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Title of the project

Analysis of building vulnerability and firebrand exposure to mitigate wildfire damage

Name
Simona Dossi
Abstract
Wildfire intensity and resulting damage to communities and infrastructure is increasing worldwide. This research investigates the vulnerability of wildland-urban interface (WUI) buildings to wildfires, focusing on firebrand exposure.

Literature reviews revealed a need for quantitative building vulnerability assessments and advanced understanding of firebrand deposition and accumulation around solid obstacles. To address this, a comprehensive statistical analysis on two large wildfire damage databases from Portugal and California is conducted to investigate the relationship between building design and damage extent. The results contribute to the development of a preliminary building resistance index (WRI) to assess building vulnerability to wildfire damage.

Firebrands are reported as the leading cause of building ignition by wildfires. This research characterises the feasibility of using the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) to simulate firebrand creep movement and accumulation around solid obstacles. A comparison between two FDS Lagrangian Particle model modalities assess their efficacy in simulating firebrand accumulation based on previously published experimental results. This analysis expands on the connection between particulate transport physics and the effective operational FDS use for simulating wildfire firebrand exposure.

Simulations are conducted to identify regions of high firebrand contact, and therefore firebrand ignition hazard, on three common building component geometries. The results characterize the combined influence of wind speed and obstacle geometry on firebrand contact exposure. Finally, the applicability of established sand protection measures to protect infrastructure from firebrands is explored by reviewing literature and conducting exploratory FDS simulations.

Copyright
PyroLife abstracts are protected by copyright. Copyright grants its holder the exclusive right of reproducing the text, translating it, and distributing/communicating it to the public, among others. An abstract published online is therefore not free of rights and nobody can publish or copy it (the text) without the rightholder’s consent. Contact the author here: simona.dossi13@gmail.com