more conducive to the application of the basic theory to the actual engineering. In this paper, carbon steel samples were exposed to smoke generated by polyvinyl chloride and polypropylene, two common combustibles in industrial plants, with different mixing ratios in high humidity for 120 hours. The separate and combined corrosive effects of smoke were examined subsequently by weight loss measurement, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. It was found that, although the corrosivity of smoke from polypropylene was much smaller than that of smoke from polyvinyl chloride, smoke from polypropylene enhanced the major corrosive effect of smoke from polyvinyl chloride to carbon steel. Furthermore, the corrosion kinetics of carbon steel under smoke were found to obey the power function. Possible corrosion mechanisms were also proposed. All the analysis helps to provide basic information for the determination of smoke damage and timely rescue after fire.

Keywords: corrosion kinetics, corrosion mechanism, mixed combustible, SEM/EDS, smoke corrosivity, XRD

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Authors: Payal Maheshwari, Bansari Shah

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The research aimed to study the level of emotional intelligence (EI) and organizational role stress (ORS) of fire-fighters and the relationship between the two variables. Hundred and twenty fire-fighters were selected from different fire stations of Mumbai by purposive sampling. The firefighters who had the basic training, a minimum experience of 2 years and had been on the field during a crisis situation were selected for the study. The firefighters selected ranged from 23-58 years of age, and the number of years of experience ranged from 2 to 33 years. The findings of the study revealed that majority of the firefighters perceived themselves to be at an above average (57) and high (58) level of EI (M=429.35, SD=38.712). Domain-wise analysis disclosed that compared to self-awareness (92) and relationship management (93), more number of participants perceived themselves in the high category in the domains of self-management (108) and social management (106). Further, examination of the subdomain scores conveyed that a large number of participants rated themselves in the average level of these skills of accurate self-assessment (50), emotional self-control (50), adaptability (56) initiative (41), influence (66), change catalyst (53), and conflict management (50). With relation to the stress variable, it was found that almost half the number of the participants (59) rated themselves as having an average level of stress (M=137.44, SD=28.800). In most of the domains, majority of the participants perceived themselves as having an average level of stress, while in the domain of role isolation, self-role distance, and role ambiguity, majority of the firefighters rated themselves as having a low level of stress. A strong negative correlation (r=-.360**, p=.000) was found between EI and ORS. This study is a contribution to the literature and has implications for fire-fighters at the personal level, for the policymakers, and the fire department.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, organizational role stress, firefighters, relationship

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Authors: Javed Y. Uppal

Abstract:

In this paper, a case study of a 13 storied multi storied main headquarters building of the Lahore Development Authority Lahore Pakistan has been presented, the 9th floor of which caught fire due to short circuiting and the flare spread through air-conditioning ducts to top three floors, and the building remained under fire for 15 hours before it was quenched. Some columns at the upper 3 floors started crumbling down, which were immediately propped. A visual inspection of site was first carried out, followed by onsite material tests and lab tests for residual strengths, which led to the decision of removal of the top 3 floors in a planned sequence of diamond cutting of middle strips, column strips, and shear walls, in panels and their lifting up by overhead cranes. The waffle slabs were stitched and jacketed with low viscosity polymer layer. The damaged bars were supplemented. The cracked columns were jacketed as well. The validity of rehabilitation procedure was established by load deflection behavior tests and long term performance observation over a period of 5 years. The paper concludes that the procedures adopted could be recommended for such events.

Keywords: fire damage, shotcrete, waffle slabs, delamination, drying cracking, jacketing

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Authors: Ursula Das, Manavjit Singh Dhindsa, Kshirasagar Naik, Marzia Zaman, Richard Purcell, Srinivas Sampalli, Abdul Mutakabbir, Chung-Horng Lung, Thambirajah Ravichandran

Abstract:

Wildland fires, also known as forest fires or wildfires, are exhibiting an alarming surge in frequency in recent times, further adding to its perennial global concern. Forest fires often lead to devastating consequences ranging from loss of healthy forest foliage and wildlife to substantial economic losses and the tragic loss of human lives. Despite the existence of substantial literature on the detection of active forest fires, numerous potential research avenues in forest fire management, such as preventative measures and ancillary effects of forest fires, remain largely underexplored. This paper undertakes a systematic review of these underexplored areas in forest fire research, meticulously categorizing them into distinct phases, namely pre-fire, during-fire, and post-fire stages. The pre-fire phase encompasses the assessment of fire risk, analysis of fuel properties, and other activities aimed at preventing or reducing the risk of forest fires. The during-fire phase includes activities aimed at reducing the impact of active forest fires, such as the detection and localization of active fires, optimization of wildfire suppression methods, and prediction of the behavior of active fires. The post-fire phase involves analyzing the impact of forest fires on various aspects, such as the extent of damage in forest areas, post-fire regeneration of forests, impact on wildlife, economic losses, and health impacts from byproducts produced during burning. A comprehensive understanding of the three stages is imperative for effective forest fire management and mitigation of the impact of forest fires on both ecological systems and human well-being. Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) methods have garnered much attention in the cyber-physical systems domain in recent times leading to their adoption in decision-making in diverse applications including disaster management. This paper explores the current state of AI/ML applications for managing the activities in the aforementioned phases of forest fire. While conventional machine learning and deep learning methods have been extensively explored for the prevention, detection, and management of forest fires, a systematic classification of these methods into distinct AI research domains is conspicuously absent. This paper gives a comprehensive overview of the state of forest fire research across more recent and prominent AI/ML disciplines, including big data, classical machine learning, computer vision, explainable AI, generative AI, natural language processing, optimization algorithms, and time series forecasting. By providing a detailed overview of the potential areas of research and identifying the diverse ways AI/ML can be employed in forest fire research, this paper aims to serve as a roadmap for future investigations in this domain.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, computer vision, deep learning, during-fire activities, forest fire management, machine learning, pre-fire activities, post-fire activities

