This volume presents selected papers from the International Conference on Reliability, Safety, and Hazard. It presents the latest developments in reliability engineering and probabilistic safety assessment, and brings together contributions from a diverse international community and covers all aspects of safety, reliability, and hazard assessment across a host of interdisciplinary applications. This book will be of interest to researchers in both academia and the industry.

Intumescent Coating and Fire Protection of Steel Structures establishes the thermo insulation characteristics of intumescent coating under various fire and hydrothermal aging circumstances and shows how to predict the temperature elevation of steel structures protected with intumescent coatings in fires for avoiding structural damage. Introduced are the features and applications of intumescent coatings for protecting steel structures against fire. The constant effective thermal conductivity is defined and employed to simplify the quantification for the thermo-resistance of intumescent coatings. An experimental investigation into the hydrothermal aging effects on insulative properties of intumescent coatings is presented, as well as the influence of topcoat on insulation and aging of intumescent coatings. Also described is a practical method for calculating the temperature of the protected steel structures with intumescent coatings in order to evaluate the fire safety of a structure. The book suits fire and structural engineers, as well as researchers and students concerned with the protection of steel structures.

This edited volume is an up-to-date guide for students, policy makers and engineers on earthquake engineering, including methods and technologies for seismic hazard detection and mitigation. The book was written in honour of the late Professor Jai Krishna, who was a pioneer in teaching and research in the field of earthquake engineering in India during his decades-long work at the University of Roorkee (now the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee). The book comprehensively covers the historical development of earthquake engineering in India, and uses this background knowledge to address the need for current advances in earthquake engineering, especially in developing countries. After discussing the history and growth of earthquake engineering in India from the past 50 years, the book addresses the present status of earthquake engineering in regards to the seismic resistant designs of bridges, buildings, railways, and other infrastructures. Specific topics include response spectrum superposition methods, design philosophy, system identification approaches, retaining walls, and shallow foundations. Readers will learn about developments in earthquake engineering over the past 50 years, and how new methods and technologies can be applied towards seismic risk and hazard identification and mitigation.

This book addresses the hazard of gas explosions in sealed underground coal mines, and how the risk of explosion can be assessed, modeled, and mitigated. With this text, coal mine operators and managers will be able to identify the risks that lead to underground mine gas explosions, and implement practical strategies to optimize mining safety for workers. In six chapters, the book offers a framework for understanding the sealed coal mine atmosphere, the safety characteristics that are currently in place, and the guidelines to be followed by engineers to improve upon these characteristics. The first part of the book describes the importance and characteristics of underground gas mine explosions in a historical context with data showing the high number of fatalities from explosion incidents, and how risk has been mitigated in the past. Chapters also detail mathematical models and explosibility diagrams for determining and understanding the risk factors involved in mine explosions. Readers will also learn about safety operations, and assessments for the sealed mine atmosphere. With descriptions of chapter case studies, mining engineers and researchers will learn how to apply safety measures in underground coal mines to improve mining atmospheres and save lives.

This book presents the proceedings of the International Conference on Durability of Critical Infrastructure. Monitoring and Testing held in Satov, Czech Republic from 6 to 9 December 2016. It discusses the developments in the theoretical and practical aspects in the fields of Safety, Sustainability and Durability of the Critical Infrastructure. The contributions are dealing with monitoring and testing of structural and composite materials with a new methods for their using for protection and prevention of the selected objects.

This important new manual goes beyond the published NFPA standards on installation of standpipe systems to include the rules in the International Building Code, municipal fire codes, the National Fire Code of Canada, and information on inspection, testing, and maintenance of standpipe systems. Also covered are the interactions between standpipe and sprinkler systems, since these important fire protection systems are so frequently installed together. Illustrated with design examples and practical applications to reinforce the learning experience, this is the go-to reference for engineers, architects, design technicians, building inspectors, fire inspectors, and anyone that inspects, tests or maintains fire protection systems. Fire marshals and plan review authorities that have the responsibility for reviewing and accepting plans and hydraulic calculations for standpipe systems are also an important audience, as are firefighters who actually use standpipe systems. As a member of the committees responsible for some of these documents, Isman also covers the rules of these standards and codes as they are written, but also provides valuable insight as to the intent behind the rules. A noted author and lecturer, Professor Isman was an engineer with the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA), is an elected Fellow of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), and currently Clinical Professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at University of Maryland.

The primary goals of this brief are to invoke alertness and solidarity among the public in earthquake prone areas of India, and to empower the community to prepare themselves to face and manage the aftermath of an earthquake. The work presented here sheds new light on the action plans to be taken by the common public and public agencies, before, during and after earthquakes to safeguard lives of people and minimize loss of assets. This carefully presented book articulates various factors related to earthquake preparedness, and develops guidelines and useful tips for communicating them to relevant stakeholders. The book has been divided into three parts: (i) the first providing background which explains earthquakes in general and seismicity of India (ii) the second explores earthquake preparedness intended for individuals, families and various stakeholders, and (iii) the final section which describes various strategies for communities to prepare themselves for a future earthquake.

