Fire dynamics and safety research

Tunnel fires present a distinct and severe engineering challenge because the confined geometry traps heat and smoke, rapidly creating lethal conditions while complicating evacuation and emergency response. Researchers study how fires grow and spread in enclosed spaces by modeling combustion chemistry, measuring heat release rates, and analyzing how buoyancy-driven airflow interacts with mechanical ventilation systems designed to push or extract smoke. A central practical goal is determining how ventilation configurations can maintain a clear, breathable layer for evacuees without inadvertently accelerating fire spread or causing dangerous backdrafts. Active work focuses on improving suppression system integration with dynamic ventilation strategies and on scaling laboratory measurements to the full complexity of real tunnel geometries and traffic scenarios.

Works

52,993

Total citations

377,461

Keywords

Tunnel FiresSmoke ControlVentilation SystemsFire DynamicsCombustion ModelingHeat Release Rates