CORSO DI PROGETTAZIONE STRUTTURALE ANTINCENDIO, AA: 2015-16

Fire risk analysis of structures and

infrastructures: theory and
application in highway tunnels
Konstantinos Gkoumas, PhD, PE
Facolt di Ingegneria
Sapienza Universit di Roma

Corso di Progettazione Strutturale Antincendio

Docente: Prof. Ing. Franco Bontempi

www.francobontempi.org November 10 2015 1

CORSO DI PROGETTAZIONE STRUTTURALE ANTINCENDIO

Outline
System approach to fire safety design

Risk/fire risk/risk analysis

Risk assessment process

Risk analysis

Hazard analysis

Risk acceptance

Risk reduction

Risk assessment of road tunnels using PIARC/OECD QRAM

Case study: risk assessment of a long highway tunnel

References

Fire risk analysis of structures

www.francobontempi.org and infrastructures: theory and 2
application in highway tunnels
CORSO DI PROGETTAZIONE STRUTTURALE ANTINCENDIO

Fire risk analysis of structures

www.francobontempi.org and infrastructures: theory and 3
application in highway tunnels
CORSO DI PROGETTAZIONE STRUTTURALE ANTINCENDIO

System approach to fire safety design

Risk

- fire risk

- risk types

- risk analysis

Fire risk analysis of structures

www.francobontempi.org and infrastructures: theory and 4
application in highway tunnels
 CORSO DI PROGETTAZIONE STRUTTURALE ANTINCENDIO
System approach to fire safety design
0 OBJECTIVE prevention

FIRE
The fire safety is framed in different
Y
suppression
N
safety levels, corresponding to
1 STOP FIRE FIRE SPREAD different safety objectives.
mitigation
Y N
AVOID MINOR MAJOR
2 CASUALITIES SPREAD SPREAD

Y fire safe design N

fire safety design -
structural

AVOID
STRUCTURAL STRUCTURAL
3 DIRECT
INTEGRITY FAILURES
DAMAGE
fire safety design -
Y non structural N
AVOID LOSS OF
GLOBAL
INDIRECT GLOBAL
SAFETY
DAMAGE SAFETY
robust design
Y N
AVOID LOCALISED MAJOR
4 COLLAPSE DAMAGE COLLAPSE
Fire risk analysis of structures
www.francobontempi.org and infrastructures: theory and 5
application in highway tunnels
CORSO DI PROGETTAZIONE STRUTTURALE ANTINCENDIO

(Fire) Risk Estimation*

*(following SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering)

Provide answer to the following questions

1. What could happen?

2. How bad would it be if it did happen?

3. How likely is it to happen

Fire risk analysis of structures

www.francobontempi.org and infrastructures: theory and 6
application in highway tunnels
 CORSO DI PROGETTAZIONE STRUTTURALE ANTINCENDIO

What is risk?
Risk can be defined as the probability that the harm or damage from a particular
hazard is realized.
Risk is measured in terms of consequences and likelihood (a qualitative description
of probability or frequency). In mathematical terms risk can be defined as:
risk = f (frequency or probability, consequence) (1)
In the case of an activity with only one event with potential consequences, a risk (R)
is the probability (P) that this event will occur multiplied with the consequences (C)
given the event occurs:

R = PC (2)
The risk of a system is the sum of the risks of all harmful events of that system:

= (3)
=1

Fire risk analysis of structures

www.francobontempi.org and infrastructures: theory and 7
application in highway tunnels
CORSO DI PROGETTAZIONE STRUTTURALE ANTINCENDIO

Risk types
Life safety risks are normally presented in two ways:
- Individual risk and
- Societal risk
Individual risk:
The purpose of the individual risk is to ensure that individuals in the society
are not exposed to unacceptably high risks. It can be defined as the risk to any
occupant on the scene for the event/hazard scenario i.e. it is the risk to an
individual and not to a group of people.
Societal risk:
Societal risk is not looking at one individual but is concerned with the risk of
multiple fatalities. People are treated as a group, there are no considerations
taken to the individuals within the group i.e. the definition of the risk is from a
societal point of view.
Source: Jnsson, 2007
Fire risk analysis of structures
www.francobontempi.org and infrastructures: theory and 8
application in highway tunnels
CORSO DI PROGETTAZIONE STRUTTURALE ANTINCENDIO

What is risk analysis?

A big family of different approaches, methods
and complex models combining various
methododical components for specific tasks
Systematic analysis of sequences and interaction
effects in potential accidents, thereby identifying
weak points in the system and recognizing
possible improvement measures
Risk analysis makes the quantification of risks
feasible
Fire risk analysis of structures
www.francobontempi.org and infrastructures: theory and 9
application in highway tunnels
CORSO DI PROGETTAZIONE STRUTTURALE ANTINCENDIO

The risk assessment process

Fire risk analysis of structures

www.francobontempi.org and infrastructures: theory and 10
application in highway tunnels