关于建筑火灾的外文文献

THERISKIMPOSEDBYFIRETOBUILDINGSANDHOWTOADDRESSITJoséL.Torero11EdinburghCenterforFireResearch,TheUniversityofEdinburgh,UnitedKingdomAbstract:Thehistoryoffirescienceoriginatesinthedesiretoenhancedestructionofinfrastructurebymeansoffire.Manyofthebasicprinciplesoffiregrowthandthebehaviourofstructuresinfireweredevelopedwithinthecontextofanorganizedanddeliberateattempttousefireasatoolforurbandestruction.Buildingsareinherentlyvulnerabletofireduetotheiruse,thustheyhavetobedesignedwiththeobjectiveofminimizingtheprobabilityoffireoccurrenceandofdamagepotential.Nevertheless,thedesigncriteriarelymostlyonscenariosthatareconsideredtobeconsistentwiththebuildinguse.Withinthedesignprocessthereisnoconsiderationtopremeditatedfiresorthosecorrespondingtoastrategyfordestruction.Furthermore,generallydesignisdoneinaprescriptivemannerandthusisframedbyrulesandregulationsthatdonotprovideanestimateofperformance.Onlyadetailedunderstandingoftheperformanceofabuildingorstructureintheeventofafirecanallowestimatingandunderstandingitsvulnerabilitiesandcanresultinastrategytominimizetheimpactoffireasatoolforterrorism.Keywords:firerisk,buildings,structures,terrorism,damage1.INTRODUCTIONTheintroductionofpractisesthatresultinanincreaselevelofsafetydatesprobablytoancienttimes.Observationsofthedevastatingeffectsoffiresleadfromveryearlyontotheestablishmentofprescriptiverequire-ments.Theserequirementscanstandonverybasicprinciplessuchasbuild-41K.V.FrolovandG.B.Baecher(eds.),ProtectionofCivilianInfrastructurefromActsofTerrorism,41–57.©2006Springer.PrintedintheNetherlands.42J.L.Toreroingseparationandmaximumescapedistancesoronmorecomplexspecifi-cationsliketheneedforsprinklersystemsandcompartmentation.Theserequirementsbecameformalizedatthebeginningofthe20thCenturyinaseriesofcodesandstandards.Agoodexampleisthefireresistancestan-dardtestmethodsandthe“StandardFire”curveembeddedinit.Thisstan-dardprevailsasacommonlyusedmethodtoassesstheperformanceofstructuralelementsinafire[1].ThefirstbuildingcodesintheUSAwheredevelopedaftertheBaltimoreFirein1904.Sincethen,institutionsliketheNationalFireProtectionAssociation(NFPA)andUnderwritersLaborato-rieshaveguidedthedevelopmentofcodesandstandardtestmethods,NFPAstartedin1896andUnderwritersLaboratoriesin1900.Asimilarhistorycanbeconstructedformanycountries.Sinceitsinitialformalization“firesafety”hasbeenprescriptive,anddespitethetechnicaloriginandem-piricalobservationssupportingmoststandards,theseareincapableofas-sessingtheperformanceofabuildingintheeventofafire.Insteadtheyassumeadequatelevelsofsafetybasedonthescientificandempiricalin-formationthatformsthebasistothecodes.Clearly,scenariosthatescapetheexperimentsthatsupportthestandardsresultinundefinedsafetylevels.SystematicgenerationofscenariosthatescapetheprescriptivedesignspecificationsbecameadestructiontoolduringWorldWarIIandtheoriginofmodernfirescience.HoytHotteldescribesingreatdetailtheprocessthatleadtotheestablishmentofactivefireresearchprogrammesatHarvardandMIT,intheUnitedStates,aspartofthewareffortandwiththespecificobjectiveofmaximizingurbandestructionviafire[2].HottelindicatesthatameetingoftheNationalDefenceResearchCommitteeconvenedbythepresidentsofHarvardandMITin1941concentratedonthereplacementofmagnesiumandrubber-thickenednaphthaasincendiariesandontheradio-activeignitionofwood.Thismeetingleadtowhatmightbeconsideredoneofthefirst20thCenturyexplicitscientificpublicationsonfireresearch[3].Anumberofwellknowndiscoveriesfollowedthisinitiative,amongthebestknownisthegenerationofNapalmbyLouisFieser(HarvardUniver-sity).Already,by1942,gasolinethickenerssuchasNapalmwherebeingtestedtodemonstratetheirfiresettingpotentialonwoodenstructures.Ar-chitectsMendelshon(ofGermanBackground)andRaymond(with18yearsofpracticeinTokyo)wherethensummonedtocarefullydesignstructuresthatresembledthosepresentinGermanandJapanesecities.Carefulatten-tionwasgiventobetweenfloorandceilingcindersdevelopedinGermanytostopthelateralspreadoffire.TestofincendiarybombswerecarriedonthesestructuresinMay1943.Similarstudieswheresimultaneouslyinpro-gressinBritainunderProfessorsFinchandEgertonatImperialCollege.WartimeeventsshowthatsocietyhasrecognizedthepotentialoffireasatoolfordeliberatedestructionandasamechanismtounderminemoraleRiskImposedbyFiretoBuildings43Furthermore,itbroughttopscientisttorecognizethispotentialanddevotetheircareerstothestudyoffire.Thewareffortfocusedondestructionwasthusfollowedbyapeaceeffortfocusedonunderstanding,controllingandpreventingfires.In1956aCommitteeonFireResearchwasformedbring-ingProfessorHowardEmmonsfromHarvardUniversity,aparticipantofthewarfireresearchprogramme,intothecentreofpost-warfireresearch.HowardEmmonsisnowregardedasthefatherofmodernfirescience.TheeffortsofHowardEmmonsleadtotheFireResearchandSafetyActof1967andtheformationoftheFireCentreattheNationalBureauofStan-dards.AsimilarprocessfollowedthewarintheUnitedKingdomthroughtheFireResearchStationattheBuildingResearchEstablishment(BRE)andinJapanthroughtheBuildingResearchInstitute(BRI).NotablearethescientificcontributionsofThomasandKawago