Travelling fire in full scale experimental building subjected to open ventilation conditions

Compartment fires; Fire tests; Steel structure; Travelling fires; Condition; Design/methodology/approach; Experimental buildings; Experimental program; Steel column; Structural elements; Structural steels; Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality; Mechanics of Materials; Mechanical Engineering

Abstract :

[en] Purpose: In the frame of the European RFCS TRAFIR project, three large compartment fire tests involving steel structure were conducted by Ulster University, aiming at understanding in which conditions a travelling fire develops, as well as how it behaves and impacts the surrounding structure. Design/methodology/approach: During the experimental programme, the path and geometry of the travelling fire was studied and temperatures, heat fluxes and spread rates were measured. Influence of the travelling fire on the structural elements was also monitored during the travelling fire tests. Findings: This paper provides details related to the influence of travelling fires on a central structural steel column. Originality/value: The experimental data are presented in terms of the gas temperatures recorded in the test compartment near the column, as well as the temperatures recorded in the steel column at different levels. Because of the large data, only fire test one results are discussed in this paper.

Disciplines :

Civil engineering

Author, co-author :

Nadjai, Ali ; School Built Environment, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, United Kingdom

Alam, Naveed ; FireSERT, University of Ulster at Jordanstown, Newtownabbey, United Kingdom

Charlier, Marion ; Department of Construction and Infrastructure Applications, Arcelormittal Global R&D, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

Vassart, Olivier ; ArcelorMittal Inc, Steligence, Luxembourg

Dai, Xu ; School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Franssen, Jean-Marc ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département ArGEnCo

Sjostrom, Johan; RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, Mölndal, Sweden

Language :

English

Title :

Travelling fire in full scale experimental building subjected to open ventilation conditions

Publication date :

16 May 2023

Journal title :

Journal of Structural Fire Engineering

ISSN :

2040-2317

Publisher :

Emerald Publishing

Volume :

Issue :

Pages :

149 - 166

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JSFE-06-2021-0037/full/xml

Name of the research project :

Characterization of TRAvelling FIRes in large compartments TRAFIR

Funders :

RFCS - European Commission. Research Fund for Coal and Steel

Funding number :

TGS8/TGA4

Funding text :

This work was carried out in the frame of the TRAFIR project with funding from the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (grant No 754198). Partners are ArcelorMittal, Liège University, the University of Edinburgh, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and the University of Ulster. The authors also wish to acknowledge the supporting of companies Sean Timoney & Sons Ltd, FP McCann Ltd, Saverfield Ltd and Crossfire Ltd.

Available on ORBi :

since 05 January 2026

Statistics

Number of views

7 (0 by ULiège)

Number of downloads

36 (0 by ULiège)

More statistics

Scopus citations^®

Scopus citations^®
without self-citations

OpenCitations

OpenAlex citations

Bibliography

Alam, N., Ali, N., Charlier, M., Vassart, O., Welch, S., Sjöström, J. and Xu, D. (2022), “Large scale travelling fire tests with open ventilation conditions and their effect on the surrounding steel structure– the second fire test”, Journal of Constructional Steel Research, Vol. 188, 107032, doi: 10.1016/j.jcsr.2021.107032, ISSN 0143-974X.
CEN (European Committee for Standardization) (2005), EN 1993-1-2: Eurocode 3: Design of Steel Structures - Part 1-2: General Rules - Structural Fire Design, Brussels.
Charlier, M., Gamba, A., Dai, X., Welch, S., Vassart, O. and Franssen, J.M. (2018), “CFD analyses used to evaluate the influence of compartment geometry on the possibility of development of a travelling fire”, Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Structures in Fire (Ulster University), Belfast, UK, pp. 341-348.
Charlier, M., Glorieux, A., Dai, X., Alam, N., Welch, S., Anderson, J., Vassart, O. and Nadjai, A. (2021), “Travelling fire experiments in steel-framed structure: numerical investigations with CFD and FEM”, Journal of Structural Fire Engineering.
Degler, J., Eliasson, A., Anderson, A., Lange, D. and Rush, D. (2015), “A- priori modelling of the Tisova fire test as input to the experimental work”, Proceedings of the first International Conference on Structuraa, Safety under Fire and Blast, Glasgow, UK.
EN1991-1-2 (2002), Eurocode 1: Actions on Structures – Part 1-2: General Actions on Structures Exposed to Fire, CEN, Brussels.
Fletcher, I., Borg, A., Hitchen, N. and Welch, S. (2005), “Performance of concrete in fire: a review of the state of the art, with a case study of the Windsor Tower fire”, in 4th International Work- Shop in Structures in Fire, pp. 779-790.
Franssen, J.-M. and Gernay, T. (2017), “Modeling structures in fire with SAFIR®: theoretical background and capabilities”, Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 300-323, doi: 10.1108/JSFE-07-2016-0010.
Gamba, A., Charlier, M. and Franssen, J.M. (2020), “Propagation tests with uniformly distributed cellulosic fire load”, Fire Safety Journal, Vol. 117, 103213.
Gann, R.G., Haminutes, A., McGrattan, K., Nelson, H.E., Ohlemiller, T.J., Prasad, K.R. and Pitts, W.M. (2013), “Reconstruction of the fires and thermal environment in World Trade Center buildings 1, 2, and 7”, Fire Technology, Vol. 49, pp. 679-707.
Hidalgo, J.P., Cowlard, A., Abecassis-Empis, C., Maluk, C., Maj- dalani, A.H., Kahrmann, S., Hilditch, R., Krajcovic, M. and Torero, J.L. (2017), “An experimental study of full-scale open floor plan en- closure fires”, Fire Safety Journal, Vol. 89, pp. 22-40.
Hidalgo, J.P., Goode, T., Gupta, V., Cowlard, A., Abecassis-Empis, C., Maclean, J., Barlett, A., Maluk, C., Montalva, J.M., Osorio, A.F. and Torero, J.L. (2019), “The Malveira fire test: full-scale demonstration of fire modes in open-plan compartments”, Fire Safety Journal, Vol. 108, 102827.
Horová, K., Jána, T. and Wald, F. (2013), “Temperature heterogeneity during travelling fire on experimental building”, Advances in Engineering Software, Vols 62-63, pp. 119-130.
Rackauskaite, E., Hamel, C., Law, A. and Rein, G. (2015), “Improved formulation of travelling fires and application to concrete and steel structures”, Structures, Vol. 3, pp. 250-260.
Rein, G., Zhang, X., Williams, P., Hume, B., Heise, A., Jowsey, A., Lane, B. and Torero, J.L. (2007), “Multi-storey fire analysis for high- rise buildings”, Proceedings of the 11th International Inter- flam Conference, London, UK, pp. 605-616.
Stern-Gottfried, J. and Rein, G. (2012), “Travelling fires for structural design – Part I: literature review”, Fire Safety Journal, Vol. 54, pp. 74-85.
Zannoni, D.M., Bos, J.G.H., Engel, D.K.E. and P dr, U. (2008), Brand Bij Bouwkunde, Rosenthal.