This book applies a behavioral point of view to individuals' fire safety in historic buildings. It outlines theoretical and operative issues, based on recent studies and international guidelines. Firstly, critical issues for Building Heritage fire safety are widely discussed, by including the modelling of human factor and man-environment-fire interference in these architectural spaces. A significant part of the book includes a discussion on emergency modeling and simulation. A source code for representing the fire evacuation process (including man-evacuation facilities interactions) is offered to the reader. Methods for effectiveness assessment of risk-reducing solutions are provided and tested in a case-study. Being a structured approach to occupants-related problems during a fire in heritage buildings, it offers an innovative methodology and practical examples that researchers and designers can use as a guide when proposing and testing solutions. Evaluation indexes for effectiveness assessment (also useful for future guidelines or handbooks) are included. Readers are encouraged to understand these indexes within the proposed approach, so as to extend their applications and possibilities of how to introduce human behaviors-based solutions in other fields. Lastly, attention is focused on the proposal and evaluation of low-impact and not-invasive strategies, such as ones based on wayfinding elements. From this point of view, the pros and cons of wayfinding systems are discussed: these are important today, especially for fire-safety designers, because of the ongoing innovations in this field.

The failures of electronic controls, which can cause loss of life and property, are discussed from the perspective of both the design and manufacturing functions and clarified for the responsible forensic team. Many pitfalls of the fast-paced product introduction environment for industrial and consumer products are discussed to help minimize the number of electronic control fires and other menacing events of today. The author clearly links the design, manufacturing and forensic technical communities in the development of electronic control devices, which include a wide array of products, from auto key fobs to furnace electronic control boards. The information included ensures a final product that will not end up in litigation (or at least not be found guilty during litigation), putting into plain words how to determine if a suspect electronic appliance control is the cause of a fire or the result of a fire. Containing invaluable data learned through many years of new product designs, development and production cycles, this brief features illustrated bench experiments conducted by the author. Professionals and researchers working in fire protection, electrical engineering, or building safety will find this brief an essential resource.

Major events-notably the Broadgate fire in London, New York's World Trade Center collapse, and the Windsor Tower fire in Madrid-as well as the enlightening studies at the Cardington fire research project have given international prominence to performance-based structural fire engineering. As a result, structural fire engineering has increasingly attracted the interest not only of fire and structural engineers but also of researchers and students. And studies in recent years have generated a vast number of findings. Performance-Based Fire Engineering of Structures summarizes the latest knowledge on performance-based approaches to structural fire engineering, enabling readers to critically assess research in the field. Whereas most recent books have been mainly concerned with dissemination of principles encapsulated in established codes of practice such as the Eurocodes, this work addresses in depth: Global structural behaviour and modelling Progressive collapse of structures in fire and the importance of connection robustness The integrity of compartmentation in fire Structural fire engineering under realistic fire conditions and its implications for material properties The limitations of research results and design methods The unexploited potential for advanced fire engineering design This authoritative book draws on the work of internationally active researchers who were core members of the European Network project's COST C26 working group on fire resistance. It helps readers develop a thorough understanding of how to use advanced fire engineering design to improve structural safety and reduce construction costs.

In the structural design of airframes and buildings, probability-based procedures are used to mitigate the risk of failure as well as produce cost-effective designs. This book introduces the subject of probabilistic analysis to structural and fire protection engineers and can also be used as a reference to guide those applying this technology. In addition to providing an understanding of how fire affects structures and how to optimize the performance of structural framing systems, Probability-Based Structural Fire Load provides guidance for design professionals and is a resource for educators. The goal of this book is to bridge the gap between prescriptive and probability-based performance design methods and to simplify very complex and comprehensive computer analyses to the point that stochastic structural fire loads have a simple, approximate analytical expression that can be used in structural analysis and design on a day-to-day basis. Numerous practical examples are presented in step-by-step computational form.

This book investigates the feasibility of developing a tool that enables fire departments to estimate the value of their services to a community in terms of environmental and financial impact. This book provides a summary of this effort, which resulted in development of a prototype tool for fire department use. The impact of fire on a community is usually measured in terms of the number of fires, human casualties, and property damage. There are, however, more subtle impacts of fire that are not so easily estimated but contribute to the measure of overall performance of the fire service in protecting a community. While environmental and economic impact assessment methodologies exist as separate systems, they generally require a high level of knowledge that is outside the scope of most fire departments. A relatively simple methodology for estimating the environmental and economic impact of fires helps communities understand the degree to which fire department activities can benefit a community's environmental and economic well-being. The scope and approach for this prototype tool is explained, including risk assessment, cost benefit analysis, life cycle assessment, integration and implementation, and sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. It includes multiple case studies and offers statistical support for future expansion of the tool. Fire service professionals will find this a useful new approach to presenting value in a community, as well as a method for examining their own financial and environmental plans.

