Institution of Fire EngineersGraduate Lecture 2006
The Institution of Fire Engineers' (IFE's) Graduate Lecture was held at the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Services Training Centre at Washington Hall, on 27th April 2006. The Graduate Lecture was established under a deed of covenant by Past President Mr Alan Parnell and the late Mr Gordon Butcher to fund an annual presentation by a key personality in the field of practicing fire engineering. The event was sponsored by risk consulting practice Marsh Limited and the day focused on fire safety engineering students and the opportunities open to them upon graduation. Exhibitions were provided by BRE, Chiltern Fire, Marsh Limited and the International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA).
Delegates were welcomed to the event by Professor David Charters BSc, PhD, CEng, FIFireE, MIMechE, MSFPE, IFE International President. Professor Charters introduced the day's keynote speaker, Professor Ian Burgess, Head of the Civil and Structural Engineering Department at the University of Sheffield. Professor Burgess delivered the 2006 Graduate Lecture, on the theme Why do buildings stand up (and why might they fall down) in fire?
Professor Burgess (Photo opposite) defined Structural Fire Engineering as being the fire resistant design of buildings on the basis of an understanding the way the materials used in their construction really behave in fire. Direct UK fire losses are estimated as 0.2% of GNP, nearly £2billion a year. The strengths of both steel and concrete are considerably reduced at high temperatures, and concrete does not recover its strength on cooling. Professor Burgess discussed ways of achieving fire resistance in structures and the effectiveness of sprinkler systems in limiting damage caused by fires. The most significant issue for fire resistance of buildings, especially after the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York in 2001, is that of robustness - or the ability of a building to resist progressive collapse - and the ways in which fire can lead to widespread collapse were reviewed. The lecture concluded with a review of the areas where future work is necessary to guarantee robustness in fire - particularly the need for designs that reduce the risk of vertical fire spread. Whole-frame or sub-frame modelling are required provide a more complete picture of real behaviour, rather than the prescriptive protection or isolated member design which are generally used at present. The connections between structural members are particularly vulnerable, and connection thermo-structural models are needed, especially for ultimate capacity and ductility.
Graduate presentations
The first Graduate presentation was given by David Crowder from the University of Central Lancashire, who provided a detailed study on Using Blast Site Debris to Calculate Blast Dynamics. David concluded that explosions are highly complex and the current modelling techniques appear to possess high validity but can always benefit from techniques to test their accuracy and that further validation work is required. David Smith from Glasgow Caledonian University provided the second presentation on Fire Risk Assessment Versus Prescriptive Fire Precautions. Evidence from David's research was indicative of a lowering of standards in premises not subject to a prescriptive fire safety inspection and enforcement regime. Evidence from the case studies supports the argument for ongoing fire and rescue service involvement, throughout the life of a building. In general, questionnaire responses indicated stakeholder concerns in a range of key areas. A number of recommendations for further study were identified. These included examining the effect of government sponsored advertising of the forthcoming regulations, investigating the extent to which fire risk assessments have been carried out across the UK up until now, and whether the fire risk assessment process is sufficiently understood by "responsible persons" as defined.
The morning session ended with a presentation from Dr Jason Clement, Marsh Limited on Fire engineering from an insurance perspective. In this presentation Dr Clement looked at the opportunities for fire engineering in an insurance industry.
The afternoon session was introduced by Dr. Andrei Chamchine, a Lecturer in Energy and Sustainable Design and the Course Leader for Sustainable Built Environment Programme at the University of Central Lancashire. Christopher Owen from the University of Leeds provided a case study on Forensic analysis: the detection of accelerant in fire debris and soot deposits. Christopher highlighted that there are more than 50,000 arson cases per year with a total of 88 fatalities in deliberate fires in 2004, and 117 in 2003. His research concluded that accelerant "fingerprints" can not only be found in the fire debris but also in soot deposits.
Analysis of the Windsor Tower fire was presented by Audun Borg of University of Edinburgh, who determined that the fire spread vertically by external flames and there was also compartmentation, unprotected steel and portal column failure.
Hannah Cain from the University of Central Lancashire then provided a presentation on Emergency Disabled Egress from the London Underground. Hannah's research concluded that ramp access is not always viable and achieving full step free access will take many years and cost a considerable amount of money.
The final set of presentations was introduced by Professor Dougal Drysdale CEng PhD FIFireE from the University of Edinburgh. Fires on Inclined Surfaces:
An Investigation into the Effects of Incline Angle on Flame Front Speed was presented by Bradley Young from University of Leeds. Bradley's main objectives in his research were to provide additional experimental data on the effect of the inclination angle, on the rate of flame spread, without the effects of restricted airflow, air currents, or obstructions, to compare the findings with existing literature and provide data which could be used in the validation of computer models. The results obtained were consistent and showed a strong dependence on the angle of inclination. Flame propagation was over 20 times faster at 60°, than horizontal. This dependence was more linear than suggested in other studies, this could be due to the trench effect and the influence of the sloping surface on reducing air entrainment, in those studies.
Lee Masson from the International Fire Investigators and Consultants then gave the final presentation on Life after graduation. Highlighting the extensive variety of work available to Fire Engineering Graduates and opportunities of travel and meeting new people.
Mr John Woodcock BSc (Eng) CEng MIFireE of risk consulting practice Marsh Limited awarded Bradley Young with a certificate and cheque for £1,000, for providing the best Graduate presentation. For the second prize he presented a certificate and cheque for £600 to Christopher Owen and a certificate and cheque for £350 to the runners up - Hannah Cain, David Smith, Audun Borg and David Crowder.
This year the Graduate Lecture attracted the highest number of delegates, and with so much industry support exhibiting at the event, the future of IFE Graduate Lectures will draw even greater competition and push the standards of excellence even further. Sincere thanks to Professor Drysdale for organizing the programme and to Marsh Limited for sponsoring the event. Thanks also extended to Professor Charters, Professor Ian Burgess and all the Graduate presenters.
Rasbash Lecture 2006
Thanks to the generous sponsorship by Rushbrook the IFE are able to offer free spaces to the Rasbash Lecture (Whitehall, London, 15th June 2006) to 12 students in full time education on fire engineering or fire related courses - book your place by visiting http://www.ife.org.uk/about/events/rasbash - Limited spaces available!