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Sfe Pensa: University of Edinburgh
Sfe Pensa: University of Edinburgh
Sfe Pensa: University of Edinburgh
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
MSc Structural and Fire Safety Engineering
Semester 1 courses
Fire Science and Fire Dynamics
This course is intended to provide the knowledge required for quantitative fire hazard analysis. Physical
and chemical behaviour of combustion systems as well as the impact of fire on materials will be
addressed. The student will acquire skills for quantitative estimation of the different variables of fire
growth. Basic principles of fire dynamics will be used to provide analytical formulations and empirical
correlations that can serve as tools for design calculations and fire reconstruction. Focus will be given to
the scientific aspects of fire but some basic features of fire safety engineering will be also developed.
Lectures:
1. How gases burn, including basic chemistry
2. How liquids burn, including convection and radiation heat transfer
3. How solids burn, including conduction heat transfer
4. Spontaneous ignition and smouldering (guest lecture)
5. Piloted ignition
6. Fire spread and fire plumes
7. Compartment fires, including flashover
8. Compartment fires, continued
9. Ceiling jet, structural interactions, backdraft
10. Smoke
11. Fire safety engineering applications
Learning outcomes
1. Demonstrate understanding of the science which underpins current fire safety engineering calculations
2. Estimate certain parameters of fires such as flame length, heat release rate, plume temperature and smoke
production, for simple, well defined fuel packages.
3. Explain fire behaviour in each of the stages in a compartment fire.
4. Perform certain typical fire safety engineering calculations.
Drysdale, D.D. "Introduction to fire Dynamics", 3rd Edition, John Wiley and Sons, 2011.
This course will provide an overview of the fundamentals of fire behaviour in buildings and introduce methods of
quantifying the threat it poses to structures. This will involve estimating the temperatures in building compartments
and the temperatures that individual structural members get exposed to as a function of time. Fundamentals of the
behaviour of common construction materials and estimation of the variation of mechanical properties of
construction materials affected by fire (i.e. temperature rise). Structural analysis principles are then applied to the
fire problem. Methods to carry out calculations to determine structural behaviour in the event of a fire will be
introduced followed by a discussion of advanced analytical and computational tools for analysing structural
behaviour in fire. The course will also provide an introduction to current (code based) design procedures.
Learning outcomes
1. understanding the philosophical underpinnings of structural design at both ambient and elevated
temperature conditions;
2. survey the different analytical and empirical tools for fire calculations in both small and open plan
compartments;
3. understanding of the effect of temperature on material properties of - Steel, concrete, wood, composites;
fire proofing and thermal insulation;
4. understanding heat transfer calculations based on imposed conditions - (Temperature vs. Heat Flux); and
5. understand the role of loss of strength, deformation and thermal expansion and application to design of
structures for fire resistance - Includes advanced analytical principles and calculations, and structural
design for fire.
1. Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer ,Theodore L. Bergman, Adrienne S. Lavine, Frank P.
Incropera, David P. DeWitt (2011) Wiley.
2. An Introduction to Fire Dynamics, 3rd Edition, Dougal Drysdale (2011).
3. Fundamental principles of structural behaviour under thermal effects, Asif Usmani (2001).
L1 Introduction
Course outline; areas of application of the finite element (FE) method; examples of some problems for
which FE analysis has been used.
Introduction to FE terminology; steps of the analysis using an assumed displacement field approach for
linear elastic analysis of structures.
Feeding a finite element program (ABAQUS) with geometric, physical and loading information.
L5 FE Modelling
Introduction to plane stress, plane strain, axisymmetric, and plate bending problems; degrees of
freedom; stress-strain and strain-displacement relations.
Definition of generic displacements, body forces, nodal displacements, and nodal actions; displacement
shape functions with simple examples; relating generic displacements, strains, and stresses to nodal
displacements.
L7 Virtual Work Basis of Finite Element Method: 2
Derivation of FE equilibrium equations using the virtual work principle; examples of derivation of
stiffness and equivalent load vector for a two node truss element.
L8 Quadrilateral Elements 1
Normalised coordinates; shape functions for the bi-linear and quadratic elements; Isoparametric
concept; examples
L9 Quadrilateral Elements 2
Examples of numerical and closed form evaluation of stiffness and load matrix terms
Natural coordinates; shape functions of constant and linear strain triangular elements; isoparametric
mapping; examples
Strain-displacement and stress-strain relations for Euler Bernoulli beams; evaluation FE matrices;
limitations; examples
L19 Revision
Recommended texts:
1. Cook, RD; Malkus, DS; Plesha, ME; Witt, RJ. Concepts and Applications of Finite Element Analysis,
Wiley, 2002.
