Galea, E.R. ORCID: 0000-0002-0001-6665 , Wang, Z. ORCID: 0000-0002-8986-0554 , Jia, F. ORCID: 0000-0003-1850-7961 , Lawrence, P.J. ORCID: 0000-0002-0269-0231 and Ewer, J. ORCID: 0000-0003-0609-272X (2016) Fire safety assessment of open wide gangway underground trains in tunnels using coupled fire and evacuation simulation. Fire and Materials, 41 (6). pp. 716-737. ISSN 0308-0501 (Print), 1099-1018 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/fam.2413)

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Abstract

A new type of train configuration, known as Open Wide Gangway (OWG) is becoming popular, particularly in underground environments. Previous fire modelling analysis demonstrated that the OWG configuration was considered safe as or safer than conventional configurations as it reduced the likelihood of flashover. However, these studies have ignored the impact on evacuation of the spread of fire effluent to non-fire cars. Here we explore the fire safety offered by conventional and OWG configurations using coupled fire and evacuation modelling techniques. Two tunnel train situations are considered; one in which the car side doors are available for evacuation (train in a wide tunnel) and the other in which only the end cab doors are available (train in a narrow tunnel). Two population configurations are considered, fully and half loaded. Two ignition sources are also considered, one representing an accidental fire and the other an arson fire. The analysis demonstrates that while the OWG configuration may produce improved fire performance in the car of fire origin compared to the conventional configuration, if the interaction of the fire effluent with the evacuating passengers is considered, the OWG configuration results in a significantly greater number of casualties in virtually all the scenarios considered.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Open wide gangway; Underground train fire; Tunnel fire; Fire modelling; Evacuation modelling
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science > Centre for Numerical Modelling & Process Analysis (CNMPA) > Computational Science & Engineering Group (CSEG) Faculty of Engineering & Science > School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences (CMS) Faculty of Engineering & Science
Related URLs:	Publisher
Last Modified:	04 Mar 2022 13:07
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/15913

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