• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.14-17
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• 2024

Objectives: This is a case of air exposure assessment conducted after researchers complained of headaches and odor due to residual substances from fire extinguishing agents spread throughout the laboratory due to a malfunction of the fire extinguishing facility. Methods: A component analysis was conducted on the residual substances of a fire extinguishing agent spread in a laboratory using Py-GC-MS (pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry) at the research institute's own central equipment research center. As a result of the component analysis, several types of substances were detected. Among these, five types of substances subject to work environment measurement in the aromatic hydrocarbon series, which can affect headaches and odor, were selected as substances subject to exposure assessment in the air, and the measurement and analysis methods of the target substances were conducted in accordance with the KOSHA Guide for each substance. Conclusions: The measurement results showed that all 5 types of substances were not detected at locations A, B, and C. This is believed to be the result of the residual substances in the fire extinguishing agent being measured when approximately two months had elapsed after being exposed to the test bench, and the substances already exposed had volatilized and disappeared. In this survey, it is believed that the measurement process is more important than the measurement results.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.394-404
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• 2020

Objectives: The aims of this study are to derive the characteristics of diesel exhaust gas emissions generated during vehicle checking in the garage of fire stations and of the related improvement plans for proper air quality management. Methods: The researcher measured changes in the air quality inside garages according to the operating conditions of the exhaust facility and before and after vehicle checking at three fire stations. Results: During the checking of fire engines, a large volume of hazardous substances exceeding management standards were generated, and improvement of the discharge facilities was required for proper air quality management. Conclusions: It is necessary to study the hazard evaluation of firefighters' exposure to exhaust gas, to operate exhaust gas ventilation facilities, and to prepare technical standards for proper indoor air quality management.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.345-352
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• 2023

A thermal-mechanical coupling finite element model of the steel-plate concrete composite (SC) wall is established, taking into account the strain rate effect and variation in mechanical and thermal properties under different temperatures. Verifications of the model against previous fire test and impact test results are carried out. The impact response of the SC wall under elevated temperatures is further investigated. The influences of the fire exposure time on the impact force and displacement histories are discussed. The results show that as the fire exposure time increases, the deflection increases and the impact resistance decreases. A formula is proposed to calculate the reduction of the allowable impact energy considering the fire exposure time.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.114-117
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• 2024

A lithium-ion battery is a rechargeable battery that uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy and is the predominant battery type in many industrial and consumer electronics. The lithium-ion batteries are essential to ensure they operate safely. We conducted an exposure assessment five days after a fire in a battery-testing facility. We assessed some of the potentially hazardous materials after a lithium-ion battery fire.We sampled total suspended particles, hydrogen fluoride, and lithium with real-time monitoring of particulate matter (PM) 1, 2.5, and 10 micrometers (㎛). The area sampling results indicated that primary potential hazardous materials such as dust, hydrogen fluoride, and lithium were below the recommended limits suggested by the Korean Ministry of Labor and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists Threshold Limit Values. Based on our assessment, workers were allowed to return to work.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.657-670
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• 2021

This paper presents a designing method for enhancing fire resistance of steel box bridge girders (closed steel box bridge girder supporting a thin concrete slab) through taking into account such parameters namely; fire severity, type of longitudinal stiffeners (I, L, and T shaped), and number of longitudinal stiffeners. A validated 3-D finite element model, developed through the computer program ANSYS, is utilized to go over the fire response of a typical steel box bridge girder using the transient thermo-structural analysis method. Results from the numerical analysis show that fire severity and type of longitudinal stiffeners welded on bottom flange have significant influence on fire resistance of steel box bridge girders. T shaped longitudinal stiffeners applied on bottom flange can highly prevent collapse of steel box bridge girders towards the end of fire exposure. Increase of longitudinal stiffeners on bottom flange and web can slightly enhance fire resistance of steel box bridge girders. Rate of deflection-based criterion can be reliable to evaluate fire resistance of steel box bridge girders in most fire exposure cases. Thus, T shaped longitudinal stiffeners on bottom flange incorporated into bridge fire-resistance design can significantly enhance fire resistance of steel box bridge girders.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.497-507
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• 2020

This paper presents a numerical method for evaluating fire performance of prestressed concrete (PC) T shaped bridge girders under combined effect of structural loading and hydrocarbon fire exposure conditions. A numerical model, developed using the computer program ANSYS, is employed to investigate fire response of PC T shaped bridge girders by taking into consideration structural inherent parameters, namely; arrangement of prestressing strands with in the girder section, thickness of concrete cover over prestressing strands, effective degree of prestress and content of prestressing strands. Then, a sequential thermo-mechanical analysis is performed to predict cross sectional temperature followed by mechanical response of T shaped bridge girders. The validity of the numerical model is established by comparing temperatures, deflections and failure time generated from fire tests. Through numerical studies, it is shown that thickness of concrete cover and arrangement of prestressing strands in girder section have significant influence on the fire resistance of PC T shaped bridge girders. Increase in effective degree of prestress in strands with triangular shaped layout and content in prestressing strands can slow down the progression of deflections in PC T shaped bridge girder towards the final stages of fire exposure, to thereby preventing sudden collapse of the girder. Rate of deflection based failure criterion governs failure in PC T shaped bridge girders under most hydrocarbon fire exposure conditions. Structural inherent parameters incorporated into sectional configuration can significantly enhance fire resistance of PC bridge girders; thus mitigating fire induced collapse of these bridge girders.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.87-102
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• 2021