Written from the perspective of industrial users, this is the only book that describes how to install an effective firewater pumping system in a pragmatic and budget-conscious way rather than with purely the regulatory framework in mind. Based on the wide-ranging industrial experience of the author, this book is also the only one that deals with the particular risks and requirements of off-shore facilities. This book takes the reader beyond the prescriptive requirements of the fire code (NFPA, UL) and considers how to make the best choice of design for the budget available as well as how to ensure the other components of the pumping system and supporting services are optimized.

This volume presents selected papers from the International Conference on Reliability, Safety, and Hazard. It presents the latest developments in reliability engineering and probabilistic safety assessment, and brings together contributions from a diverse international community and covers all aspects of safety, reliability, and hazard assessment across a host of interdisciplinary applications. This book will be of interest to researchers in both academia and the industry.

This SpringerBrief offers careful assessments of the appropriateness and effectiveness of currently available methodologies for fire flow. It explains the water supply requirements for firefighting including rate of flow, the residual pressure required at that flow, and the duration that is necessary to control a major fire in a specific structure. First reviewing existing fire flow calculation methodologies in the U.S. and globally, the authors determine the new information necessary to validate the existing fire flow calculation methodologies. After identifying 19 methods from the U.S., UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New England, and Canada, two types of methods are evaluated: those for building planning based on fire and building code requirements, and those for on-scene fire service use. Building planning methods are also examined, including an explanation of the range of building variables that determine fire flow. A survey form for fire departments is provided to help fire departments identify key predictive features based on construction and building parameters. Researchers and professionals in fire engineering will find the recommendations in Evaluation of Fire Flow Methodologies valuable.

The book covers the topic of geopolymers, in particular it highlights the relationship between structural differences as a result of variations during the geopolymer synthesis and its physical and chemical properties. In particular, the book describes the optimization of the thermal properties of geopolymers by adding micro-structural modifiers such as fibres and/or fillers into the geopolymer matrix. The range of fibres and fillers used in geopolymers, their impact on the microstructure and thermal properties is described in great detail. The book content will appeal to researchers, scientists, or engineers who are interested in geopolymer science and technology and its industrial applications.

This SpringerBrief focuses on the use of egress models to assess the optimal strategy for total evacuation in high-rise buildings. It investigates occupant relocation and evacuation strategies involving the exit stairs, elevators, sky bridges and combinations thereof. Chapters review existing information on this topic and describe case study simulations of a multi-component exit strategy. This review provides the architectural design, regulatory and research communities with a thorough understanding of the current and emerging evacuation procedures and possible future options. A model case study simulates seven possible strategies for the total evacuation of two identical twin towers linked with two sky-bridges at different heights. The authors present the layout of the building and the available egress components including both vertical and horizontal egress components, namely stairs, occupant evacuation elevators (OEEs), service elevators, transfer floors and sky-bridges. The evacuation strategies employ a continuous spatial representation evacuation model (Pathfinder) and are cross-validated by a fine network model (STEPS). Assessment of Total Evacuation Systems for Tall Buildings is intended for practitioners as a tool for analyzing evacuation methods and efficient exit strategies. Researchers working in architecture and fire safety will also find the book valuable.

Environmental concerns and advances in architectural technologies have lead to a greater number of green buildings or buildings with green, eco-friendly elements. However, from a practical standpoint, there is no incident reporting system in the world that tracks data on fire incidents in green buildings. Fire safety objectives are not explicitly considered in most green rating schemes, and green design features have been associated with photovoltaic panels and roof materials, lightweight timber frame buildings, and combustible insulation materials. Fire Safety Challenges of Green Buildings is the result of an extensive global literature review that sought to identify issues related to green building elements or features and ways to ensure those issues are tracked for future improvement. The book identifies actual incidents of fires in green buildings or involving green building elements, points out issues with green building elements that would increase fire risk, clarifies reports and studies that address ways to reduce fire risk in green design elements, and compares research studies that explicitly incorporate fire safety into green building design. The authors also pinpoint gaps and specific research needs associated with understanding and addressing fire risk and hazards with green building design. Using their data, the authors developed a set of matrices relating these green attributes and potential fire hazards. With these comprehensive tools, potential mitigation strategies for addressing the relative increase in fire risk or hazard associated with the green building elements and features have been identified. Fire Safety Challenges of Green Buildings is intended for practitioners as a tool for analyzing building safety issues in green architecture and developing methods for tracking data related to green design elements and their potential hazards. Researchers working in a related field will also find the book valuable.