2. Zienkiewicz, OC; Taylor, RL. The Finite Element Method for Solid and Structural Mechanics,
Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005.
3. Bathe, KJ. Finite Element Procedures, Prentice Hall, 1996.
4. Smith, IM; Griffiths, DV. Programming the Finite Element Method, Wiley, 2004.
This course provides a training in engineering approaches to applied problems. The student is introduced to the
principles of design for the fire safety engineering of various infrastructures, with an emphasis in the built
environment. A variety of different aspects of design are discussed (including: flammability, detection & alarm,
smoke management, fire suppression, fire resistance, egress, etc.), with particular attention to systems of
classification and design applications. The course distinguishes 'prescriptive' and 'performance-based' approaches
to design, with an emphasis on understanding the philosophy of design guidance; references are made to more
advanced methods and opportunities to use fire science knowledge and engineering analysis approaches, as well as
the interface with structural engineering. The overall aim is to build confidence in tackling simple fire safety
engineering design with due consideration to any limitations, uncertainties or conservatisms which may be present.
There are two assessed tutorials encompassing one or more of the above topics. A formative tutorial will
also be completed, with feedback provided before the assessed tutorial.
Learning outcomes:
1. Appreciate the role and importance of fire safety engineering in the design of modern infrastructures;
2. Describe the range of approaches adopted, with an awareness of distinctions and limitations;
3. Justify fire design specifications with reference to appropriate codes and standards, with appropriate
consideration of information that may be incomplete or uncertain;
4. Demonstrate awareness of potentially conflicting demands, i.e. commercial, safety, environmental,
ethical, etc.
Semester 2 courses
Fire Science Laboratory
1. Liquid fuel ignition (4 hours)
This is the second ignition laboratory demonstrations conducted to illustrate the use of ignition to
establish flammability criteria.
- Flash point/fire point
- Physical processes and Standard tests
Drysdale, D. An Introduction to Fire Dynamics, 3rd edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2011 (or earlier
editions)
SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, 4th ed., DiNenno, P.J. ed., NFPA, Quincy, MA,
2009 (or earlier editions)
Models for Fire Safety
This course explores the practicalities of performance-based design of buildings for fire safety. It focuses
on the use of modelling tools in the estimation of performance of fire safety systems. Zone models,
Egress models and CFD fire models are introduced to establish modern approaches to fire safety
engineering. The models will be applied using a real-life case study.
Learning outcomes:
1. Demonstrate understanding of all the component parts of a modern fire safety engineering
strategy
2. Explain the differences between prescriptive and performance based design methods.
3. Understand the benefits and limitations of several calculation methods, including use of CFD in
fire safety engineering design.
"Performance-Based Fire Safety Design" by Morgan Hurley and Eric Rosenbaum, CRC Press, 2015
Drysdale, D. An Introduction to Fire Dynamics, 3rd edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2011 (or earlier editions)
Lectures:
L1 Introduction
L2 Recap of the direct stiffness method
L3-L4: Approximation and weighted residuals
L5-L6: Rayleigh-Ritz (variational) methods
L7-L8: Heat transfer and general Poisson problems
L9-L10: Poisson problems in two and three dimensions
L11-L12: Elastostatics and thermal stress analysis
L13-L14: Static condensation and multi-freedom constraints
L15-L16: Beam and plate bending
L17-L18: Revision
This is a postgraduate level finite element course which builds on the introductory course "FEM for Solids
and Structures". The subject is approached in a more general sense in a relatively more mathematical
framework. Many topics from the rich FEM literature are presented preferring breadth over depth. The
course is primarily intended for MSc students and those undergraduates who are fascinated by the
subject and would like to pursue higher degrees in the field of computational mechanics.
Recommended reading:
J. N. Reddy, An Introduction to the Finite Element Method, 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill, 2005
E. G. Thompson, Introduction to the Finite Element Method - Theory, Programming and Applications,
John Wiley and Sons, 2004.
Background reading:
O. C. Zienkiewicz and R. L. Taylor, The Finite Element Method Set, 7th ed., Butterworth-Heinemann,
2013.
K. J. Bathe, Finite Element Procedures, Prentice Hall, 1996.
Learning Outcomes
Buchan, A H and Abu, A K; Structural Design for Fire Safety; 2nd; John Wiley and Sons, 2016.
Recommended Reading
Hurley, Morgan J. et al; SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering; Springer New York :
Imprint : Springer, 2016.
Wang, Y. C; Steel and composite structures : behaviour and design for fire safety; Spon Press,
2002.