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Fire
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Computational Insights into Fire Safety: Modelling, Simulation, and Innovative Solutions
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Computational Insights into Fire Safety: Modelling, Simulation, and Innovative Solutions

A special issue of Fire (ISSN 2571-6255). This special issue belongs to the section "Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Simulation of Combustion and Fire".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 August 2025 | Viewed by 10415

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hengrui Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Interests: computational fluid dynamics; computational heat and mass transfer; fire safety; hydrogen safety; multiphase flow; steam ejectors
Dr. Anthony Chun Yin Yuen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Interests: material characterisation; flame retardants; fire engineering; molecular dynamics; polymer degradation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to explore advances in computational methods and their applications in the field of fire safety. Fires pose significant risks to life, property and the environment, and it is therefore essential to continuously improve our understanding and strategies for their prevention, mitigation and response.

In this Special Issue, we aim to bring together cutting-edge research that uses computational approaches to address various aspects of fire safety. From Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling of fire events and hazard scenarios to the development and evaluation of fire-retardant materials using Molecular Dynamics (MD), we aim to collect diverse contributions that advance the field. By harnessing the power of simulation, modelling techniques and data-driven approaches, we can gain valuable insights into fire behaviour, fire dynamics and the effectiveness of fire safety measures.

We hope that this Special Issue will serve as a platform to disseminate and share the latest research findings, methodologies and technological innovations in the field of computational fire safety and provide a collaborative space for researchers, practitioners and industry experts to connect, exchange ideas and contribute to the collective knowledge in this critical domain.

We invite researchers from all fields to submit their original research, reviews and case studies to this Special Issue. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Numerical modelling of fire incidents in buildings, tunnels, vehicles and ships;
  • Numerical modelling of safety issues with clean fuels (e.g., hydrogen, ammonia, etc.);
  • Advancements in fire suppression techniques;
  • Fire safety provisions, including fire safety management strategies using numerical approaches and artificial intelligence;
  • Advanced flame-retardant mechanisms and pyrolysis characterization via molecular dynamics simulation.

Dr. Hengrui Liu
Dr. Anthony Chun Yin Yuen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fire is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fire safety
  • fire with clean fuel
  • fire suppression
  • molecular dynamics
  • risk analysis
  • computational fluid dynamics

