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Fire technology
Research description

Modified and new types of materials are gaining in importance for application in light-weight load-bearing structures subjected to demanding fire safety requirements. This is especially true for aerospace applications but also for all kind of passenger transportation systems such as ferries, liners, high-speed trains, subways etc. In the building industry cost effectiveness, reduced resource consumption and elegant appearance are recognized as relevant aspects to be considered in modern concepts. Accordingly, light-weight structures are catching the designer’s attention with regard to the already announced vision to double the height of Burj Khalifa in Dubai by the use of alternative building materials.

on-going interdisciplinary research activities as for instance the development of an intelligent
earthquake and fire safe modular light-weight building concept (I-SSB) demonstrate clearly the importance of studying scientifically all involved lengths scales for an in-depth understanding of the ruling interrelations. In this view, Fire Technology deals also with the development of multi-scale models to end-up in a better understanding of materials and structure behavior at fire temperatures.
News
Special issue in «Fire Technology» by Springer, Volume 48, Number 3, July 2012 (ab Seite 677). Guest Editor: K. Ghazi Wakili, Building Science and Technology / Bautechnologien
Understanding the behaviour of complex systems submitted to variations of their environment  requires  insight  into  the  behaviour  of  every  single  constituent  of those systems. This inevitably leads to specific phenomena related intrinsically to specific scales. The motivation behind a special issue in "Fire Technology" dealing with different aspects of "Materials in Fire" was to give, by means of different approaches at  different  scales,  an  insightful  glimpse  into  the  realm  of  material  behaviour under fire conditions. It is also an attempt to discuss more basic research topics in a technology oriented "fire" journal, and prevent papers dealing with these topics from diffusing into "theoretical" journals with a broad general scope where "fire" is merely a subtopic. As a new member of the editorial board I feel committed to attract papers with multidisciplinary approaches to the notion of "fire".The four contributions to this special issue show diversity in material, approach and scale, although not exhaustive nevertheless indicative for a large spectrum of unanswered  questions.
Guest Editor: K. Ghazi Wakili   Abteilung Bautechnologien
Research topics
Fire safe materials:
Building up a profound theoretical and experimental knowledge of heat and mass transfer in porous and composite materials at fire temperatures with the prospect of developing new types of materials.
Simulation of materials response to fire temperatures:
Linking material behavior with structural behavior considering temperature dependent mechanical and thermal properties such as decomposition reactions, flame spread, crack formation etc.
Simulation of high termperature response of mechanically loaded structures:
Developing of models describing mechanisms and processes controlling the temperature distribution, damage and failure of structures.

Contact:

Erich Hugi

Karim Ghazi Wakili
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