CFD Simulation to Assess the Effects of Asphalt Pavement Combustion on User Safety in the Event of a Fire in Road Tunnels

This paper presents a specific 3D computational fluid dynamics model to quantify the effects of the combustion of asphalt road pavement on user safety in the event of a fire in a bi-directional road tunnel. Since the consequences on tunnel users and/or rescue teams might be affected not only by the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Fire (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 7; no. 6; p. 195
Main Authors: Caliendo, Ciro, Russo, Isidoro
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.06.2024
Subjects:
3D computational fluid dynamics modeling
Asphalt
asphalt pavement combustion
Asphalt pavements
bitumen
Cement
Combustion
Computational fluid dynamics
Concrete pavements
Construction
Driving conditions
dynamic models
effects on users
Environmental conditions
environmental issues for firefighting
fire
Fire prevention
Firefighters
Fluid dynamics
Fluid flow
fluid mechanics
Fourier transforms
geometry
Heat
Hydrodynamics
Mechanical properties
Mechanical ventilation
natural ventilation
pavements
Pavements, Asphalt
Radiation
risk
road tunnels
Roads & highways
Safety and security measures
smoke
Temperature
Thermal properties
Toxicity
traffic
Traffic congestion
Traffic flow
Traffic safety
Tunnels
Vehicles
Ventilation
Italy
ISSN:2571-6255, 2571-6255
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This paper presents a specific 3D computational fluid dynamics model to quantify the effects of the combustion of asphalt road pavement on user safety in the event of a fire in a bi-directional road tunnel. Since the consequences on tunnel users and/or rescue teams might be affected not only by the tunnel geometry but also by the type of ventilation and traffic flow, the environmental conditions caused by the fire in the tunnel under natural or longitudinal mechanical ventilation, as well as congested traffic conditions, were more especially investigated. The simulation results showed that the combustion of the asphalt pavement in the event of a 100 MW fire, compared to the case of a non-combustible road pavement, caused (i) an increase in smoke concentrations; (ii) a greater number of users exposed to the risk of incapacity to escape from the tunnel; (iii) a more difficult situation for the firefighters entering the tunnel upstream of the fire source in the case of natural ventilation; (iv) a higher probability of the domino effect for vehicles queued downstream of the fire when the tunnel is mechanically ventilated.
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ISSN:2571-6255
2571-6255
DOI:10.3390/fire7060195