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 3069 KiB  
Article
Modeling of Island Fire Station Siting Under Ship–Shore Synergy Conditions
by Shengnan Li, Jingjing Guo, Boyun Liu, Xiaohan Lu and Bo Zhao
Fire 2024, 7(11), 394; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7110394 - 30 Oct 2024
Viewed by 327
Abstract
As strategies to build a strong maritime nation are widely implemented, the importance of island ports has been increasingly highlighted, and their fire safety issues are also receiving more attention. However, at present, research on the construction of fire protection systems has mostly [...] Read more.
As strategies to build a strong maritime nation are widely implemented, the importance of island ports has been increasingly highlighted, and their fire safety issues are also receiving more attention. However, at present, research on the construction of fire protection systems has mostly been focused on the interior of cities, and less research has been carried out on the linear firefighting needs of island ports. In particular, island ports are characterized by firefighting characteristics such as inconsistent mission objectives and coordinated ship-to-shore rescues, when compared to cities. In this study, a model for the siting of harbor fire stations on a cluster of distant, isolated islands is proposed, considering the costs associated with building, maintaining, and rescuing fire stations on the basis of coverage. At the same time, the loss costs associated with the response time are considered to construct an arc segment demand siting model under ship–shore synergy conditions with the objective of minimizing the total cost. The Sea Island Group is taken as an example for the analysis of the constructed site selection model. The firefighting needs and ship–shore cooperative firefighting and rescue scenarios for eight islands in the island group are the main considerations, and the model is solved using a genetic algorithm. It is concluded that the establishment of five island harbor fire stations in the Sea Island Group can balance the cost of rescue with the cost of construction. Thus, the benefits of island fire stations can be improved, satisfying coverage rates while minimizing the associated costs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Insights into Fire Safety: Modelling, Simulation, and Innovative Solutions)
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16 pages, 3801 KiB  
Article
Optimization Study of Fire Prevention Structure of Electric Vehicle Based on Bottom Crash Protection
by Jianhong Chen, Peng Xiong, Kai Li and Shan Yang
Fire 2024, 7(7), 209; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7070209 - 22 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1194
Abstract
As the market share of electric vehicles continues to expand, fire accidents due to impacts from the power battery located at the bottom of the electric vehicles are receiving increasing attention. Lithium-ion batteries, as the mainstream choice of power battery for electric vehicles [...] Read more.
As the market share of electric vehicles continues to expand, fire accidents due to impacts from the power battery located at the bottom of the electric vehicles are receiving increasing attention. Lithium-ion batteries, as the mainstream choice of power battery for electric vehicles solving the problem that they are prone to thermal runaway due to damage when impacted, are the key to preventing and controlling fire accidents in electric vehicles. To address the protective problem of the bottom power battery of electric vehicles when it is impacted by road debris, two new types of sandwich structures with an enhanced regular hexagonal structure and semicircular arch structure as the core layer, respectively, are innovatively proposed in this article. They are used to protect the bottom power battery of electric vehicles and are compared with the traditional homogeneous protective structure in terms of protective performance. A local finite element simulation (FEM) of an electric vehicle containing the necessary components was established for simulation. Stress distribution, deformation, and energy absorption data for each component of an electric vehicle assembled with a protective structure when subjected to a bottom impact were obtained safely and cost-effectively. Three evaluation coefficients, namely, the cell shape variable (Bcmax), the protective effect parameter (ƒPE), and the total energy absorption of the structure (Ea), are proposed to compare and analyze the simulation results of different protective structures under equal mass conditions. The maximum values of the battery deformation of arched sandwich construction and reinforced honeycomb sandwich construction were 0.35 mm and 0.40 mm, respectively, which are much smaller than that of the maximum deformation of the battery under the protection of a homogeneous protective structure, which is 0.62 mm. Their protective effect parameters are 43.55 and 35.48, respectively, which proves that the optimization degree of the protective structure of the bottom of the electric vehicle after the application of the new structure is 35% or more. The total energy absorptions of the two structures are 91.77 J and 87.19 J, respectively, accounting for more than 70% of the kinetic energy in the system, which proves that the deformation of the sandwich structure can effectively absorb the kinetic energy of the collision between the road obstacle and the bottom of the car. The final results show that the arched sandwich structure showed the best impact resistance in the simulation, which can be used for the power battery’s protective structure on the electric vehicle’s bottom. This study fills a gap in local finite element modeling in electric vehicle crash simulations and provides ideas for fire prevention designs of electric vehicle structures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Insights into Fire Safety: Modelling, Simulation, and Innovative Solutions)
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18 pages, 5917 KiB  
Article
A Comparative Numerical Study of Lithium-Ion Batteries with Air-Cooling Systems towards Thermal Safety
by Weiheng Li, Xuan Wang, Polly Yuexin Cen, Qian Chen, Ivan Miguel De Cachinho Cordeiro, Lingcheng Kong, Peng Lin and Ao Li
Fire 2024, 7(1), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7010029 - 15 Jan 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2650
Abstract
Given the growing demand for increased energy capacity and power density in battery systems, ensuring thermal safety in lithium-ion batteries has become a significant challenge for the coming decade. Effective thermal management plays a crucial role in battery design optimization. Air-cooling temperatures in [...] Read more.