To investigate the failure form, bending stiffness, and residual bearing capacity of monolithic composite beams with laminated slab throughout the fire process, fire tests of four monolithic composite beams with laminated slab were performed under constant load and temperature increase. Different factors such as post-pouring layer thickness, lap length of the prefabricated bottom slab, and stud spacing were considered in the fire test. The test results demonstrate that, under the same fire time and external load, the post-pouring layer thickness and stud spacing are important parameters that affect the fire resistance of monolithic composite beams with laminated slab. Similarly, the post-pouring layer thickness and stud spacing are the predominant factors affecting the bending stiffness of monolithic composite beams with laminated slab after fire exposure. The failure forms of monolithic composite beams with laminated slab after the fire are approximately the same as those at room temperature. In both cases, the beams underwent bending failure. However, after exposure to the high-temperature fire, cracks appeared earlier in the monolithic composite beams with laminated slab, and both the residual bearing capacity and bending stiffness were reduced by varying degrees. In this test, the bending bearing capacity and ductility of monolithic composite beams with laminated slab after fire exposure were reduced by 23.3% and 55.4%, respectively, compared with those tested at room temperature. Calculation methods for the residual bearing capacity and bending stiffness of monolithic composite beams with laminated slab in and after the fire are proposed, which demonstrated good accuracy.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.635-638
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• 2003

This paper deals with structural behavior of reinforced concrete beams with high strength under fire and fire damaged condition. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the residual strength of flexural members by exposure time to fire. For this purpose, six beam specimens are fabricated and experimented. Among the specimens, four specimens are exposed to the fire for 60 and 90 minutes and two specimens are control beam that is not exposed to fire. After being cooled in room temperature, the specimens are loaded to the failure. The research result shows that the main variables of the test, concrete cover and exposure time to fire are much influenced on the structural behavior and the residual strength.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.705-724
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• 2013

The behaviour of steel column at elevated temperature is significantly different than that at ambient temperature due to its changes in the mechanical properties with temperature. Reported literature suggests that steel column may become vulnerable when exposed to fire condition, since its strength and capacity decrease rapidly with temperature. The present study aims at investigating the lateral load resistance of non-insulated steel columns under fire exposure through finite element analysis. The studied parameters include moment-rotation behaviour, lateral load-deflection behaviour, stiffness and ductility of columns at different axial load levels. It was observed that when the temperature of the column was increased, there was a significant reduction in the lateral load and moment capacity of the non-insulated steel columns. Moreover, it was noted that the stiffness and ductility of steel columns decreased sharply with the increase in temperature, especially for temperatures above $400^{\circ}C$. In addition, the lateral load capacity and the moment capacity of columns were plotted against fire exposure time, which revealed that in fire conditions, the non-insulated steel columns experience substantial reduction in lateral load resistance within 15 minutes of fire exposure.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.263-278
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• 2022

Limestone calcined clay cement (LC³) is a low carbon alternative to conventional cement. Literature shows that using limestone and calcined clay in LC³ increases the thermal degradation of LC³ pastes and can increase the magnitude of fire risk in LC³ concrete structures. Higher thermal degradation of LC³ paste prompts this study toward understanding the fire performance of LC³ concrete and the associated magnitude of fire risk. For fire performance, concrete prepared using ordinary Portland cement (OPC), pozzolanic Portland cement (PPC) and LC³ were exposed to 16 scenarios of different elevated temperatures (400℃, 600℃, 800℃, and 1000℃) for different durations (0.5 h, 1 h, 2 h, and 4 h). After exposure to elevated temperatures, mass loss, residual ultrasonic pulse velocity (rUPV) and residual compressive strength (rCS) were measured as the residual properties of concrete. XRD (X-ray diffraction), TGA (thermogravimetric analysis) and three-factor ANOVA (analysis of variance) are also used to compare the fire performance of LC³ with OPC and PPC. Monte Carlo simulation has been used to assess the magnitude of fire risk in LC³ structures and devise recommendations for the robust application of LC³. Results show that LC³ concrete has weaker fire performance, with average rCS being 11.06% and 1.73% lower than OPC and PPC concrete. Analysis of 106 fire scenarios, in Indian context, shows lower rCS and higher failure probability for LC³ (95.05%, 2.22%) than OPC (98.16%, 0.22%) and PPC (96.48%, 1.14%). For robust application, either LC³ can be restricted to residential and educational structures (failure probability <0.5%), or LC³ can have reserve strength (factor of safety >1.08).