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Authors: Hosia T. Pule, Julius T. Tjelele, Michelle J. Tedder, Dawood Hattas

Abstract:

Acceptability of plant material to herbivores is influenced by, among other factors; nutrients, plant secondary metabolites and growth stage of the plants. However, the effect of these factors on Seriphium plumosum L. acceptability to livestock is still not clearly understood, despite its importance in managing its encroachment in grassland communities. The study used 2 x 2 x 2 factorial analysis of variance to investigate the effect of season (wet and dry), fire, slope position (top and bottom) and their interaction on Seriphium plumosum chemistry. We tested the hypothesis that S. plumosum chemistry varies temporally, spatially and pre- and post-fire treatment. Seriphium plumosum edible material was collected during the wet and dry season from burned and unburned areas on both top and bottom slopes before being analysed for protein (CP) content, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), total phenolics (TP) and condensed tannins (CT). Season had a significant effect on S. plumosum protein content, neutral detergent fibre, total phenolics and condensed tannins. Fire had a significant effect on CP. Interaction of season x fire had a significant effect on NDF and CP (p < 0.05). Seriphium plumosum in the wet season (6.69% ± 0.20 (SE)) had significantly higher CP than in the dry season (5.22% ± 0.13). NDF was significantly higher (58.01% ± 0.41) in the dry season than in the wet season (53.17% ± 0.34), while TP were significantly higher in the dry season (14.44 mg/gDw ± 1.03) than in the wet season (11.08 mg/gDw ± 1.07). CT in the wet season were significantly higher (1.56 mg/gDw ± 0.13) than in the dry season (1 mg/gDw ± 0.03). CP was significantly higher in burned (6. 31 % ± 0.22) than in unburned S. plumosum edible material (5.60 % ± 0.15). Seriphium plumosum CP was significantly higher in wet season x burned (7.34 % ± 0.31) than wet season x unburned (6.08 % ± 0.20) material and dry season x burned (5.34 % ± 0.18) and unburned (5.09 % ± 0.18) material were similar. NDF was similar in dry season x burned (58.31% ± 0.54) and dry season x unburned (57.69 % ± 0.62) material and significantly higher than similar wet season x burned (52.43% ± 0.45) and wet season x post-unburned (53.88% ± 0.47) material. This study suggests integrating fire, browsers, and supplements as encroacher S. plumosum control agents, especially in the wet season, following fire due to high S. plumosum CP content.

Keywords: acceptability, chemistry, edible material, encroachment, phenolics, tannins

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Authors: Akram Mahdaviparsa, Tamera McCuen, Vahideh Karimimansoob

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Fire service is responsible for protecting life, assets, and natural resources from fire and other hazardous incidents. Search and rescue in unfamiliar buildings is a vital part of firefighters’ responsibilities. Providing firefighters with precise building information in an easy-to-understand format is a potential solution for mitigating the negative consequences of fire hazards. The negative effect of insufficient knowledge about a building’s indoor environment impedes firefighters’ capabilities and leads to lost property. A data rich building information modeling (BIM) is a potentially useful source in three-dimensional (3D) visualization and data/information storage for fire emergency response. Therefore, this research’s purpose is prioritizing the required information for firefighters from the most important information to the least important. A survey was carried out with firefighters working in the Norman Fire Department to obtain the importance of each building information item. The results show that “the location of exit doors, windows, corridors, elevators, and stairs”, “material of building elements”, and “building data” are the three most important information specified by firefighters. The results also implied that the 2D model of architectural, structural and way finding is more understandable in comparison with the 3D model, while the 3D model of MEP system could convey more information than the 2D model. Furthermore, color in visualization can help firefighters to understand the building information easier and quicker. Sufficient internal consistency of all responses was proven through developing the Pearson Correlation Matrix and obtaining Cronbach’s alpha of 0.916. Therefore, the results of this study are reliable and could be applied to the population.

Keywords: BIM, building fire response, ranking, visualization

Procedia PDF Downloads 103