Given the growing demand for increased energy capacity and power density in battery systems, ensuring thermal safety in lithium-ion batteries has become a significant challenge for the coming decade. Effective thermal management plays a crucial role in battery design optimization. Air-cooling temperatures in vehicles often vary from ambient due to internal ventilation, with external air potentially overheating due to vehicle malfunctions. This article highlights the efficiency of lateral side air cooling in battery packs, suggesting a need for further exploration beyond traditional front side methods. In this study, we examine the impact of three different temperature levels and two distinct air-cooling directions on the performance of an air-cooling system. Our results reveal that the air-cooling direction has a more pronounced influence compared with the air-cooling temperature. By employing an optimal air-cooling direction and ambient air-cooling temperature, it is possible to achieve a temperature reduction of approximately 5 K in the battery, which otherwise requires a 10 K decrease in the air-cooling temperature to achieve a similar effect. Therefore, we propose an empirical formula for air-cooling efficiency under various conditions, aiming to provide valuable insights into the factors affecting air-cooling systems for industrial applications toward enhancing the fire safety of battery energy storage systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Insights into Fire Safety: Modelling, Simulation, and Innovative Solutions)
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29 pages, 12759 KiB  
Article
Assessment of the Performance of FireFOAM in Simulating a Real-Scale Fire Scenario Using High Resolution Data
by Wolfram Jahn, Rafael Zamorano, Ignacio Calderón, Raimundo Claren and Benjamín Molina
Fire 2023, 6(10), 375; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6100375 - 29 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1985
Abstract
An assessment of the performance of FireFOAM in simulating a large-scale compartment fire scenario is presented in this study, using the Edinburgh Tall Building Fire Test I (2017) as the basis for evaluation. Different mesh geometries and sizes are tested, and both theory-based [...] Read more.
An assessment of the performance of FireFOAM in simulating a large-scale compartment fire scenario is presented in this study, using the Edinburgh Tall Building Fire Test I (2017) as the basis for evaluation. Different mesh geometries and sizes are tested, and both theory-based and experiment-based validation approaches are employed. The theory-based validation revealed that the implemented finite volumes method is generally conservative, but unaccounted deviations of up to 20% for the heat release rate were observed due to errors in numerically modelling subgrid phenomena, particularly with tetrahedral meshes. In the experiment-based validation, the simulated data showed good agreement with experimental measurements for flow patterns inside the compartment, neutral plane height, and temperatures outside the ceiling jet. However, there were relatively large errors in incident radiation in the hot gas zone, thermal boundary layer transient temperatures, and compartment inflow/outflow velocities. Systematic errors were attributed to deficient heat transfer boundary conditions and under-estimated air entrainment. The study also identified ways to improve run-time efficiency by implementing parallel processing or reducing solid angles in FVDOM, although using large meshes (30 cm and 40 cm cell size) resulted in faster run-times at the cost of accuracy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Insights into Fire Safety: Modelling, Simulation, and Innovative Solutions)
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22 pages, 11721 KiB  
Article
Studying the Effects of Wave Dissipation Structure and Multiple Size Diffusion Chambers on Explosion Shock Wave Propagation
by Wei Liu, Xiangyun Xu, Huahui Yi and Lifan Zhu
Fire 2023, 6(10), 371; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6100371 - 24 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1889
Abstract
Explosion chambers are crucial to the technology used to prevent coal mine gas explosions. Investigating the shock wave propagation law at various coal mine tunnel cross-sections helps ensure mine safety. A self-built, highly explosive experimental setup was used to conduct empirical research on [...] Read more.
Explosion chambers are crucial to the technology used to prevent coal mine gas explosions. Investigating the shock wave propagation law at various coal mine tunnel cross-sections helps ensure mine safety. A self-built, highly explosive experimental setup was used to conduct empirical research on straight tubes, eight sizes of single-stage explosion chambers, and multi-stage tandem explosion chambers. Ansys Fluent numerical simulation software constructed five different tandem explosion chamber models. The wave dissipation efficiency of various types of explosion chambers was calculated, the propagation law and process of shock waves across multiple explosion chambers were examined, and the best size and type of explosion chambers were summarized to increase the wave dissipation efficiency of single-stage explosion chambers. Gun silencers inspired these models. The findings indicate that the three-stage tandem explosion chamber is the best diffusion tandem combination form, the 60° silencer-type explosion chamber is the best single-stage explosion chamber modification program, and the 500 mm × 500 mm × 200 mm explosion chamber is the best single-stage explosion chamber. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Insights into Fire Safety: Modelling, Simulation, and Innovative Solutions)
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13 pages, 4210 KiB  
Article
Numerical Analysis of Restrained Continuous Steel Columns under Standard Fire
by Jinhua Sun, Fanqin Meng, Kaveh Andisheh and George Charles Clifton
Fire 2023, 6(9), 330; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6090330 - 24 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1276
Abstract
The steel column performance in realistic structures during a fire has yet to be fully understood because existing research emphasizes single-story performance, thereby disregarding the influence of continuous steel columns in multi-story configurations devoid of fire. This paper presents a numerical study to [...] Read more.
The steel column performance in realistic structures during a fire has yet to be fully understood because existing research emphasizes single-story performance, thereby disregarding the influence of continuous steel columns in multi-story configurations devoid of fire. This paper presents a numerical study to comprehend the overall structural fire performance of continuous steel columns, considering the effect of loading ratios, restraint ratios, column continuity, and single-sided lateral moments. An advanced numerical model was initially developed using ABAQUS and validated against experimental tests. The validated numerical model was subsequently employed to investigate the effects of several parameters, including axial restraint ratios (α = 0.05–0.35) and axial load ratios (n = 0.3–0.8). The study findings indicated that the restraint ratios within the designed range have a slightly beneficial impact on the fire resistance of continuous steel columns. The column continuity did not exert a significant impact on the performance of steel columns in fire. Additionally, the comparison showed that the current design approach in EN 1993-1-2 was conservative for predicting the limiting temperature of internal and edge columns. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Insights into Fire Safety: Modelling, Simulation, and Innovative Solutions)
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