This volume gathers the latest advances, innovations, and applications in the field of seismic engineering, as presented by leading researchers and engineers at the 1st International Workshop on Energy-Based Seismic Engineering (IWEBSE), held in Madrid, Spain, on May 24-26, 2021. The contributions cover a diverse range of topics, including energy-based EDPs, damage potential of ground motion, structural modeling in energy-based damage assessment of structures, energy dissipation demand on structural components, innovative structures with energy dissipation systems or seismic isolation, as well as seismic design and analysis. Selected by means of a rigorous peer-review process, they will spur novel research directions and foster future multidisciplinary collaborations.

Fundamentally, fire prevention and control refer to systems and practices that increase a facility's ability to avoid fires, limit the development and spread of fires, and rapidly and effectively control fires. Changing safety codes and regulations along with recent technological advances have rendered the first edition of this popular handbook somewhat out of date and left fire safety professionals without a current, reliable reference devoted to their needs.

Comprehensive, uniquely focused, and completely up to date, the Industrial Fire Protection Handbook, Second Edition provides a practical guide for improving fire prevention and protection within a work environment. The author has made extensive revisions, significantly expanded his discussions in key areas, and added numerous examples and illustrations to provide a better-than-ever overview of all essential areas of fire protection, including loss control programs, fire behavior, life safety, hazard control, and emergency planning.


New in the Second Edition:
· Discussions of new extinguishing agents, including wet chemical and clean agents designed to replace halon
· Significantly expanded coverage of general loss control programs
· More in-depth treatment of hazard control and life safety issues
· Broader coverage of installed fire protection systems
· More examples covering selection, placement, and maintenance of fire extinguishers

The Study of Movement Speeds Down Stairs closely examines forty-three unique case studies on movement patterns down stairwells. These studies include observations made during evacuation drills, others made during normal usage, interviews with people after fire evacuations, recommendations made from compiled studies, and detailed results from laboratory studies. The methodology used in each study for calculating density and movement speed, when known, are also presented, and this book identifies an additional seventeen variables linked to altering movement speeds. The Study of Movement Speeds Down Stairs is intended for researchers as a reference guide for evaluating pedestrian evacuation dynamics down stairwells. Practitioners working in a related field may also find this book invaluable.

Learn the Essentials of Creating Beautiful, Fire-Resistant Properties With wildfires getting more frequent and ferocious, approximately 120 million US citizens live with the threat of being overrun. Are you one of them? If so, Firescaping helps you create a safer environment. This unique form of landscaping design keeps your property healthy, clean, and clear. Land management expert Douglas Kent shares decades of experience working in many of the nation's most flammable areas. Get the information needed to determine your property's degree of fire risk. Learn effective design strategies for your home and landscape, as well as key characteristics that make your property more accessible to firefighters. With checklists, simple instructions, and tips that truly work, this practical, hands-on guide is a valuable resource for homeowners, business owners, landscape professionals, and fire protection agencies. If you live in an area at risk, this book can help to prepare you and give you peace of mind.

Structural Design for Fire Safety, 2nd edition Andrew H. Buchanan, University of Canterbury, New Zealand Anthony K. Abu, University of Canterbury, New Zealand A practical and informative guide to structural fire engineering This book presents a comprehensive overview of structural fire engineering. An update on the first edition, the book describes new developments in the past ten years, including advanced calculation methods and computer programs. Further additions include: calculation methods for membrane action in floor slabs exposed to fires; a chapter on composite steel-concrete construction; and case studies of structural collapses. The book begins with an introduction to fire safety in buildings, from fire growth and development to the devastating effects of severe fires on large building structures. Methods of calculating fire severity and fire resistance are then described in detail, together with both simple and advanced methods for assessing and designing for structural fire safety in buildings constructed from structural steel, reinforced concrete, or structural timber. Structural Design for Fire Safety, 2nd edition bridges the information gap between fire safety engineers, structural engineers and building officials, and it will be useful for many others including architects, code writers, building designers, and firefighters. Key features: Updated references to current research, as well as new end-of-chapter questions and worked examples. Authors experienced in teaching, researching, and applying structural fire engineering in real buildings. A focus on basic principles rather than specific building code requirements, for an international audience. An essential guide for structural engineers who wish to improve their understanding of buildings exposed to severe fires and an ideal textbook for introductory or advanced courses in structural fire engineering.

This book includes examinations of the role of full-scale buildings in the development of structural design methods and recommendations on improved construction practice and safety of building occupants in the event of fire and explosion.