Industrial Research Chair in Fire Safety Engineering
With supplemental financial support from NSERC, Carleton
University and Forintek Canada Corp. an Industrial Research
Chair on Fire-Safety Engineering within the
University's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
has been established. The research program of the Chair addresses
Canada's need for the development of computer models and other
tools to predict the fire-safety performance of light-frame wood
buildings being designed and constructed according to the objective-based
building code that is about to be adopted in Canada.
Research on fire safety is of interest to all Canadians.
The National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) has successfully contributed
to bringing Canada's fire loss record in line with that of other
developed countries. To a large extent, however, these gains have
been achieved on an empirical basis. With Canada about to adopt
an objective-based code, an opportunity exists to rationalise
fire safety design. Objective-based codes prescribe performance
objectives rather than specific building methods or materials.
While they allow for greater flexibility and cost-effectiveness
in design, they require a scientific understanding of fire safety
engineering principles. They also require computer models and
other tools to demonstrate adequate fire performance; and they
require qualified people to use such tools for design or enforcement
purposes.
LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES FOR THE CHAIR
The long-term objectives of the proposed research
are:
a) to provide the scientific basis on which tools
can be developed to cost-effectively deliver fire-safe, light-frame
buildings under performance-based codes,
b) to train highly skilled individuals who will
interact with the University's engineering and architectural groups,
and with industry partners and end-users, and
c) to serve as the hub of a network of educational
centres on fire safety design for light-frame buildings throughout
Canada.
RESEARCH PROGRAM
The focus of the Chair's research program is the
development of engineering tools that can be used by fire protection
engineers to quantify fire safety levels in buildings and assist
the design of fire-safe, wood-frame buildings. This will entail
the development of a comprehensive system model for fire hazard
and fire risk evaluation, and subsidiary submodels for fire growth,
fire behaviour of building materials, smoke movement, occupant
response and evacuation, fire detection and suppression system
effectiveness. Particular emphasis will be given to research that
will benefit the wood industry by providing design tools which
ensure fair assessment of the impact of wood products in building
construction.
The primary objective of the research program is
to develop and validate engineering tools that fire protection
engineers can use to design fire-safe, light-frame buildings in
a performance based-code environment. Initially the proposed research
will target four-storey commercial buildings and subsequently
consider other buildings. To achieve this goal, the objectives
of the research program are to:
a) develop a generic fire risk assessment framework
and computer model to evaluate the overall fire safety performance
in buildings
b) develop a framework and associated computer models
to evaluate whether fire protection designs meet the objectives
established in performance-based codes
c) incorporate in the system model existing or new
computer models for fire growth, smoke movement, occupant response
and evacuation, and life hazard
d) perform experiments to generate input data for
the models and to validate fire growth and smoke movement models,
and
e) develop design fires representative of fires
in these buildings.
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
of Carleton University offers, a unique opportunity for graduate
studies at both Masters and Ph.D. levels in the area of Fire Safety
Engineering. This is a growth area with excellent employment opportunities
in Canada and the United States.
Fire Safety Engineering is a relatively new discipline.
The need for qualified fire protection engineers in Canada and
around the world has increased exponentially during the last decade.
There are, however, very few Universities that offer a comprehensive
set of courses focussing in Fire Safety Engineering. To fill this
gap Carleton University, with support from the Natural Sciences
and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Forintek Canada Corp.,
established an Industrial Research Chair in Fire Safety Engineering
within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
The Chair has a research program that addresses Canada's need
for the development of computer models and other tools to predict
the fire-safety performance of buildings and the need for highly
qualified personnel.
GRADUATE LEVEL COURSES
To fulfill the objective of training highly skilled
individuals in fire safety engineering the following six core
courses have been selected. They cover critical areas of fire
safety engineering and provide the students with the necessary
knowledge to effectively function in a performance based code
environment.
CURRICULUM
The following six core courses have been selected to cover critical
areas of fire safety engineering and to provide the students with
the necessary knowledge to effectively function in a performance
based code environment.
1. Fundamentals of Fire Protection Engineering
- 82.577
This course provides an introduction and analysis of the fire
problem, including social, economic and environmental issues,
as well as a description of the fire safety regulatory system
and the governing building codes and standards. It covers areas
including the fire safety system, active fire protection systems;
detection, suppression, smoke management and explosions. It also
includes a description of the fire safety design process in a
both a prescriptive and a performance-based code environment.
2. Fire Modelling - 82.582
This course provides a broad introduction to fire modelling and
its role in fire safety engineering. It describes modelling techniques
used in Fire Safety Engineering including, event and fault trees
analysis, probabilistic and stochastic models, as well as two-zone
and Computational Fluid Dynamic models. The basic concepts of
fire hazard and fire risk analysis are also described, as well
as the application of models in fire hazard and risk analysis.
3. Fire Dynamics I - 82.575
Fire Dynamics I deals with the fundamentals of combustion including
material and energy balances, chemical thermodynamics, kinetics,
premixed and diffusive burning. It also covers advanced topics
in the theory of combustion, flame propagation, and efficiency
of combustion as well as the physico-chemical properties of combustible
material. The basic chemistry and physics of fire are introduced.
These basic concepts are coupled with the fundamentals of heat
and mass transfer to develop a sound knowledge of fire processes.
This basic background provides a foundation for understanding
fire growth and severity in buildings and for understanding how
buildings and components of buildings react under fire conditions.
4. Fire Dynamics II - 82.583
Covers fire dynamics from ignition through heat transfer to growth
and spread of fires and their suppression and important governing
factors such as containment and its role in the dynamics of fires
and explosions. Fire Dynamics II builds on the basic concepts
presented in Fire Dynamics I. The interactions among the fundamental
fire processes introduced in Fire Dynamics I and the basic features
of a building are investigated. The course aims to develop a sound
understanding of fire growth and fire severity in buildings. Particular
emphasis is placed on the reaction of buildings and building components
to exposure by fire. This basic background provides a foundation
for beginning the process of designing a fire safe building.
5. People in Fires - 82.578
The course will review work of the founders in the field of human
behaviour in fire. Students will be introduced to the basic notions
of perception, cognition, information processing, decision-making
and problem solving. Behavioural concepts such as panic, commitment,
affiliation, familiarity and role will be discussed. Issues related
to the timing of escape including the delay in response and people
movement will be reviewed. Techniques for data gathering on human
behaviour in fire will be introduced
6. Fire Resistance - 82.579
This course covers the behaviour of materials and structures at
elevated temperatures; fire-resistance tests; fire-resistance
ratings; building code requirements; real-world fires. It also
describes techniques used for assessing the fire resistance of
steel, concrete and wood building assemblies.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Interested students can apply to enroll either through the School
of Graduates Studies or through the School of Continuing Education.
For more information and application forms please go to:
www.ocice.ca
CONTACTS
For more information about the Fire Safety Engineering program and
opportunities for funded graduate projects please contact:
Prof. George Hadjisophocleous
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Email: george_hadjisophocleous@carleton.ca
Tel. (613) 520-2600 Ext. 5801
